Book Review

The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics

Mere Christianity:   It is pretty close to the most basic, Christianity 101 class a person could ever take. I wouldn't recommend it for brand new Christians because, in brevity, he said some things that could be taken out of context by the uninformed or even those who are just looking for a reason smear our faith. But it is nearly perfect in every other way. I also have a greater respect for math, now since he lays everything out logically like a math equation. I recommend it for Christians as a refresher course.... it is infinitely better and a healthy challenge compared to all the "feel-good" rot on the bookshelves nowadays. I also recommend it to non-Christians who aren't afraid to find out what Christianity is really all about.

 The Screwtape Letters/The Screw Tape Proposes A Toast:  The best preachers won't tell you that your life becomes easy after you become a Christian, but instead, that's when it becomes the toughest.  The Screwtape Letters is a portrait of the spiritual warfare that is common to everyone who accepts Christ.  It is dramatized as an elder devil giving advice to a younger devil on how to draw his "patient" away from the Enemy, who is Christ.  It follows the patient through his conversion, church life, marriage and experiences during the WWI.  It is smart and comical with political overtones, much like Inferno only more accurate to the faith.  It's also a little disconcerting when reflecting on your own spiritual battles.  Try not to go into it to see the battles the patient goes through in others you know while ignoring them in your own life.  It loses some of Lewis' trademark simplistic style towards the end, but it's still a good read.  My version came with "The Screwtape Proposes A Toast" appended to it.  This is a dramatized lecture that Screwtape gives to new graduate tempters.  It is 100% political statement and it is extremely relevant even today... especially today.  I'm sure Lewis would be appalled to see how the philological arm of Hell has also twisted the words Liberalism and Progressive as well as Democracy.  It was better than the letters, I think.

Miracles:  This book isn't what it looks like by a glance at the cover.  It's not a romanticized look at nature or an emotionally heart-wrenching collections of testimonials of survival of what should've been certain doom.  You'll get no feel-good sensation, unless you happen to think it is logically sound and I think most of it is.  It is a scientific breakdown of the primary Biblical miracles and it actually starts with Lewis expounding quite a ways on concepts that he first introduced at the beginning of Mere Christianity.  In fact, I recommend you read Mere Christianity first, because Miracles is very advanced, technical reading.  I admit, it's above my intelligence level.  But, it's not incomprehensible.  It needs to be taken slowly, paragraph by paragraph.  Lewis' style often sets him off in what you think is a rabbit chase, but he always comes back to the point.  Even a few simple statements made far into it can clear up entire chapters you've already read through.  I understand a lot of his fiction better from reading this.  I really enjoyed it and it is an excellent read for both Christians and non-Christians alike.

The Great Divorce:  This turned out to be a fiction book and a very easy read.  According to him, it is an answer to a book written by someone with a distorted view of Heaven and Hell.  The concept presented was not made to be taken seriously and Lewis even says as much in the preface.  The preface is the most important part of the book, in this case, so that you understand that the wisdom and lessons of this story are found in the conversations held within.  They are struggles and choices that are made while we are alive on here on earth.  It is not a statement to the fact that you definitely get a second chance to make the choices after death, and it is even deliberately unclear on that point towards the end of it so nobody can assume it is.  For that reason I'd recommend it to mature Christians only or at least to people who aren't given to believing every fantastic idea that sounds cool and different.  Lewis' fictional protagonist is in a state of death and witnesses other dead people around him accepting or, mostly, rejecting salvation and their reasons why.  The study of their reasoning is the real meat of the story.  It's a good story for self reflection.  I loved the concept for the creative-writing aspect of it; I'm a sucker for sci-fi/fantasy settings.  I think it was a very enjoyable book.

The Problem of Pain:  So, why does a loving and benevolent God allow pain and suffering in the world?  Dear Athiest, this may be just the book for you.  But, it's also reaffirmative for the Christian as well.  Lewis is careful to label his speculations as such, leaving little to misinterpret.  It's another difficult read... seems to be that way with every other book in this set, lol.  But it's a great witness like all of Lewis' works.

A Grief Observed:  I've been rejoicing that Lewis' nonfiction apologetics aren't given to emotional manipulation, but logical thinking as a means of witnessing.  This book is very different.  I found myself crying often during it, and if that's what you like to do, you will want to check this one out.  But, it's not an apologetic or a witnessing tool.  It's diary kept by Lewis after the passing of his wife to keep from losing his head.  It's raw and personal and that fact that he had the courage to have it published at all is amazing.  Strategically placed after The Problem of Pain, it will be kind of a shock to both Christians and non-Christians.  It is the real-time sufferings of a man with a knife in his heart and with it is all the fear, doubts and anger that come with it.  I recognize some of these emotions from my own losses; you don't need to be a widower or widow to fully relate.  It is only 4 chapters and he speaks of having written in several notebooks, so I presume this is a condensed picture of his grieving process over a longer period of time than what is indicated in the passages.  My beliefs differ from Lewis' in certain respects and I think some of his sufferings were probably needless, but I don't know what my own thoughts would be should I be the one in this place one day.  I recommend it for Christians first.  It is a lesson in honesty and can be insightful in how to talk to the bereaved.  I recommend it also to the non Christian because, though it is not a well organized tool to convince you of Christ, you'll recognize the emotions as well and observe why Christians have hope and comfort even in these situations.  Amazing book.

The Abolition of Man:  This is a book for Conservatives to read.  At least, I'm pretty sure that Conservatives are the only ones who'll fully understand and appreciate it.  Subtitled:  Reflections on Education with Special Reference to the Teaching of English in the Upper Forms of Schools, it is a three, short -lectures series reaction to an English Composition text book that was published for colleges in that day which Lewis felt was, and Conservative minded people will recognize as the corruption of language for the purpose of negating traditional moral values in view of a more progressive stance.  Now, don't cringe - if you're one of the cool kids who is appropriately above religion, you actually have nothing to fear from this book even though Lewis wrote it.  And, some Christians may even be a little disappointed, because he draws his moral applications from points where several philosophies intersect.  Christianity is only one of these, and it is not specifically preached because that is not the point of this book.  I can see the liberally minded people of Lewis' day thinking this dissertation to be serious overreaction and liberals of today thinking it to be a gross exaggeration, but it seemed to me a clear picture of the beginnings of what has become the language of today's media regarding politics and religion.  It's a hard read; again, well above my I.Q. level, but not hard to understand.  And I understood what he was trying to portray in the "Weston" character from his fiction novel, Out of the Silent Planet a little better now.  I hope you get the chance to read it some day.