Product Description
For the first time ever, the essential volumes by one of the most celebrated literary figures of our time are available in one deluxe gift edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (112)

Awesome collection but about the size of a textbook
This collection is great, a although I was unaware that it came in one single book, about the size of a textbook.There are lots of room for notes and it is a great read, just hard to carry around. If you're planning on leaving it and reading it in one place, this is the book for you. Otherwise, get the box set.

Beautiful volume
I was more than pleased with this book.I've been meaning to get more C.S. Lewis for awhile so this compilation was perfect for me (as I believe it would be for other enthusiasts, as well). The quality of the book was even better than I expected.

A Book of Life
This is a compilation of knowledge that can be used in a life plan.C. S. Lewis lived through the struggles of life and was then able to put the learning that ensued to paper in these great books.It is great to have them all in one book that will be handed down to children.

Gorgeous!
I will keep this for years to come, possibly my whole life - it is beautiful, very well made, and around about the best Father's day present I could get.

cs lewis
great condition. can't wait to read it. love the edges on the book. old timey feel. ... Read more

Product Description
Known throughout the world as the intellect behind The Chronicles of Narnia and as the twentieth century's most influential Christian writer, C. S. Lewis has stirred millions of readers through his probing insights, passionate arguments, and provocative questions about God, love, life, and death. Gathered from the mass of his published works -- including The Screwtape Letters, Mere Christianity, The Four Loves, and God in the Dock -- as well as from letters, essays, and less familiar writings, this compendium contains a cross section of Lewis's finest work.

Customer Reviews (4)

Mumbo-jumbo from a big name
As a youngster, I loved the Chronicles of Narnia, so it is with some regret that I have to say this book is awful. Look at page 26 and the ridiculous false dilemma: Jesus must either be a lunatic or the Son of God! Richard Dawkins pointed out in the God Delusion that, of course, Jesus could simply have been mistaken. If I have to choose,however, I'd take lunatic (Ockham's Razor). I read not one sentence that would convince any open-minded non-believer that Christianity is true.

Short and Sweet
This book is a collection of C.S. Lewis's writings on various topics. It is a great intro to C.S. Lewis's works and philosophy. I enjoyed it mostly because I like reading a little bit each day. This book is perfect for that because each entry is not more than 2 pages. If you want a general survey of C.S. Lewis, then this is your book.

Solid, if slightly disappointing...
I can't believe that I've given less than 5 stars to a work by C.S. Lewis, as I consider him to be the finest author of the 20th century.However, the faults of this devotional book do not lie with Lewis and possibly not even with the editor, but primarily with the format.

This book is essentially a collection of unrelated musings, isolated from among Lewis' many books and letters.One nice thing (at least for the way that I was using the book) is that the devotional readings are not designated to a specific day of the year, so there is no sense of having to read one (and only one) page each day.

As for the critique, in short, C.S. Lewis did not write in devotional form.He wrote rather complicated thoughts that required some length to explain.As such, it is difficult to pull out one paragraph or even one page sections from his body of work that sufficiently stand alone.

Of course, there are many of these short readings that maintain the spirit of Lewis, which allows the book to retain 4 stars.Unfortunately, some of the selections are very hard to understand without the full context from the original writing.And the disconnection from day to day is almost jarring, as the readings are not necessarily related in any way.

In any case, it's still a book worth reading, particularly for someone unfamiliar with the work of Lewis.If this is the only Lewis that you'll read, then do it, and you'll be blessed.However, I would certainly recommend his works like "Mere Christianity" and "The Screwtape Letters" to be read in their entirety, rather than in truncated pieces like this book.

Requires thinking and will challenge all Christians.
This compendium of Lewis's books is a must read for all Christians.Short clips require very deep thinking about a variety of important Christian subjects.You will not be able to read quickly or even just once. Meditation and Reflection is an apt title. ... Read more

Product Description

What if anyone in Hell could take a bus trip to Heaven and stay there forever if they wanted to?

Customer Reviews (265)

Brilliant
I bought this book several years ago because it was on sale at my local Christian bookstore, and because I had read and enjoyed so many other C.S.L. books. I never cracked it open until last week. I absolutely loved it. I read it three times in one week and will probably read it again soon. It's that good! I can't even begin to describe the insight and wisdom Mr. Lewis displays in this little book. If you've read anything of his, you know what I'm talking about and you also know that he does not need an endorsement from any of us. This book changed the way I think about heaven, hell, judgement, and God Himself. You will not be disappointed by this book.

Wonderfully imaginative & thought provoking
A short fantasy about various souls being sorted out after death. He specifically says he's not trying to describe what he thinks happens immediately after you die, but instead gives you examples of other people's troubles and how they make choices (even those choices made by people who think it's an option to not make a choice) about their afterlife; don't try to make theological sense out of it. He's instead trying to show you that the choice is yours to make now, before you die. You don't have to, and shouldn't, wait for purgatory (if you happen to believe in purgatory). It's definitely worth reading, especially since the investment in time isn't that great (under 200 pages).

Awesome allegory of life after death
If you aren't familiar with C.S. Lewis, he has an amazing way of turning seemingly complicated topics into understandable truths.In the Great Divorce, the reader gets a short, sweet and spectacular glimpse into what heaven and hell might look like.

Amazing insight
I listened to this book on cd by Lewis quite some time ago.I have read several of his works.The Screwtape Letters, excellent book, was, however, difficult to digest.I found that I had to take that one on in bites to get the full benefits of its insights.This book, however, was something I could just wrap my mind around and indulge my imagination with.Rather than read the book I tried the cd's on a whim and was not disappointed.The narration is so well done.Lewis is such a gifted writer and minister of the Word of God.He presents it in a way that is understandable and engaging in this particular piece.

Anyone could benefit from the lessons taught.It is essentially a battle between good and evil no matter how you spin it.As individuals we face a choice in every moment as to which side we are going to pick.The latter is made out to be so appealing...an addiction that plagues your thoughts and actions, clinging on for dear life.The Great Divorce plots out a course to free yourself of that wolf in sheep's clothing and be free to experience something so much greater.

Give it a try.You will not be disappointed.

Great book
I highly recommend this book.It was in good condition, and the book itself is very well written.It's a compelling visualization of heaven and hell, in a somewhat symbolic manner.C.S. Lewis is a genius. ... Read more

Product Description
An impeccable inquiry into the proposition that supernatural events can happen in this world. C. S. Lewis uses his remarkable logic to build a solid argument for the existence of divine intervention. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (50)

Poor quality, right title and quantity
I was disappointed that I ordered directly from Amazon and received books that had a different cover than was pictured, were made of poor quality "pulpy" material and one of the books actually had ~25 pages folded over and glued into the binding!The delivery took longer than it had in the past but I did not pay for expedited shipping.

The returned product was refunded without issue but I was short one book for my bookclub.Not good.

I hope this is not the new level of service Amazon will be providing.

A Delightful Rabbit Hole of Enjoyment
If I was reading a contemporary Christian author's reflections on the same topic, I would expect a straightforward, simplistic, hackneyed discourse.Instead, I was pleasantly surprised by C.S. Lewis's honest, thorough, and utterly unexpected approach to the topic.How refreshing! The central topic of the book definitely revolves around miracles; however, naturalism versus supernaturalism, philosophical assumptions, the incarnation, the resurrection, and prayer are delightfully discussed along the way.C.S. Lewis rightfully deserves his reputation as one of the most intellectual (so intelligent that he makes me feel idiotic), honest thinkers ever.I wish Friedrich Nieztche had been born half a century a later--would he have detected the "lying theologian's instinct" which he denounces in his book "Antichrist?"I doubt it.Delusion perhaps, but not dishonesty. If you're looking for high-quality Christian theology/philosophy, this is as good as it gets.

An honest Christian
"Miracles" is a book by Christian apologist C.S. Lewis. It was first published in 1947 and subsequently revised in 1960. It's Lewis' most philosophical book, and could be read as a heavier sequel to "Mere Christianity", his most well known non-fiction work. Both books explain and defend a fairly traditional form of Christianity. Lewis was an Anglican, but usually attempted to write from a kind of all-Christian perspective. Both Protestants and Catholics appreciate his works.

"Miracles" became quite notorious due to a debate between Lewis and the analytic philosopher Elizabeth Anscombe in 1948. The latter supposedly demolished Lewis' entire argumentation, and made him withdraw from philosophy, humiliated. This version can be found in "Jack", a friendly biography of Lewis by George Sayer. Interestingly, Anscombe herself denied that this is what happened, pointing out that Lewis actually rewrote one chapter of "Miracles" to better counter her arguments - hardly an action taken by a humiliated man who broke with philosophy. Anscombe believed that it might have been *Sayer* who was shocked by her criticisms. Besides, Anscombe was a Christian herself, so the point of her arguments was hardly to disprove the existence of God.

Lewis deals with two principal issues in this book. First, he argues that the supernatural exists and that miracles are therefore possible. This is the most interesting part of the book for a non-Christian (roughly chapters 1 - 13). Second, he explains from a more theological viewpoint how the miracles of Jesus should be interpreted. He also briefly deals with some other issues, for instance the difference between theism and pantheism. The book is well written, lucid and occasionally witty.

But is it convincing? Personally, I don't think so. First, I'm sceptical to the author's metaphysical angle. To Lewis, the existence of miracles cannot be proven or disproved empirically, unless we first solve the philosophical issue of whether they are possible at all. I disagree. The existence of miracles is an empirical question. A virgin birth is supposedly an empirical event in the material world. Therefore it should, in principle, be possible to detect scientifically. The same is true of miraculous healings, prophecies of future events, and the like. Science have systematically disproved virtually all concrete claims about miracles, and also proposed reasonable naturalist explanations for problems previously considered intractable, such as the origins of species. This is a strong non-philosophical argument against miracles. Lewis is, of course, quite correct that one cannot *ultimately* prove naturalism or disprove God, but this is at best an argument for agnosticism.

Lewis believes that the existence of reason must be supernatural, since no naturalistic process could give us true knowledge. This is a very odd argument. The author is oblivious of the explanatory force of evolutionary theory and seems to have a prejudiced idea about animals as "irrational". But there is nothing "irrational" about animals: to survive, they obviously need to have true knowledge of the outside world. Humans have a more highly evolved mind than other animals, and can therefore discover other truths than those immediately necessary for survival (no mystery either, unless you are an extreme Neo-Darwinian adaptationist). What on earth is the problem? Perhaps it's the metaphysical angle once again. Human brains also have the capacity to produce loads of truly irrational bunk, something no other animal can do, which surely proves that evolution isn't preplanned or conscious! Much of what passes for philosophy, theology or religion is such bunk. I'm simply not as impressed as Lewis by the "rationality" of metaphysical reasoning.

Further, Lewis argues that logic must be supernatural. Once again, why? Logic is an abstraction. A natural world must exist before such an abstraction can be made. It cannot be made out of thin air. There is no mystery about an intelligent being (one that evolved) drawing the conclusion that one piece of pebble plus another piece of pebble makes two pieces, and that this is necessarily true. Besides, the real world is in constant change and flux (and therefore "illogical" in a certain sense), which shows that logic is an abstraction, not something Platonically "real".

Lewis is on somewhat firmer terrain when debating morality. I agree that morality is ontologically weird, since moral principles apparently have to be derived from other moral principles. And a moral principle, of course, isn't "material" in the strict sense of the term. But does this necessarily point to Christian theism? It might simply mean that moral principles are a very special kind of natural phenomena, or that some kind of property dualism or ontological pluralism is true. Such a position is compatible with atheism. Besides, one cannot simply brush aside evolutionary explanations of morality lightly. I'm sure Lewis believes that self-preservation is moral, all other things being equal, while courageous self-sacrifice is necessary on some occasions. But in social creatures, these are exactly the traits promoted by natural selection! Thus, there is a connection between evolution and our (admittedly ontologically weird) moral principles. Perhaps the problem is that Lewis subconsciously thinks of the unusual parts of *Christian* morality, say the Sermon on the Mount, asceticism or martyrdom. However, it could be argued that these moral principles are irrational, precisely because they don't further the survival or happiness of the individual or the community. Thus, while Lewis is right to point out that morality is difficult to square with consistent naturalism ("boo to killing"), he nevertheless underestimates the explanatory power of evolution.

Lewis' most famous argument in this volume is the idea that a consistent naturalist cannot believe in free will. While "free will" is a tricky problem, I fail to see how it's satisfactorily solved by Christian theism. Lewis believes that naturalism denies free will by its claim that all events are caused. Everything that happens is therefore a link in a deterministic chain of cause and effect. But if free will isn't caused, is it uncaused? How can random events give us true knowledge? And no, one cannot solve the problem by saying "God did it". How did God do it? By causing our thoughts? In what sense is that less determinist than naturalist causation? Or are the ways of God unfathomable? In what sense is that argument different, in principle, from saying: "The material universe is still poorly understood". At least, matter can be observed!

I agree with Lewis that reality is complicated and that we don't really have the right to expect that it should be smooth and easy to understand. One cannot therefore argue against Christianity simply by pointing out that the Trinity or the Incarnation are "illogical", "incoherent" or "too complicated" by some kind of metaphysical standard (a naturalist metaphysics, this time). However, this works both ways. It could also mean that *naturalism* is true, and that seemingly immaterial phenomena such as minds, reason or morality can be given purely naturalistic explanations. These may be very exotic and strike us as "illogical" or "incoherent" but might be true nevertheless (intelligent design is more "logical" than evolution, yet evolution is the true position). It could also mean property dualism or some form of ontological pluralism, two positions compatible with both theism and atheism. Finally, it could mean that the only honest position to take is ontological agnosticism. Lewis narrows down the options to just three: Christianity, naturalism and pantheism. This may be understandable, given the target audience of his book (presumably naturalists), but the weirdness of the world means that other options are on the table, too.

I'm not saying "Miracles" is a bad book. Another atheist reviewer here at Amazon has repeatedly called Lewis "the atheist's favourite Christian apologist". I agree. It's not so much the arguments that mark him out. It's his style of writing. Lewis is strangely unassuming and yet completely unapologetic (in the vernacular sense). In plain English, he is honest. This is not a man who flees to some kind of pseudo-postmodernist ivory tower every time his beliefs are challenged. Nor is he on the attack, in that rabid sense typical of fundamentalists. No, he wants us to "reason together". And although I disagree strongly with his conservative political outlook (his anti-feminism being particularly galling), he even makes salient points. His criticism of logical positivism in this volume is a case in point. Indeed, how could the positivists be anti-Nazi if they believed that moral commandments were simply a way of saying "boo to killing"? If chimpanzees could speak, they would probably ream out such "philosophers". Or bash their skulls, as it were.

"Miracles" may not be convincing to atheist-agnostic-seekers like myself, but it's nevertheless a relatively competent introduction to the Christian criticism of naturalism.

Miracles: Can Logic Validate Faith?
After finishing C.S. Lewis's MIRACLES, I was reminded of a comment by one of the participants leaving a seminar on some convoluted, abstract subject: "We still don't understand," he said," but now we feel we don't understand on a much higher level." Lewis's book might well have been the topic of that seminar, and for that reason I rated MIRACLES 3 stars worth of understanding.

Lewis begins his case for miracles by defining them as "...an interference with Nature by supernatural power" and devotes the better part of his book laying the groundwork to prove the existence of the faith-based phenomenon. The author's argument is a series of proofs progressing from the concept of Nature to that of Supernature--the Supernatural; Lewis establishes that a Supreme Being--God, the King--exists, a necessary proof if one is to believe in miracles.

Lewis applies logic to validate religious faith, the Christian faith, in particular; rather than simply saying, "I believe," he makes his thesis an exercise in logic (Lewis contends that Man's reasoning, logical thought, and moral choice are manifestations of the Supernatural at work):"If one accepts A, then B must follow." One has to attend closely to this proper Brit's thoughts; because of Lewis's formal style, I sometimes found myself simply decoding words instead of following the thread of his arguments.

It is when Lewis applies his logic to the miracles themselves: Old Creation miracles and New Testament miracles (The Incarnation, Resurrection, and Ascension) that MIRACLES comes to life. Of particular interest to me in this section is the author's attempts to shed light on the nature of Christian Heaven: where it is, what it is, who will gain its glory and in what form. [It is because of the Ascension miracle, I believe, that Heaven has always been thought of as UP THERE somewhere.] Those of faith might take heed when Lewis states, "The letter and spirit of scripture, and all of Christianity, forbid us to suppose that life in the New Creation will be a sexual life..." and address such worldly concerns while they are still "in the, and of the flesh."

You might look at Lewis' book as an attempt to reconcile the doubters and scoffers of the world with those who steadfastly believe in the Christian story by applying logic to the issue. And while Lewis makes you ponder--perhaps question--your own beliefs, the truth of the matter is, whether you believe in a Divine Power, that there is a God and a Heaven, whether miracles have happened, can happen, or whether the whole thing is merely fol-de-rol, just a fanciful story, where it concerns faith, you either have it or you don't. No Venn diagram will convince you otherwise.

A Compelling Argument
The greatness of Lewis' books on theology/God/religion/faith/etc. is that even the most hardcore atheist will come out of these books with something. *Miracles* is full of intelligent thought, brilliant philosophy, witty remarks, and everything that makes a classic Lewis book. This one is no exception.

*Miracles* is subtitled *A Preliminary Study* and indeed it does the groundwork one must do before tackling actual miracles; so do not expect this book to be an enquiry into specific miracles with historical details and such: this is more of a philosophical enquiry into the possibility and nature of miracles, what they are, what they imply if they exist, and how they could exist.

*Miracles*, as any other book by Lewis I read, is a delicious read. Not one page is dull, not one empty moment. This is one of the few philosophers that I really feel like are bringing something true and important to my life. ... Read more

Product Description
Why must humanity suffer?In this elegant and thoughtful work, C. S. Lewis questions the pain and suffering that occur everyday and how this contrasts with the notion of a God that is both omnipotent and good. An answer to this critical theological problem is found within these pages.Amazon.com Review
The Problem of Pain answers the universal question, "Why would an all-loving, all-knowing God allow people to experience pain and suffering?" Master Christian apologist C.S. Lewis asserts that pain is a problem because our finite, human minds selfishly believe that pain-free lives would prove that God loves us. In truth, by asking for this, we want God to love us less, not more than he does. "Love, in its own nature, demands the perfecting of the beloved; that the mere 'kindness' which tolerates anything except suffering in its object is, in that respect at the opposite pole from Love." In addressing "Divine Omnipotence," "Human Wickedness," "Human Pain," and "Heaven," Lewis succeeds in lifting the reader from his frame of reference by artfully capitulating these topics into a conversational tone, which makes his assertions easy to swallow and even easier to digest. Lewis is straightforward in aim as well as honest about his impediments, saying, "I am not arguing that pain is not painful. Pain hurts. I am only trying to show that the old Christian doctrine that being made perfect through suffering is not incredible. To prove it palatable is beyond my design." The mind is expanded, God is magnified, and the reader is reminded that he is not the center of the universe as Lewis carefully rolls through the dissertation that suffering is God's will in preparing the believer for heaven and for the full weight of glory that awaits him there. While many of us naively wish that God had designed a "less glorious and less arduous destiny" for his children, the fortune lies in Lewis's inclination to set us straight with his charming wit and pious mind. --Jill Heatherly ... Read more

Customer Reviews (116)

Why does God allow pain?
In The Problem of Pain C.S Lewis addresses the "elephant in the room" when it comes to Christianity.He answersthis question, if God really loves us why does he allow pain to come into our lives? Everyone at one point or another asks themselves that. C.S Lewis gives us a new point of view and theological reasons to this issue.

One of the main reasons that he tells us is that our pain is a reflection of our sin. When we sin we are subconsciously turning our hearts away from the Lord and that causes us to endure pain. "We have a strange illusion that mere time cancels sin. But mere time does nothing either to the fact or to the guilt of a sin." Lewis mentions this because people who are constantly in emotional pain are waiting for time to cancel their sin. Not everyone who is in pain is experiencing it as a reflection of sin, but as christians we seem to be in a lot more pain than others due to sin. This is because we know what is right and we choose to walk down the pain of temptation and sin. "From the moment a creature becomes aware of God as God and of itself as self, the terrible alternative of choosing God or self for the centre is opened to it."

C.S Lewis also explains how once you experience God's love for you, you will forever long to have it. "God will look to every soul like its first love because He is its first love."This part of the book helped me to re-fall in love with God. As Christians we find it easy to become accustomed to just do the "christian walk" and we start to forget about all the things that God has actually done for us. "We regard God as an airman regards his parachute; it's there for emergencies but he hopes he'll never have to use it." This quote was one of the most powerful quotes for me through out the entire book. It moved me so much because I could see in my own life where I was putting God on the back burner. This book has taught me a lot of things that will help me through out my life.

C.S Lewis is an amazing man of God. You can see it in his writing that he writes because of experience. He lets his walk with God lead his writing. As Christian reading this book you can look into the words that Lewis says and relate it to your lives. I believe that God has given Christians this chance to have authors like Lewis to relate to and to seek advice from. In the end this is the statement I will leave this with, "God has paid us the intolerable compliment of loving us, in the deepest, most tragic, most inexorable sense."

Lewis Tackles the Problem of Pain
It is somewhat inconceivable to believe that the same man who authored "A Grief Observed" also penned a book about pain. But Lewis is honest about his task in regards to writing about pain, stating that "All arguments in justification of suffering provoke bitter resentment against the author." This is perhaps why a "Grief Observed" is so incredible. In a "Grief Observed" Lewis writes about his own suffering (the lost of his wife) in stark detail, expressing his doubts about his faith and God. So in a sense, "The Problem of Pain" should be read juxtaposed to "A Grief Observed" since any resentment against the author will quickly dissipate with the turn of each page. Behold a man who could not avoid the problem he set out to justify. The "Problem of Pain" deals with the theoretical justification for pain; "A Grief Observed" is the application of that theory.

In this book Lewis writes: "If I knew a way of escape [escape from suffering] I would crawl through sewers to find it. But what is the good of telling you about my feelings? You know them already: they are the same as yours. I am not arguing that pain is not painful. Pain hurts. That is what the word means. I am only trying to show that the old Christian doctrine of being made 'perfect through suffering' is not incredible. To prove it palatable is beyond my design." Thus, Lewis sets out to give us a different perspective about suffering. He traces suffering back to the fall in Eden and Satan's reign in the world. Lewis also talks about human pain and animal pain. Lastly, Lewis switches voices as he discusses heaven and the restoration of the human soul.

I'll admit that this book isn't an easy read. I'll be the first to admit that there are many things in this book that I have yet to understand. But I think that with more time and experience, I will be able to re-read this book and think, "Alas Lewis, I see."

The human spirit will not surrender self-will as long as all seems to be well with it
The pages are yellowing on my modest collection of C.S. Lewis paperbacks.I've read them several times over the years, and they ring as strong and true as the first time through them, if not more so.

In the Problem of Pain, Lewis deals with the difficulty of suffering in a world created by a good and all powerful God.As a Catholic, I understand that suffering exists to bring about a greater good, but why is that? Basically, it comes down to our free will; if humans are beings free to choose and not simply automatons, we have to have the ability to go bad: we are self-absorbed rebels and, as Lewis explains, "the human spirit will not even begin to try to surrender self-will as long as all seems to be well with it."

There are plenty of great, informative reviews already written, but I just want to highlight two passages that stood out to me; I'm a sucker for dogs, so these both had added impact.

The first passage is an analogy to help explain why pain is involved - even necessary - in God's plan for us to reach perfection:

"Man interferes with the dog and makes it more lovable than it was in mere nature. In its state of nature it has a smell, and habits, which frustrate mans' love: he washes it, house-trains it, teaches it not to steal, and is so enabled to love it completely. To the puppy the whole proceeding would seem, if it were a theologian, to cast grave doubts on the 'goodness' of man: but the full-grown and full-trained dog, larger, healthier, and longer-lived than the wild dog, and admitted, as it were, by Grace to a whole world of affections, loyalties, interests, and comforts entirely beyond its animal destiny, would have no such doubts."

How true. House breaking must be a complete mystery to that furry, little, tail-wagging barbarian; and the concept of bathing must be as linked in the mind of a puppy to torture as food is to pleasure.

Lewis continues:

"It will be noted that the man takes all these pains with the dog, and gives all these pains to the dog, only because it is an animal high in the scale - because it is so nearly lovable that it is worth his while to make it fully lovable. He does not house-train the earwig or give baths to centipedes. We may wish, indeed, that we were of so little account to God that He left us alone to follow our natural impulses - that He would give over trying to train us into something so unlike our natural selves: but once again, we are asking for not more love, but less."

The next passage, near the end of the book, deals with the idea of vicariousness in Christianity. As we are saved and resurrected in the man Christ, so too, Lewis supposes, our pets may - may, mind you - be taken up through us as we are taken up through Christ:

"And in this way it seems to me possible that certain animals may have an immortality, not in themselves, but in the immortality of their masters. And the difficulty about personal identity in a creature barely personal disappears when the creature is thus kept in its proper context. If you ask, concerning an animal thus raised as a member of the whole Body of the homestead, where its personal identity resides, I answer `Where its identity always did reside even in the earthly life -- in its relation to the Body and, specially, to the master who is the head of that Body.' In other words, the man will know his dog: the dog will know its master and, in knowing him, will be itself. To ask that it should, in any other way, know itself, is probably to ask for what has no meaning. Animals aren't like that, and don't want to be."

Since reading that passage, I have often wondered, petting my dogs as they rest so blissfully on the couch, if one day I may find that in return for the adoration and companionship they have afforded me, if, in 'civilizing' them, I have not done a greater thing than I know.

a perspective on conveyance
There are things in life that can be learned which cannot be taught.

For some of those things it is a matter of audience.

I remember a song from a couple years ago which contained, roughly, "You never know what God is going to use to reach you." In particular, there was a line about having to say goodbye to someone who left too soon.

The moral of the song was, again roughly, "that which is bad, is actually good, when you belong to Jesus."

I think it is perfectly fine to have this realization *for yourself*.
I can quite see someone in the grip of loss, steadfast in their faith, come to God and worship and cling to His sufficiency and providence.
But I think this realization loses all of its power when you try to translate it to the 2nd person.
"Hey, you should worship God because of this."
Whether this conveyance is true or not, the message is lost.
The moral compass of the hearer almost becomes a raging beast, "What right have you to tell me to submit to this injustice."

That's why I didn't like the song much then.

I like it even less today.

This is because I now have a brother and a friend who have both been asked to make the sacrifice of Abraham, their child. Or if the analogy breaks down, because Abraham made a choice, the sacrifice of Job, which was to worship through the loss.

So if one is going to talk about someone's pain, one is, from the outset, choosing to be indelicate. He is choosing to talk in 2nd person about those things which experienced in 1st person sweep one directly into the throes of existence and mortality.

That said, The Problem Of Pain is about as delicately indelicate as can be achieved on the matter.

Can anything good come from Nazareth? ... or Pain?
In the beginning of Saint John's gospel, Philip finds Nathaniel and excitingly tells him, "We have found the [Messiah], Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth!" Nathaniel's obviously less than enthusiastic response was, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" (Jn 1:45-46). I think if we approached a friend and told that friend, "I have a new richer outlook about pain!" Our friend would most assuredly respond very glumly, "Can anything good come from pain?" Let me qualify that statement! Our friend would reply thus, unless they had read "The Problem of Pain" by C. S. Lewis.

This book is based on the claim and belief that underlies all Lewis' works, and that Nathaniel quickly found out, that something good did come out of Nazareth! With his extraordinarily rare brilliance that mystifies his readers, Lewis takes a subject that does not make sense, cannot be understood, and cannot be readily accepted. Startlingly, we then marvel as his incredible mind begins to make sense of all this, so that we, the reader, can begin to understand, and learn to accept to some degree, certainly in this case, one of the most difficult aspects of life that many people have to face or experience.

Nathaniel did not just swallow what Philip said; but, he accepted the invitation, "Come and see!" We certainly do not have to buy this whole matter blindly. I even propose that we do not even have to read the entire book! We just need to go and see for ourselves. Begin to read the book and see what happens!
... Read more

Product Description
Beloved author C .S. Lewis is our wise and inspiring guide in this elegant collectible book of 366 poignant and thought-provoking daily meditations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (30)

Simply Fabulous!
I'm a big Lewis fan and this book is just great - almost every day has an amazingly inspiring excerpt from his writings!

Great book!
This is a great devotional book.It is both inspirational and convicting.Lewis is one of the most if not the most intelligent Christian thinker, and yet he breaks things down to their utter simplicity.I definitely recommend this to anyone looking to get startedreading C.S lewis' writings.The excerpts are the perfect length for daily pick me ups.

Strongly recommend
This is by far the best daily devotional I've ever read.Having read only two of C.S. Lewis's books, I have found both to be rather difficult reads, requiring both patience and an advanced vocabulary.This volumn condences the best of his many books into a very personal,thought provoking and more easily to read text, all of which is very supportive of his commitment of faith.Really, an outstanding book that the reader will want to retain, and to have available so as to occasionally reread portions forever.

Daily Readings
I have many of C.S. Lewis' books, but not until recently did I know that this book even existed.I really like having a little snippet of his to read every day.

Great daily devotional
This is a wonderful collection of C.S. Lewis' works--a nice collection of thoughts for each day. It's a great way to get a feel for his literacy style, theology, and insight on a variety of topics. ... Read more

Product Description
A candid, wise, and warmly personal book in which Lewis explores the possibilities and problems of the four basic kinds of human love- affection, friendship, erotic love, and the love of God. “Immensely worthwhile for its simplicity...a rare and memorable book” (Sydney J. Harris).Amazon.com Review
The Four Loves summarizes four kinds of humanlove--affection, friendship, erotic love, and the love ofGod. Masterful without being magisterial, this book's wise, gentle,candid reflections on the virtues and dangers of love draw on sourcesfrom JaneAusten to St. Augustine. Thechapter on charity (love of God) may be the best thing Lewis everwrote about Christianity. Consider his reflection on Augustine'steaching that one must love only God, because only God is eternal, andall earthly love will someday pass away:

Who could conceivably begin to love God on such aprudential ground--because the security (so to speak) is better? Whocould even include it among the grounds for loving? Would you choose awife or a Friend--if it comes to that, would you choose a dog--in thisspirit? One must be outside the world of love, of all loves, beforeone thus calculates.

Customer Reviews (94)

To love at all is to be vulnerable
Reading C.S. Lewis has for me always been like eating a rich dessert: you can't gulp it down in large mouthfuls or you'll miss the flavor. This analogy applies most of all, I think,to The Four Loves.Lewis has such a gift for unpacking complex topics with all the learning of an Oxford professor without coming off as condescending. Yet he never short-changes his readers - he challenges just enough to keep you walking with him as he explores the human heart and that part of it that is knowable in the Divine.

Like most of Lewis' works, you can pick any paragraph at random, and you will find a quote with the ring of Eternal Truth:

"Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket - safe, dark, motionless, airless - it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell."

"Suppose you are fortunate enough to have "fallen in love with" and married your Friend. And now suppose it possible that you were offered the choice of two futures: "Either you two will cease to be lovers but remain forever joint seekers of the same God, the same beauty, the same truth, or else, losing all that, you will retain as long as you live the raptures and ardours, all the wonder and the wild desire of Eros. Choose which you please." Which should we choose? Which choice should we not regret after we had made it?"

"[Affection] is indeed the least discriminating of loves... There need be no apparent fitness between those whom it unites. I have seen it felt for an imbecile not only by his parents but by his brothers. It ignores the barriers of age, sex, class and education. It can exist between a clever young man from the university and an old nurse, though their minds inhabit different worlds. It ignores even the barriers of species. We see it not only between dog and man but, more surprisingly, between dog and cat. Gilbert White claims to have discovered it between a horse and a hen."

Christians, especially those who have marveled at the thirteenth chapter of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians,should not go through life without at least one trip through this book.

Interesting book, makes you think.
The Four Loves by CS Lewis has taken me a while to get through but is very interesting and challenging. CS lewis is a very deep thinker.

Kindle Version not edited after OCR
I'm trying to read what should be an excellent book on my Kindle Reader on my iPhone 4. The punctuation is missing on half the sentences. For a paragraph or two, this might be readable, but I can't do this for a whole book! I'm sending it back if possible.

Great book.Dreadful ebook!Truly pathetic work by the publisher.
I am excited every time a book by C.S. Lewis is released in either Kindle or Apple iBook format.Make no mistake: THIS IS A GREAT BOOK.I would give C.S. Lewis 10 stars for the original writing, if possible. However, Mariner Books recent release of this as a Kindle book is absolutely dreadful!

By the time I read just the first few pages I had found SO MANY typos that it is wholly distracting.Countless sentences lack a period at the end.Many words are improperly capitalized or hyphenated. It is patently obvious, Mariner Books did not assign anyone to proofread this text prior to its release in ebook format.It is shameful, and an affront to the great man's legacy.

MARINER, STEP UP TO YOUR RESPONSIBILITY AS A PUBLISHER!FIX THIS AND ISSUE AN UPDATE TO ALL WHO PURCHASE THIS BOOK!

AMAZON, HOLD YOUR EBOOK PROVIDERS ACCOUNTABLE FOR PRODUCT QUALITY!
-----------
UPDATE

When I first submitted my review (above) it was the ONLY review for the Kindle version.Since then Amazon has buried my review among a tidal wave of older hard copy reviews.Amazon, this is inappropriate!!!

Lovely insights
I'll admit that I haven't read a ton of work by Lewis, but of the work I have read, The Four Loves felt the most scholarly, moreso even than my recollections of Mere Christianity.In The Four Loves, Lewis breaks down the concept of love and analyzes it from a moral and Christian perspective.

He uses familiar scholarly concepts from Plato's day by breaking love into the same four main segments that the Greeks used:Affection, Friendship, Eros and Charity.He adds to this the Christian scriptural reference that "God is Love" and then explores the religious aspects of love.

Some of the scholarly breakdown twisted my brain a little bit and took multiple readings to try and untangle...as he expounded on "Need Love" versus "Gift Love", I was right there with him, but when he started putting forth various in-depth analysis between Venus (sexuality) and Eros (romantic 'being in love'), things started to get muddled...and when he broke into the chapter on Charity, there were a number of theoretical and rhetorical leaps that were difficult for me to follow at times.

Overall though and in spite of moments of confusion, the general message of the book was good and well presented.He provided great insight into the differences between each of the categories presented.The concept of Affection vs Friendship in terms of what makes a 'real friend' was rather intriguing, especially as he continued his examples through love's progression to show how and why friendships are formed or fail to be formed, how and why friendships can grow into romantic relationships or not, and what aspect Charity plays in all of this.

As with Lewis's other books, there is plenty of theological discussion going on.I don't agree with everything he had to say, which is fine, but I think he made some great points.During the last chapter or so as he speaks on Charity, he provides some great nuggets for us to think on as we think about our own charitable behaviors.He also talks about the idea of Charity being both a 'need love' and a 'gift love' and that as we engage in that paradox, we are growing nearer to God's love.

I enjoyed the message of the book and the well thought out and well expressed arguments Lewis makes.The tone of the book was a little too scholarly at times which made it occasionally hard to read (since I've just finished school and am enjoying the break *grin*).

Still, I really like Lewis's insights, research and writing.I enjoyed "Mere Christianity" and "Screwtape" and I'm looking into a few of his other 'theological'/'scholarly' works.He has a nice style and presents great messages without being overly preachy.

****
3.5 out of 5 stars ... Read more

Product Description
A forceful and accessible discussion of Christian belief that has become one of the most popular introductions to Christianity and one of the most popular of Lewis’s books. Uncovers common ground upon which all Christians can stand together.Amazon.com Review
In 1943 Great Britain, when hope and the moral fabric ofsociety were threatened by the relentless inhumanity of global war, anOxford don was invited to give a series of radio lectures addressingthe central issues of Christianity. Over half a century after theoriginal lectures, the topic retains it urgency. Expanded into bookform, Mere Christianity never flinches as it sets out arational basis for Christianity and builds an edifice of compassionatemorality atop this foundation. As Mr. Lewis clearly demonstrates,Christianity is not a religion of flitting angels and blind faith, butof free will, an innate sense of justice and the grace of God. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (617)

The novel that changed my life
This novel changed the way I acted, spoke, thought, and carried myself every single day. I was turned on to this book by my Younglife leader and I was a little hesitant to read it because of the old English style of writing. I was thoroughly surprised to find that every single sentence had meaningful content to my life. From Christians who are trying to find an amazing read about their religion to the person that is not too sure that there is a God out there, this book will give you knowledge and will provoke your thoughts in a way that you could never have imagined.
The first Book in this novel revolves around such an amazing topic. The first book helps us understand why there is a God. C.S. does an exceptional job in describing God without using the words 'Lord', 'Savior', or 'Father'.C.S. describes God in a way that makes you truly believe in a greater force then the ones we see on Earth. I read this book to find answers to my questions about God and why He does the things He does. I definitely found the answers in this book. It is imperative to take these words from 'Mere Christianity' to heart because knowledge is only useful and meaningful if you put this knowledge into practice. C.S. takes such an unknown and occasionally uncomfortable topic and creates a well organized piece that helps you understand who God is and why you need Him in your life.
This novel makes you think. It creates these thought provoking questions and ideas that you truly have to think about for a couple days. I heard ideas from this book that I had never thought were relevant in my life but I soon found out that they were the centerfolds. C.S. also address the fact that we are human, which we rarely think about. We are all the same and we need God in all the same ways when it comes down to it. C.S. writes with such passion and connects with aspects of our lives, which many books can never do.
This book will make you dive into the parts of your brain that you have never explored before. This book will make you look at the world in a new way. This book will raise your consciousness about Our Creator. This book will help you understand the aspects about God that you question or aspects that you have never heard before. This book will blow your mind but also calm it. This book is an exceptional read strictly because C.S. takes a very controversial, and occasionally awkward topic and creates a novel that puts it in perspective. I strongly recommend this book if you have ever questioned your life or the Lord that created you. C.S. creates another epic classic in Mere Christianity.

A good introduction to conventional christian thinking.
I'm not a Christian and on a polemical level I didn't find this book to be very persuasive.It contained a lot of after-the-fact reasoning to justify pre-existing beliefs.Of course, the same could be said for almost all books about religion or politics.It is a fairly succinct account on how many Christians think so I can recommend it to people who want to learn more about Christianity.

Practical yet Inspiring
There is nothing empty or shallow in CS Lewis' explanation of the truths of Christianity. While expressing idealogogical facts, he using allegorical and practical references throughout this masterpiece. Mr. Lewis is engaging and yet down to earth. He does not elaborate on one set of Christian precepts to the exclusion of others.He covers a wide range of beliefs without bias.
It is clear from his explanations of Christian principles that he has struggled to attain the insight and knowledge to express Christianity with such clarity. I will listen to this CD over and over.....it never loses its originality.

Incredible!
One of the best books on Christianity I have ever read.This book was given to me by a former agnostic who is now a Christian and much of the conversion was from this book.C S Lewis somehow manages to give practical reasoning to a subject I thought could only be taken on faith.I highly recommend to anyone who wants answers to questions about Christianity that no one else can answer in such a practical way.

Timeless and Practical
I really like the practical analogies that C . S Lewis uses to illustrate otherwised difficult concepts to understand.Even thought it was written more than 60 years ago, his writing stye comes across as warm and illustrates his passion for Christianity. ... Read more

Product Description
Includes six titles:Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, A Grief Observed, The Problem of Pain, Miracles, and The Great Divorce. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (29)

Flowing wisdom
These books have so much in them.I haven't read them all yet, but I plan to learn from the great C.S. Lewis, and his infinite wisdom.

Classis C.S. Lewis
As a gift this was purchased for our library collection,
C.S. Lewis is great on literature,christian fantasy
and christian classics.

Greatest works of C.S. Lewis
These books are by far some of the best known to Christian Apologetics.
I would have rated this five stars, but the covers on these books did not match the description.
It is a shame that they were published to look and feel so cheap. I'm not too sure if they will be
able to hold up to more than one reading.

Beautiful books.
Books arrived in good time and in excellent condition.The cover designs are wonderful.

Wrong Product! 2007 "rough cut" edition instead
IMPORTANT: This review is about the physical product being shipped when you order C. S.Lewis Signature Classics: Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, A Grief Observed, The Problem of Pain, Miracles, and The Great Divorce (Boxed Set). The product being shipped IS NOT THE PRODUCT PICTURED on that page at the time of this writing.

I have the greatest respect for Lewis and his writings, and love every book in this collection. For the content of these volumes: 5/5 stars. You needn't look very far to find many high-quality 5-star reviews of Lewis' work.

However, this physical product is one of the lowest-quality publishing jobs I've ever seen. I don't think HarperCollins (or anyone) should ever try to pass this edition off as the same product as the earlier edition box set depicted in the product pictures. The original 2001 box set has different art, different typesetting, different dimensions, different paper, etc., etc. the list goes on. The original (2001) edition is also far more durable, and ages better. I should know, I have both.

What you *want* is the original edition, but good luck finding it. HarperCollins refers to both the 2001 box set and this newer "rough cut" edition with the same ISBN, so if you search for and believe you've bought the 2001 box set you'll most likely be unpleasantly surprised to receive this inferior version instead.

I will try to post a picture illustrating the differences between the two editions.

EDIT: Review edited to reflect Joseph's feedback. Thanks! ... Read more

Product Description
Selected from sermons delivered by C. S. Lewis during World War II, these nine addresses offer guidance and inspiration in a time of great doubt.These are ardent and lucid sermons that provide a compassionate vision of Christianity. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (45)

A Great Read
Just in the way of introduction, I should admit right off the bat that I have read most of C.S. Lewis' works and have been greatly inspired by them.The Weight of Glory was no exception.In this collection of essays, Lewis does a great job of providing both expositions on and advice for those taking the Christian journey.The sermon, The Weight of Glory itself was a good read which reminds the reader about the eternal importance of loving people whom all have eternal destinies either of heavenly glory or its' opposite.While I am a Christian who has much doubt about the nature of the Last Judgment and whether or not people will be eternally lost, I still appreciate Lewis' opinions on such issues.The take home message for me at least from this sermon is that much of what we consider important in this life is really nothing of the sort but rather people matter much more; in fact, eternally more.

Of his other essays, I "Why I am Not a Pacifist" and "The Inner Ring" were the most impactful on me.In the first, it was not Lewis' particular argument against pacifism in the face of WWII that interested me but the way Lewis went about discussing the issue.He covered both Christian and English traditions, psychological reasons one might embrace such a viewpoint and the nature of morality in general.I found that essay in particular to be a good model of how one should go about discussing moral issues and will perhaps look to it in the future if I were called upon to make a case for a moral stand."The Inner Ring" was an essay about the desire to get into the `in group' or clique that can drive a person who is not careful.Such a desire embraced in and of itself can lead to despair and immorality, according to Lewis.His solution is that one should seek to care about subjects for their own sake such as being skilled in one's profession, being a faithful Christian, writing or knitting well, etc.By doing such things, a person can find herself to be in the only inner ring that matters, that of being in the group of people trying to become more skilled in their profession, become better Christians, etc.

The other essays are good reads as well which have a lot of relation to Lewis' other works which is a nice treat for a Lewis fan like myself.In all, it was an enjoyable, enlightening read.

Great book!!!
This is a great book and I recieved it within the said timeline.The price was good and I am enjoying CS Lewis's great writing

Great
This book has proven to be useful for the class I am using for. It was delivered in a very timely matter and I find that I am very satisfied by the service provided by Amazon

all-time favorite!
C.S. Lewis' "weight of glory" is a MUST-READ! It is amazingly profound. I didn't care for some of the other articles in this book (i.e. some of the "On Forgiveness" article seemed odd), but the first article is fantastically deep and rich. I've re-read it probably 30 times over the years. I always find something new to think about.

Opening the Curtain for us
The Weight of Glory is the title piece in a collection of addresses that C.S. Lewis gave to various audiences.Some were sermons in churches; others were addressed to academic or professional audiences.Regardless of their context, all rank as excellent theological discourses.It is not unusual for Lewis to plunge the depths of an issue far more effectively and profoundly than any Christian cleric I have ever heard, but then remark casually that he may not be qualified to go further, not being a trained theologian.I will venture to comment that this modesty, whether false or sincere, is quite mistaken, as there are few contemporary theologians who have been able to open up truths to me the way Lewis has.

The sermon "The Weight of Glory" is Lewis' brilliant effort to pull back the heavy curtain, if only a bit, that separates our present earthly existence, from a vision of everlasting life.Lewis takes up what for him is a central theme:that our desires in this life are clues of the joy that awaits redeemed mankind in the life to come.Our earthly desires can never be satisfied by their objects.The deep-seated longing we all feel for meaning and love, a longing that we satisfy in a variety of ways, both noble and base, is ultimately a longing for our Creator God or, in other words, our true homeland, God's country.

Lewis reviews five points about heaven that he finds in the Bible and focuses his remarks on one in particular, that those who receive eternal life will experience "glory."He defines this glory as being first the personal approval of God and second, a glorification or exaltation due to being in the very presence of God. Lewis in all his writings (and addresses) has a particular gift for the apt illustration, analogy and metaphor.In this case he declares that we as fallible, short-sighted and puny mortals would probably view a glorified man as a god and be "tempted to worship"this completed, glorified man.Regarding man's potential for glorification by God, as well as the sobering alternative for eternal corruption, Lewis remarks "there are no ordinary people.You have never talked to a mere mortal.Nations, cultures, arts, civilization--these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat.But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit--immortal horrors or everlasting splendours."That fact that we were made for an eternal relationship with God confers an objective and substantial worth on every human being.

Examples of other speeches in the collection are "Transposition," an examination of the relationship between spiritual and physical realities, "Membership," a Christian view of the worth and place of the individual, "Learning in War Time," Lewis' understanding of the value of academic work and vocation, and "The Inner Ring," a warning against the lust for being part of the right group or privileged set.All are remarkable in their insights and could easily function as the premise for a fulfilling class, longer book, or deep discussion.Lewis again, astounds not only in his profundity, but his clarity and brevity. ... Read more

Product Description
The conclusion of the saga that began with The Magician's Nephew. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (121)

Beautiful and dark final volume--wish there were more
The very last of Narnia's chronicles is not a story for the fainthearted. If the previous book, The Silver Chair, was dark, this one is pitch black. Set in pre-apocalyptic Narnia, the first line of the story is, "In the last days of Narnia..." which clues the reader in to the idea that nothing terribly comforting lies ahead. In the opening chapter, we learn that Shift the Ape, a talking animal of Narnia, has found a lion skin he wants to tie to his friend Puzzle the Donkey. This doesn't seem significant until a few chapters later when it's revealed that Shift has been passing off his donkey friend as Aslan, and has a host of talking animals obeying his orders, since he's the supposed mouthpiece of Aslan. Next thing you know, Shift has conspired with Calormen, a country that has traditionally been Narnia's enemy, and is enslaving the animals and other creatures and forwarding a hybrid religion worshiping "Tashlan," saying that Tash, the bird-headed god of Calormen who demands human sacrifices, is the same as Aslan, the lion who once gave his life for a traitor.

Tirian, the current king of Narnia, tries to speak out against this heresy, but the lies have already taken root in the Narnians' minds, and the Calormene soldiers have too strong a presence to be overcome. Tirian is a likable, respectable, and fleshed-out character, a warrior-king in his early twenties who prefers to live in the woods away from court. In a novel involving less desperation, he'd be a fun character to watch, partly because of his deep-seated notions of martial honor and partly because he's always accompanied by his best friend Jewel, a deadly unicorn. When he knows his situation is hopeless, he prays that Aslan will send helpers to save Narnia, and adds that he doesn't care if he dies, so long as his country and its innocent population are preserved. Eustace and Jill, the British protagonists of the previous book, show up and aid him, but they don't save Narnia like the visitors from our world always have, because this time Narnia isn't meant to be saved; it's meant to be destroyed so something new can take its place.

As a child, this was my least favorite of all the Chronicles, because the first two-thirds of the story are filled with extremely depressing scenes of violence and cruelty. There are mentions of death by goring and beheading, it's implied that a man is eaten alive, and a Dryad dies screaming because the tree that houses her spirit has been cut down. Not really standard fare for Children's Lit, but the worst part of all is the state of the poor enslaved talking animals, who are hurt and confused by the idea that their God, Aslan, wants them to be harmed and humiliated. He doesn't, of course, but it's scary how quickly the Narnians will believe that Aslan wants them to suffer some very unholy things.

The final third of the book gets better because Tirian and all the old friends of Narnia (Peter, Edmund, Lucy, Jill, Eustace, Polly, Digory, everyone but Susan) find themselves in Aslan's country, a.k.a. Heaven. One of the most interesting things about Aslan's country is who is admitted and who is left out. Emeth, a soldier and noble of Calormen, makes it to Aslan's country, and he's perplexed by this because he has spent his whole life worshiping Tash. But Aslan explains to him that since his heart was pure and his intentions and actions were virtuous, everything he did in the name of Tash is attributed to Aslan, because nothing good comes from or is inspired by Tash, just as nothing vile or evil can come from Aslan. I definitely connect this idea to real life--the people who say they follow Jesus but are willing to do violence in his name? They don't know him and have nothing to do with him. Emeth's fate is the opposite of Susan Pevensie's, a girl who came from the right family, had the right history, and saw Aslan's magic with her own eyes, but fell away after a few years. Susan's non-ending always saddened me, and I held out hope that she might still change after the events of The Last Battle were past, since it's only Narnia that has ended, not England.

The whole "friends of Narnia" group quickly finds that Aslan's country isn't some sort of white puffy cloud-lined place, but rather a larger, better, more complete version of Narnia. Aslan's country also contains perfect, purified versions of England and every other place in existence--Digory correlates it to Plato's theory that every object in the physical world has a related ideal object in the metaphysical realm. This is part of why I love Lewis' writing--he's so intelligent and can blend scripture, fantasy fiction, and Plato's philosophy together in a unified whole. But sadly, all good things must come to an end. I wish these stories would never stop, but that's what the best series' do--they leave you wanting more.

"And for all of us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before" (pg 210-211).

The Epic Finale of a classic series
For me, an avid Narnia fan since the age of eight, "The Last Battle" is my favourite of the Narnia chronicles. While all the books are first rate in my opinion, Mr Lewis brings both his series and the world of Narnia to a literally earth-shattering finale on the scale of Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings." The scope of the story in this seventh and final instalment of the Narnia books encompasses far more than the immediate adventures of the principal characters, but deals with the ultimate struggle of good versus evil and the end of time itself.

The religious imagery that alludes to the biblical "Revelations" is unmistakable throughout. In "The Last Battle" Tirian, the final King of Narnia, has lost control of his realm to corrupt and unscrupulous forces both from within and beyond. Powerless and an outcast in his own land, Tirian in an act of desperation calls upon Aslan for help - and the stage for the Last Battle is set. Tirian and his band of ill-sorted but loyal desperados must face incredible odds, not least being Narnia's age old nemesis, Calormen, and their demonic chief deity, Tash.

Particularly towards the end of the book, the language that Mr Lewis uses is truly beautiful and even now when I read the final chapters, that raw emotion is still powerful. The past events, people and places of the previous six books are brought together at the end of Narnia's end of days that captures the heart and imagination in a way none of the other books can achieve. The reader is re-acquainted with many old characters who Aslan magically restores to life in a way that makes one feel like they are old and dear friends. The old Narnia dies - the door is literally closed on that old and worn out world and a glorious new door opens on the fresh new Narnia where anything and everything is possible. It is no small coincidence that this book has claimed more awards than the rest of the series, as Mr Lewis has taken the entire story of Narnia in this instalment to a truly spectacular climax. Do not overlook this one!

Unfortunately, the last delightful tale of Narnia
The Last Battle is the final volume of the seven books of The Chronicles of Narnia. It tells the tale of a self-centered and old, but clever ape that was very evil and a donkey that was profoundly stupid and did everything the ape told him to do
One day the ape found a lion skin, sewed it up and dressed the donkey in the skin, so that he looked like Aslan, the noble lion, the founder and protector, the god-figure of Narnia. The ape gathered the Narnian beings, animals who talk, as well as Calormene, dark skinned beings from another land. He enslaved the Narnians to the Calormene and forced the Narnians to cut down the holy trees of Narnia and perform menial tasks for him, such as bringing him nuts and bananas. He claimed that he was the spokes-being of Aslan, who was the donkey in disguise, and insisted that he was more than an ape, that he was a human.
(C. S. Lewis was probably having some fun here. The Calormene probably represented colored-men, as they were called in his day, blacks, who were the masters and not the slaves.)
The king of Narnia, a lad between twenty and twenty five years old, heard about the cutting of the trees and rushed with his friend, a unicorn, to stop the outrage. He did not believe that Aslan could have ordered such an unholy deed. The two chance upon two Calormenes beating a Narnian and kill the Calormenes (reminiscent of the act of the biblical Moses in Egypt). Rethinking that perhaps Aslan did order the tree cuttings, they surrender to the Ape, who immediately ties the king to a tree and plans to kill him.
Many adventures follow. How the king prays for the interventions of the humans from the other world, the sudden vision of the king before the previous seven visitors to Narnia, and the appearance of Eustace and Jill in Narnia. There are also three adventures of the saving of the king, the unicorn and the dwarfs.
When all are freed, more boisterous adventures follow: the appearance of the god of the Calormenes, a hideous looking being; the revolt against the ape by other evil beings; the appearance of a large Calormenesian army that takes over Narnia and kills many of the king's friends, including the leaders of his army.
Readers will discover if Aslan appears and if he saves the Narnians, or if this is the end of the Narnian kingdom, and why this is the last battle. Will Eustace and Jill be able to return to England? Was Alan's prediction true, that when they come they will be unable to return?
The final question is, "Will the readers miss the adventures of Narnia?" The answer is an emphatic, "Yes."

I don't know about this
I suppose I was quite sad with the end of this book. It didn't really seem to have much purpose other than to end everthing in a most depressing way. I happen to be an atheist, but I don't mind reading literature like this if its done well, but this is not. The book just seemed kind of empty. Really nothing like the Silver Chair, which I thought was a lot of fun to read or even Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which had a very allegorical ending, but I thought it was done quite well.

***********************SPOILER*****************************************

With this book, there was yet ANOTHER war, and then everything goes away.

And why would you kill all but one young girl. What a terrible way to end the story.


I'm really offended that there was only 1 darker skinned person who made it to Aslan's kindom. Maybe it was just the Narnia part of Aslan's Kingdom and other people were allowed in the other sections. But even so you could only find one "good muslim" in all of Narnia. I'm going to give Lewis a bit of a pass because of the time this was written, but even so I doubt I would read this to my young children. Its not appropriate for my children, who will be black, or any other race I think.

Thus, C. S. Lewis completes the cycle, from Creation to the Apocalypse.
The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy novels for children written by C. S. Lewis. It is considered a classic of children's literature and is the author's best-known work, having sold over 120 million copies in 41 languages. Written by Lewis between 1949 and 1954 and illustrated by Pauline Baynes.

The books contain Christian ideas made easily accessible to young readers. They are not pedantic, however, and their richness of adventure, color, and ideas have made them favorites of children and adults, Christians and non-Christians. In addition to Christian themes, Lewis also borrows characters from Greek and Roman mythology as well as traditional British and Irish fairy tales.

This is the last book on every edition or collection.

Completed in the spring of 1953 and published in 1956, The Last Battle chronicles the end of the world of Narnia. Jill and Eustace return to save Narnia from Shift, an ape, who tricks Puzzle, a donkey, into impersonating the lion Aslan. This problem causes a fierce battle between the Calormenes and King Tirian together with Jill, Eustace and a faithful dwarf.

Thus, C. S. Lewis completes the cycle, from Creation to the Apocalypse. ... Read more

Product Description
C.S. Lewis was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably the most thought provoking and influential Christian writer of his day. For over forty years, generations of readers have found insight and inspiration from his uniquely articulate view of God's interaction in the world and in our lives. The C.S. Lewis Bible is one of the most anticipated Bibles of our time. This NRSV Bible provides readings comprised of selections from Lewis's celebrated spiritual classics, a collection that includes Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, The Problem of Pain, Miracles, A Grief Observed, The Weight of Glory and The Abolition of Man, as well as letters, poetry, and Lewis's less-familiar works. Each reading, paired alongside relevant passages in the Bible, offers C.S. Lewis as a companion to a reader's daily meditation of scripture. As people engage in their devotional Bible reading, they will also gain insight from his writings and spiritual journey as they invite Lewis into their spiritual discipline. Key features of this Bible include:- New Revised Standard Version text - the most trusted, accepted, and accurate translation of the Bible on the market- Over 400 selections from C.S. Lewis for contemplation and devotional reading- Introductory essays on C.S. Lewis's view of scripture- Attractive two-color interior (brown/black)- Double-column format, in a readable, classic design- Presentation page for gift-giving ... Read more

Product Description

The first book in C. S. Lewis's acclaimed Space Trilogy, which continues with Perelandra and That Hideous Strength, Out of the Silent Planet begins the adventures of the remarkable Dr. Ransom. Here, that estimable man is abducted by a megalomaniacal physicist and his accomplice and taken via spaceship to the red planet of Malacandra. The two men are in need of a human sacrifice, and Dr. Ransom would seem to fit the bill. Once on the planet, however, Ransom eludes his captors, risking his life and his chances of returning to Earth, becoming a stranger in a land that is enchanting in its difference from Earth and instructive in its similarity. First published in 1943, Out of the Silent Planet remains a mysterious and suspenseful tour de force. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (176)

Going somewhere? How about to Malacandra!
To start things off I have to say that I love C.S. Lewis. I loved the Screwtape Letters, I loved Mere Christianity and I have read most of the Chronicles of Narnia. But this is a bit of a head scratcher. It's not that the story is bad. Quite the opposite in fact: it is a very interesting story and shares many similarities with the classic sci-fi of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. The problem for me, and one of the problems I've always had with Lewis, is that he is too smart for his own good. There is hardly any wonder or amazement in the character of Dr. Ransom at being on a new and strange planet. Both the character and the author treat Malacandra and its inhabitants as something to be analyzed and dissected rather than as something to awed about, like what you find in the Narnia tales. Not only that, but the postscript at the end kind of deflates everything as the character writes to the author saying that there were other senses, emotions and tales that the author left out that could have made the story better. Well, if Lewis, who is already a great writer, could have written all of these into the story, why didn't he do that? Certainly it would have made the tale more interesting and boosted the somewhat minuscule page count (158 in my edition). In the end, it's an interesting that tale that is weighed down too much by Lewis' brilliance.

Read All Three Books!
It took me 4 months to read all three books. It astonishes me on how much the average reader has lowered their expectations of writers. CS Lewis challenges the reader to think while they are reading; instead of going into a mind-numbing guide through a series of words prepared by writers who have little to no respect for the minds of their readers.

Every word written by CS Lewis, in his space trilogy, demand the reader to be their own thinker. In the second book, I was somewhat disgusted by the fact that Lewis derides the word "equality" in marriage. But I continued, simply because I wanted to know how the story ended.

In the 3rd book, CS Lewis went further and explained that there is no equality in marriage: No tit-for-tat, it is about sharing and giving your all to the person you have married... Not just women or men. He defined avarice as the reason our world is failing. "Nature is something dead--a machine to be worked, and taken to bits if it won't work the way he pleases." CS Lewis must have known a few oil tycoons in his day... But this can also be applied to any marriage. What is natural, is that we care for each other; and treat each other with respect. We fight this because of our self-centeredness. Our wants are placed above what is natural.

His spirits, in all the books, define the whispers in our ears; which in turn, define our actions.

These books are not for the weak in will; the weak in spirit; or the closed minds. And I must confess that mind slightly closed in the second book, toward the end. Perservere and you will be rewarded at the conclusion of the third book. Even if you are not Christian, I do recommend taking his advice to heart; and cleave unto each other with joy and caring!

CS Lewis Out of the Silent Planet
This science fiction novel written in 1939 by the great cs Lewis, is a great look at some entertaining science fiction with a moral belief system by the author in place.

Read It Again For the First Time
Out of the Silent Planet (Space Trilogy, Book One) One of C.S. Lewis' lesser known and, unfortunately, lesser read works is what is commonly referred to as the Space Trilogy (Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, That Hideous Strength). I might add that many of those that have not read it at least began it but then gave up before they were able to finish the first volume-I believe that is because Out of the Silent Planet is less of a stand alone volume as much as it is setting up the rest of the trilogy-however, it is very well worth reading in it's own right.

The story begins on the planet Thulcandra (Earth, or, the silent planet) where Ransom is taken captive by the sinister Weston and Devine. From there the action quickly moves from the trip to and arriving on the planet Malacandra where the majority of the action takes place. What we gradually learn is that instead of being the dangerous and inhospitable place that Weston and Devine believe it to be, Malacandra is an inviting and wonderful place inhabited by kind and protective species. Lewis presents the Malacandran system as almost a pure society. While there are three classes of beings on this planet, hrossa (the poets), pfifltriggi (the workers), and sorns (ruling class), they are all led by Oyarsa. Even though these classes have separate roles it is clear that they operate with equality and are appreciated for each of the parts they play.

Because of the darkness of their mind and intentions Weston and Devine see the sorns as dangerous and the society very simplistic in comparison to their own. Ransom, even though initially led to believe that attitude of his captors is accurate and thus initially fear the inhabitants of this beautiful planet, he soon befriends and emotionally connects to many of them, especially the hrossa and one in particular by the name of Hyoi who is eventually killed by Weston and Devine. Parallel to the darkness of these two antagonists is the darkness and silence of Thulcandra itself. The evil of Weston and Devine is very perplexing to the people of Malacandra-they cannot understand why somebody would kill someone that has done them no harm.

In true Lewis fashion you begin to know and love both these characters and this place. If you either began reading Out of the Silent Planet long ago and stopped mid-story or found yourself not that interested in beginning at all, I would encourage you to pick it up and try one more time (or maybe the first time). I think you will be glad you did.

out of this world
This novel was written in response to Olaf Stapledon's LAST AND FIRST MEN.Lewis was fascinated with the way Olaf Stapledon was able to fuse philosophy and science fiction, but shocked by an episode where Earthmen wipe out the ecology of another world so that humans can adapt it to their use.He wrote thisnovel as a counterweight. Oddly enough, this may have been the ultimate source of the movie "Avatar": human defending a Utopian alien planet against his own species.

In the story the hero, Ransom, visits the planet "Malacandra"(eventually revealed to be Mars).The details of Mars are of course way out of date from the modern point of view; one can think of it as a Tolkien-like imaginary world.Like Tolkien (who was a friend of Lewis's and may have been the model for Ransom), Lewis gives brilliant descriptions of the world: its people, their languages, the landscape, even the subtle effects of lower gravity.Three very different species (hrossa, sorns, and Pifiltriggi) live in near-perfect harmony.The hrossa specialize in art, the sorns in abstract thought, the pifiltriggi in technology.Ransom learns to admire each species and to think of his own species more critically.

Finally he meets the world's ruler, Oyarsa, who explains the history of the planet.Part of it is that Earth is the misfit planet of the universe and is out of contact with the rest; hence the title "Silent Planet".

Readers who are Christian can interpret the Oyarsa's revelation as a religious allegory.Those who are not can enjoy it as an interesting mythology.The sequels put more emphasis on the religious background and so might not appeal to everybody, but this novel is quite accessible.





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Product Description
I am Nature, the Mighty Mother, I am the law: ye have none other. I am the flower and the dewdrop fresh, I am the lust in your itching flesh. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Kindle edition: unreadable
Unfortunately, the Kindle edition of this book is utterly unreadable. Literally every page has scanning errors, but it's more than that: most page are actually unreadable, due to words flying around to random spots, obscuring other text.

Other reviews are for the Kindle version, NOT the audio book on this page
Just to clarify, the one star review appearing here refers to the KINDLE version, and not the audio book featured on this page.The audio book is, in fact, excellent.Amazon is doing products a great disservice by lumping reviews for various media together.

Poor Kindle Formatting
I purchased this book as I am a fan of Lewis' poetry. Having searched for "C.S. Lewis poetry" in Kindle's books, I came across this (and this alone). Intrigued by the book and the price, I purchased it. Unfortunately, there are spacing issues throughout, such as "See! the shaggy pelt doth growOn his twisted..." etc. I cannot find a page which does not have these spacing/formatting issues and they are quite annoying. Look elsewhere. ... Read more

Product Description
An authoritative collection of the author's work includes theological pieces, autobiographical accounts, letters, excerpts from monographs and essays, a collection of his poems, and other selections. Reprint. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Essential C.S. Lewis for Lance
I received what I ordered, to the correct ship address, on time and in good condition.

A great overview
A few months ago I was browsing the CS Lewis books at Barnes and Nobles. A woman approached me, said her brother wanted to know more about CS Lewis, and asked which book she should get. I recommended Mere Christianity, but the Essential C.S. Lewis was not available. This book, with its wide range of works including two complete novels, a selection of essays, and others is certainly the choice. C.S. Lewis is for the thinking Christian and you find yourself, especially with his essays, looking for a piece of paper to write down the ideas.

The binding of this book and the paper make it very attractive. The size and type of font are easy on the eyes. The price of this book makes it a bargain.

very good introduction to CS Lewis
This volume is a good selection of Lewis's complete works. This book gives an excellent, balanced introduction to the ideas found in C.S. Lewis' works. It includes some complete works of differing genres, and manyselections from an even wider range of his works including letters andessays. Many of the most quoted passages from a large number of works areincluded.

An Excellent Anthology
This volume is a good selection of Lewis's complete works, even tho it is not quite the book I would have made.However, it does lay a fair claim to presenting the essential CSL both in terms of what he was best known forand what his devoted readers would agree is most important.Included aretwo of his indispensable essays, Abolition of Man and De DescriptioneTemporum.Two novels are included, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe;and Perelandra.Poetry, writings on literature, autobiography, letters andapologetics are all represented.The only glaring omission in my opinionis his introduction to George MacDonald: An Anthology, but it could beargued that that essay was about someone else and did not really belonghere.And my only real complaint about the book is that it is printed onwhat appears to be rather cheap paper: books like this one are meant to bekept for a long time.

Excellent introduction to the works of cs lewis
This book gives an excellent, balanced introduction to the wealth of ideas found in C.S. Lewis' many works. It includes some complete works of differing genres, and many selections from an even wider range of his worksincluding letters and essays. Many of the most quoted passages from a largenumber of works are included. A great book for anyone who knows a little ofLewis' works and wants to know what else the man has to say. Especiallygood if one feels a bit overwhelmed by how many works there are to choosefrom and wants to sample first. ... Read more

Product Description
Lewis addresses theological and ethical questions with profoundly Christian insight in these 48 essays. Drawn from a variety of sources and written to meet a variety of needs, the essays range from popular newspaper pieces to learned defenses of the faith. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (31)

God in the Dock
Excellent series of articles by CS Lewis with his usual incisive views of Christianity.
Highly recommend.

Incredible
I can't say enough about this author. Every book of his is incredible. great book like all his others.

Excellent Resource, Especially for the Price
C.S. Lewis has long been my favorite author because of his lucid interpretation of what Christianity is all about (Mere Christianity), the Problem of Evil (Problem of Pain), bereavement (A Grief Observed), etc. I have over 40 books by Lewis and I would regard this one as one of the most valuable, for it sheds light on many of Lewis's views through a plethora of witty essays. This book is also very reasonably priced and quite meaty. Every essay is thought-provoking. This is a wonderful book for one who wants to get a handle on what Lewis believed (in regards to philosophy, at least). An invaluable book to add to the library for under $15.

Daniel

God in the Dock
C. S. Lewis is considered to be the greatest Christian apologist (defender of the Christianity) of the twentieth century.He is that and so much more.He is inspiring, amusing, no-nonsense, humble and exact.I recommend this book to anyone who is searching for a fuller experience of God.This unique Christian writer can give you a new perspective, can squelch your doubts, or can deepen your faith.Give him a try and stick with him -- you will reap a benefit.

Of all the essay books published, this is the most rewarding.The range of subject matter is impressive and edifying -- from the Miracles essay on the supernatural to Meditation in A Toolshed about looking at and along things to get a complete picture.There are two sections of questions and answers -- one from factory workers at Electric and Musical Industries, Ltd. and one at Magdalene College, Cambridge with an interviewer from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.The first is a wide range of subject matter and the second about Christian writing.There is also a sample of leters with subject matter from war to capital punishment.I feel sure that both believers and non-believers can benefit from this book.

Is There A God in Heaven?
Prof Lewis lived in a time when the intelligentsia were daring to assert the idea that God perhaps did not exist. Now, religion is taught in our universities along the lines of " How and Why Did Mankind Feel the Need to Invent God?"

The question is still the same. If indeed we are a bundle of random cells, why does any of our rambling matter? What is the basis of declaring anything good or bad? Do what you want, and good luck to you.

No one will ever win this argument, but Prof. Lewis gave a marvelous try at showing belief in God to be a rational choice, though of course asserting that the matter is, in the end, one of heart belief.

If you love God, and love C.S.Lewis, you will enjoy this book. He does get carried away with his extremely erudite logical calisthenics replete with the Greek and Latin quotes to go with them, but after all, he did not deny it, but rather saw his hyperintellectualism as a liability in being a simple witness for Christ.But his erudition reveals what a truly classically educated person has access to in examining a matter. Would we all had access to that kind of education.

Don't start reading Lewis here. For prose, read Surprised by Joy or Mere Christianity. For fun, read Screwtape. Above all, read his Narnia tales, and his Space Trilogy.For a personal memoir of great pathos by someone who could not resist watching himself even at his greatest extremity, read A Grief Observed.

But if you are a college student, read God in the Dock as an antidote. The same if you have children or grandchildren in college. It's a brilliant and entertaining work.

His is a great body of work that revealed a brilliant, quirky, passionate and perpetually truthseeking man.

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Product Description

The second book in C. S. Lewis's acclaimed Space Trilogy, which also includes Out of the Silent Planet and That Hideous Strength, Perelandra continues the adventures of the extraordinary Dr. Ransom. Pitted against the most destructive of human weaknesses, temptation, the great man must battle evil on a new planet -- Perelandra -- when it is invaded by a dark force. Will Perelandra succumb to this malevolent being, who strives to create a new world order and who must destroy an old and beautiful civilization to do so? Or will it throw off the yoke of corruption and achieve a spiritual perfection as yet unknown to man? The outcome of Dr. Ransom's mighty struggle alone will determine the fate of this peace-loving planet. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (104)

Adam & Eve in space!
Now here is the C.S. Lewis I remember and love! "Out of the SIlent Planet," the first book in the space trilogy, wasn't nearly as good as it was cracked up to be. But this one was fantastic. It had all of the elements that make up some of Lewis' best fictional work: allegory with a moral purpose and fantasy with a large dose of wonder. In this book, Lewis takes the tale of the downfall of man from the book of Genesis and wonders what would've happened if there had been someone there to challenge the devil before he had fully tempted Eve. Lewis also sheds much of the analytical prose that weighed down the first book and has wonderful elements that could be read straight from a self-improvement book, but still fits snugly into the story. Chapter 11 is absolutely amazing in that respect. Still, this book does make it's allegory a little too obvious as it goes along. In fact, halfway through, Lewis seems to give up on the allegory angle somewhat and actually talks about God and has his main character praying to God. All things considered, this is an amazing story, a vast improvement over the last one, and makes me excited to read the final one.

Perelandra
I have never received the book and I ordered it ~ 5 weeks ago. I have sent a message to the seller, but have received no response. I would not recommend ordering from this seller ever again.

CS Lewis's fiction never disappoints me.
There are so many great things about this book, as with all Lewis's books. I think everyone should read them all, and this one is great especially if you liked Out of the Silent Planet.

Freedom of Will
This is possibly the best allegory I have ever read; Lewis' recreation, and redirection, of the Fall of Man is ingenious.In conjunction with the first book, Out of the Silent Planet, Lewis invents and portrays three radically different ways the Divine Powers order intelligent life on the three planets, Mars, Earth, and Venus.By doing so, he initiates the most brilliant discussion on Freedom of Will I have ever encountered.Though the arguments in the text are mainly philosophical, a background in philosophy is not needed- Lewis' style is straightforward and entertaining, and the plot is exciting and fantastic.I would recommend this book to any Christian as well as anyone who is interested in myth and its implications.Lewis, like Dante and Milton, connects stories from the Bible with other ancient stories, especially Greek, and these play a role in his allegory.Whether religious or not, the questions evoked by this novel are fascinating.Highly recommended.

niche book
This book is disappointing after "Out of the Silent Planet", not because Lewis's skill has become worse in any way, but because this time he is preaching to the choir.The subject is "Original Sin", the notion that humans are inherently sinful because some ancestors disobeyed a basically meaningless command.Now the story is being re-enacted on another planet, Perelandra, and the hero Ransom is trying to keep the new species from making the same mistake.If you believe in Original Sin, you will probably find the story very dramatic.If you believe in some other religious tradition (as I do) or no religious tradition, you will probably find the storyline boring and overwrought. This was not the case in Out of the Silent Planet, where the reader was presented with an inherently interesting situation and the doctrine was saved until the end.

Likewise, the background is less imaginative than in Out of the Silent Planet.Malacandra was wonderfully alien, with the three unusual intelligent species and the wierd but plausible landscape.Perelandra is a stereotypical tropical paradise, with a few extra features like friendly dragons and floating islands.The species is not new but a copy of homo sapiens (doctrinal explanations again).

For once I found myself wishing that a sequel had stuck closer to the original masterpiece.
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Product Description
This collection contains fourteen of Lewis's theological papers on subjects such as Christianity and literaure, Christianity and culture, ethics, futility, church music, modern theology and biblical criticism, the Psalms, and petitionary prayer. Common to all of these varied essays are Lewis's uniquely effective style and his tireless concern to relate basic Christianity to all of life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Lewis Makes You Think!
In this age where serious thought is scorned, this work by Lewis shows just how far we've fallen.His clear, concise theology shines through in everything he writes, and this collection is no exception.Even in his response to his critics, Lewis demonstrates a careful consideration that deserves praise.

A good collection, but not the best
Lewis's shorter works were generally originally composed as speeches or as articles for periodicals. Various sets of them were collected and published in book form both during his life and after his death. Trying to determine what works are in what collections is difficult - most works appear in more than one collection, some works appear under more than one title, and some collections appear under more than one title.

To aid readers, in this review I've listed the works in this collection, with notes indicating other collections they have appeared in. Where a work has appeared under more than one title, I give both titles separated by a slash.

Table of Contents:

Preface, by Walter Hooper (4)

"Christianity and Literature" (1), (2), (4)

"Christianity and Culture" (2), (4)

"Religion: Reality or Substitute" (2), (4)

"On Ethics" (2), (4)

"De Futilitate" (2), (4)

"The Poison of Subjectivism" (2), (4)

"The Funeral of a Great Myth" (2), (4)

"On Church Music" (2)

"Historicism" (2), (3), (4)

"The Psalms" (2), (4)

"The Language of Religion" (2), (4)

"Petitionary Prayer: A Problem Without an Answer" (2), (4)

"Fern-Seed and Elephants" / "Modern Theology and Biblical Criticism" (2), (3), (4)

"The Seeing Eye" / "Onward Christian Spacemen" (2), (4)

Notes:

(1) also published in "Rehabilitations and Other Essays"

(2) also published in "Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces"

(3) also published in "Fern-Seed and Elephants and Other Essays"

(4) also published in "The Seeing Eye and Other Selected Essays from Christian Reflections"

Recommendations:

If you are interested in Lewis's shorter works, my best advice is to get "Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces", which, as of the time of this writing, is available from Amazon UK but not Amazon US. That collection consists of about 130 short works by Lewis. The works in that collection are mostly, but not exclusively, Christian.

If your interest in Lewis's shorter works is restricted to those on Christianity, and your budget or enthusiasm does not run to "Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces", then my second-best advice is to get any or all of the following (they don't overlap significantly, and between them they include most of Lewis's shorter Christian writings):

"God in the Dock - Essays on Theology and Ethics"*

"The World's Last Night and Other Essays"

"Christian Reflections"

"The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses"

*Be careful - there is a UK Fontana paperback lurking about called "God in the Dock - Essays on Theology" that is substantially shorter than the "God in the Dock - Essays on Theology and Ethics" collection. A full version of "God in the Dock - Essays on Theology and Ethics" was published in the UK under the title "Undeceptions - Essays on Theology and Ethics".

Essay on Church Music
Just the essay on church music makes the book a worthy investment.It appears that Lewis was not a personal fan of much church music that he experienced.However, he saw the purpose of church music was to glorify God.His insight about true spirituality of the learned and unlearned church musician is priceless.Here he provides a challange for all to consider the essence of our spiritual music offered to God.

14 engaging C.S. Lewis essays
These fourteen essays (with an introduction by Walter Hooper) are about a variety of topics related to Christianity, but not necessarily ABOUT Christianity.My favorite of the bunch is "Modern Theology and Biblical Criticism", a thumping rejoinder to those whose misapplication of form and redaction criticism (e.g. Bultmann or Schweitzer or Dibelius) to the gospels prevents them from making sound judgments about the life of Christ.His essay "Petitionary Prayer: A Problem Without an Answer" is brutally honest, ending as it does in a questioning uncertainty about the matter, while his essay "The Psalms" is helpful in guiding the reader to an understanding of how to view that portion of scripture.Some essays may strike one reader's fancy less than another's, but there is plenty here for most people to find AT LEAST one or two they greatly enjoy.I liked all of them and found most of them very helpful to my own reflections on life. ... Read more

Product Description
In September 1947, after reading C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters in Italian, Fr. Giovanni Calabria was moved to write the author, but he knew no English and assumed (rightly) that Lewis knew no Italian. So he wrote his letter in Latin, hoping that, as a classicist, Lewis would know Latin. Therein began a correspondence that was to outlive Fr. Calabria himself (he died in December 1954, and was succeeded in correspondence by Fr. Luigi Pedrollo).

Translator/editor Martin Moynihan calls these letters "limpid, fluent and deeply refreshing. There was a charm about them, too, and not least in the way they were 'topped and tailed' – that is, in their ever-slightly-varied formalities of address and of farewell."

More than any other of his published works The Latin Letters shows the strong devotional side of Lewis, and contains letters ranging from Christian unity and modern European history to liturgical worship and general ethical behavior.

Moreover, these letters are often intimate and personal:

I know that you will pour out your prayers both for my most dearly longed-for wife and also for me who – now bereaved and as it were halved – journey on, through this Vale of Tears, alone.
LETTER 34

"If someone had told me that there existed a long correspondence between C.S. Lewis and a saint . . . and that it was about ecumenism and reunion between Protestants and Catholics. I would think they were pulling my leg. It sounds too good to be true. Yet here it is: a graceful, intimate, hopeful, wise, saintly, committed, uncompromising, mutually respectful, and utterly practical ongoing dialog between a Catholic saint and the greatest Protestant writer of all time. . . . It contains many new gems of Lewis wisdom for the reader to underline, quote, and share. This is a very precious little book, and a strikingly relevant one for both Protestants and Catholics, for it is a model of ecumenical dialog. If your hopes for reunion are flagging, please read this book."– Peter Kreeft ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Nice letters, no revelations
These are somewhat interesting to C.S. Lewis fans, but don't reveal much about his real thinking on the matters of faith that he was writing about.They read more like dutiful little notes to a respected fan, not deeply felt commentary. ... Read more

Product Description
A collection of Lewis’s complete shorter fiction, including two previously unpublished works, “The Dark Tower” and “The Man Born Blind.” Edited and with a Preface by Walter Hooper.
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Customer Reviews (25)

Towering Darkness
It's easy to see why these stories were not published; they weren't finished. Putting aside the question of Walter Hooper's role (or non-role) in the present presentation of these stories, they lack the polish--even more the point of so much of Lewis's writing.

On the other hand, there is a certain fascinating quality about a first draft which will recommend "The Dark Tower" to fans of writing as well as loyal followers for Professor Lewis. Their notably unfinished condition excites wonder as well as speculation about how the master might have finished them. That he didn't tells us as much as we need to know about the literary quality or place in the Lewis catalog of works.

Only for the hard core Lewis or writing student.

Classic Lewis Fiction
This is one of those little treasures most people do not know about, and the story behind them is almost as fascinating as Lewis's characters and his life itself. Edited and compiled by Walter Hooper, who was secretary to Lewis in his later years. The story behind this collection is that one day Walter was walking by the cottage that Lewis and his brother Warnie Shared, and saw Warnie burning some `rubbish'. Hooper asked what he was up to and Warnie replied he was clearing out some of Jack's (C.S. Lewis's) things. Hooper enquired into the contents and found out that they were unpublished manuscripts, stories ... Hooper asked for them and Warnie replied if they were not taken then and there they were going into the fire. A fire which supposedly burned for 3 days. One will always wonder what was lost to us from such a purging.

So Hooper saved this collection and some of the other writings that were published posthumously by the late great C. S. Lewis. These six stories are of a science fiction or fantasy nature. The first story The Dark Tower is of particular interest because it is a partial fourth story in Lewis's Science Fiction Trilogy Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra and That Hideous Strength. This one being set between the first and second book. This story makes up more than half of this collection. Yet one could ask what is a partial story with middle sections and the end missing be worth? Or be worth reading? And to be honest it would be a very good question.

I would have to state an emphatic yes it would! I would declare so for many different reasons. The first is that this is the only time we see Ransom in his office's hanging out with a group of professors discussing life the universe and everything. Does that not indeed sound like Lewis, and Tolkien and the rest of the Inklings who did just that. There has been much debate by many scholars as to the questions of if Lewis inserted himself into his fiction, as `the professor' in the Narnia books, and many believe as Professor Ransom in this series. This gathering of friends is almost a scene out of Lewis's own weekly routine. The second reason is that we meet MacPhee here in this story, which chronologically takes place between book's 1 and 2 in the series. MacPhee does not show up in the trilogy till the 3rd book. This book gives us a tantalizing taste of a story that would give the published trilogy a fuller more rounded flavor and be amusing to read and debate the end of the story and the progression of Lewis's Thought.

Even if you only pick up this book for the first story it will be worth it. But the other 5 short pieces are worth a perusal as well.

Dark Tower
Wow, this is definitely a must-read for Lewis fans, especially for readers of the space trilogy.

mostly by Walter Hooper
The main story contains two chapters by Lewis and the rest by Walter Hooper who tried to make a novel out of the two Lewis chapters many years after the death of Lewis. You can really tell the difference between the two authors. Hooper's chapters contain Americanisms, theological statements opposite to that of the beliefs of Lewis, and a writing style emphasizing physical actions and not thought processes.

The dead giveaway is that 20% of the novel contains detailed descriptions of apparatus and their use.Lewis hated with a purple peeve such items in literature.

Hooper has also rewritten much of the poetry of Lewis to exclude the allusions to classical Greek and Roman literature.

For more information read "Light in the Shadowlands" and "The C. S. Lewis Hoax".Both books are written by a friend of Lewis.

...Interesting
I recently discovered "The Dark Tower" and several other collections of Lewis' short stories and essays.Having read most of his non-fiction and all of his fiction (or so I thought), I was quick to buy and read this collection (and several others).The stories are...unexpected.They're not whimsy like Narnia, nor philosophy like the Space Trilogy, although they all have aspects of both. I would definitely recommend this book for Lewis fans. ... Read more