C.S. Lewis's Grave

The other day I shared with you all our visit to The Kilns. After we finished up at the house, our family walked over to Holy Trinity Church in Oxford to see where C.S. Lewis was buried. We weren't sure exactly where the grave was so we walked around for a bit before a care taker kindly pointed it out. I don't think I've ever seen such a beautiful, peaceful, wonderful cemetery. I'd like to let the pictures and C.S. Lewis himself do whatever talking needs to be done.

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
― C.S. Lewis

“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”
― C.S. Lewis

“God can't give us peace and happiness apart from Himself because there is no such thing.”
― C.S. Lewis

“I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.”
― C.S. Lewis

“[To have Faith in Christ] means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in saying you trusted a person if you would not take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him. But trying in a new way, a less worried way. Not doing these things in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already. Not hoping to get to Heaven as a reward for your actions, but inevitably wanting to act in a certain way because a first faint gleam of Heaven is already inside you.”
― C.S. Lewis

“There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” C.S. Lewis

Visiting The Kilns (The Home of C.S. Lewis)

On our recent trip to England, one of the things we did as a family was arrange to take a tour at The Kilns, C.S. Lewis's home in Oxford. Being that four of five of our children (catch that?) are named after either C.S. Lewis or his characters, it was a meaningful stop for all of us.

Tours must be arranged in advance of your arrival to England as the Kilns is still a place of residence for scholars in and visiting the community. We were so grateful to be given an appointment to come and see his home when in country.

You can bet that I took pictures to share with my fellow Lewis fans!

The home was originally purchased by Lewis, his brother Warnie, Mrs. Moore and her daughter, Maureen. They all contributed financially to the purchase and they all lived there together.

There is, of course, some speculation as to the nature of Mrs. Moore's relationship to or with Lewis. No one can say with any certainty whether or not there was a romantic attachment of any sort between them. Some speculate that there was, especially based on the fact that Mrs. Moore's bedroom was located right next to Lewis'. What I did not know though was that the door between the bedrooms was kept locked and, eventually, Lewis lost the key.

See the staircase outside the house in the above picture? That's the outside staircase that Lewis had put in to give him his own private entrance and exit to his bedroom. When Mrs. Moore was moved out of the house (in the 1930's) her bedroom became Lewis's study. As Lewis had lost the key, he would go down the staircase outside the house, walk in through the front door, go up the inside staircase and into his study to work. When he married Joy Davidman she became annoyed at his habits of walking outside to go inside when all he had to do was open the door between their bedroom and his study. She asked him why he did it. He explained, "I lost the key." She had a locksmith at the house that same afternoon.

When we entered inside the house for our appointed tour, we were taken into Lewis's library/study along with the other tour guests. Introductions were made and we listened to a great little talk on the life of Lewis from our guide, who is a Lewis's scholar and affectionado. He was quite well up on Lewis and his life, happily explained the history of the house to us, and generally made us to feel welcome.

The view from this window has changed since Lewis's time. The C.S. Lewis foundation owns the land which the house stands on, (more or less), and it is set in what is now a quiet but packed neighborhood of homes. However, the pond that Lewis loved has been preserved and is situated next to The Kilns. You can walk through a Community Nature Reserve around the pond and imagine things as they might used to have been as best you can.

Below is a picture of said pond. This picture taken from a spot near to an old stone bench that Lewis built. He and Tolkien used to come down to the pond, sit on the bench, and talk. (I didn't know that when I was standing next to the bench, hence there is no picture of it. Sigh.)

To get back to the view from the window though, apparently there were a series of little ponds scattered about on the land in Lewis' time. These little ponds are thought to be the inspiration for the pools of water in The Magician's Nephew.

From the library we were taken into the dining room where Joy and Jack (as he was generally called) used to play Scrabble with each other. They were only limited in words as to any dictionary in the entire house, in any language. Apparently they had some very spirited games between them and it can well be imagined that Lewis liked a mind that could challenge his own.

Warnie's typewriter is displayed in the dining room as well. Lewis preferred not to use a type writer but wrote all of his manuscripts out completely by hand. Because - wow.

Next we came into the kitchen which I have to note contained a picture of Lewis's gardener, the inspiration for the character of Puddleglum. The kitchen, like the rest of the house, was a labor of love to restore to its "original look" during the time when Lewis lived there. Apparently the floor had been covered up with tile or linoleum or cement (I forget! Several layers of something!) and Douglas Gresham kept insisting there was red tile beneath. Many men working many hours worked to uncover it and restore the kitchen to proper order.

It should here be noted that none of the furniture in the home is original to Lewis. After his death, Warnie lived at the house until the 1970's. Upon Warnie's death, the house passed to Maureen Moore (who was married by then). Maureen sold the house which became someone else's private residence until some Lewis fans from America began searching for his house, found it, and purchased it. Over a period of time, the home was restored by Americans who would come over and "vacation with a purpose" - taking turns applying their various skills to restore the house. (How 'bout them Americans, eh? Heh.)

Douglas Gresham's bedroom, right off the kitchen:

After visiting half of the downstairs area, we were taken upstairs and straight into Lewis's study. Old and original Narnia manuscripts were found in the attic during the restoration process and so it is believed that he very well could have penned Narnia from this room.

And yes. It did give me chills. Happy ones.

Here is my son walking down the stairs after visiting the study. Note the narrow stairs. It's not a huge surprise to imagine that Lewis ran out of bookshelves to keep his books on when living in this house. There is just never enough room for good books! Wouldn't you all agree?

So what did Lewis do with his excess books? He stacked them all along both sides of this staircase! NOW imagine navigating these stairs!

Lastly, we were taken to see the room where Lewis died. It also served as the music room when Maureen lived in the home.

I suppose I could have felt a little sad standing there and I must confess a smidgen of sadness. However, when you think of the lasting impact this one man had as a result of faith in Christ and a willingness to use his gifts for the glory of God it's hard to feel sad. Mostly I stood in the room feeling celebratory.

Goodbye rooms are hard. But I can't help but think about the 'hello' which is coming.

I wasn't sure what entirely to expect in going to The Kilns but I found it the most memorable and meaningful stop on our trip to England. It was worth every minute we spent there.

Next July I'll host the seventh annual Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge here at Reading to Know. Understanding more of Lewis makes me excited to re-engage with Narnia yet again. These stories continue to speak of God and man to me in ways that no other works of fiction have ever managed to do. I'm so honored to have been able to visit his home and so grateful for the kind and generous people who continue to make tours such as these a possibility! Thank you!





Later this week I'll "take you" to the grave site where Lewis is buried which is an incredible place in its own right.

What I Learned in Narnia: Confessing Sin

Carrie's notes taken while listening to the audio lecture series What I Learned in Narnia by Doug Wilson which is available through Canon Press. (You can enter to win the book by the same title by leaving a comment on last week's post.)

Today's post, as well as yesterday's, is a bit different than what you'll normally see around here. Basically I'm sharing the notes I made while listening to Wilson's lectures and you can tell. The format is different but I still find the notes worth posting. Glean what you will.

The topic of confessing sin comes up in every single Narnia book.

Learning how to say you’re sorry is one of the most important lessons that you could possibly learn in your life and it’s basically a question of learning how to be genuinely honest - how to be an honest person.” Doug Wilson

The good guys in Narnia are genuinely honest and the bad guys are fundamentally dishonest.

In this lecture, Wilson discusses real honesty, phony honesty and The Temptation to Confess the Sins of Others.

He cites the following examples of confessions in The Chronicles of Narnia:

Magician’s Nephew – Digory and Polly go into Charn and go into the immense hall and Digory awakens Jadis by ringing a bell. Polly did not want to ring it and tries to stop him. Aslan confronts Digory about this later on. Digory mentioned that he and Polly “met the witch” and that “she woke up.”

“You met the witch?” Aslan growled. “I mean, I woke her.” Digory admits.

He wanted to tell Aslan the story leaving his sin and folly out of it but Aslan does not permit this. Aslan does not demand perfection, but he does demand honesty about our imperfections.

Aslan also confronts Polly asking if she has forgiven Digory (after an admission/confession of his fault to Polly) for preventing her from stopping the ringing of the bell. Forgiveness also needed to be extended. But first sins had to be confessed.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – Edmund doesn’t tell Peter and Susan the truth about having entered the wardrobe. “I was just pretending” he tells them when they press him for an answer. The Professor tells Peter and Susan that they have three options – to believe that Lucy is crazy, to believe she is telling a lie or to believe she is telling the truth. C.S. Lewis also argued that you would have to make the same decision about Jesus Christ being the son of God – either He is lying, crazy or He is telling the truth. But you cannot just settle on the idea that Jesus is “good” unless you believe His claims.

Upon entering into Narnia Peter apologies to Lucy for not believing her. He confessed his sin, and she forgave him. Again forgiveness follows confession.

The Horse and His Boy – Shasta and Aravis are racing to the hermit’s enclosure and Aslan is chasing them to make them go faster. Aslan chases Aravis and swipes at her back with his claws, cutting her back. Shasta leaps off of his talking horse, Bree, and turns to confront the lion.

Shasta's bravery humiliates Bree, who talks over the matter with Aravis. Aravis points out to Bree that it is better to stay in safety with the hermit and apologize than to go back and be slaves. Bree was having a pity party because Shasta had out-shown him in bravery. Bree began acting as if he were sorry but in truth he was acting proud. The hermit told Bree that he needed to stop being conceited (and needed to truly repent.)

Prince Caspian – Aslan appears to Lucy alone to give her directions for the group to follow. Lucy tries to share Aslan's directions with the others but instead goes along with the crowd - in the wrong direction and under the leadership of Peter. Aslan then later appears to the whole group through Lucy.

Susan apologies to Lucy for not believing and confesses that in her heart she had believed Lucy but chose not to be obedient.

Peter confesses immediately: “I’ve been leading them wrong.” Aslan forgives him instantly.

When you blame someone else in Narnia, Aslan growls at you. But when you simply confess your sin like Peter does, Aslan responds, “My dear son.” He accepts the apology. There is no problem when honesty is involved.

Voyage of the Dawn Treader – Caspian wants to abdicate and go to the end of the world. Everyone tells him that he cannot do that. Caspians knows that they are right but loses his temper anyway.

Aslan appears to Caspian in his cabin to address him. Caspian confesses, “I might as well have behaved decently” for all the good that his lack of temper did for him.

The Silver Chair – Eustace and Jill get away from the Experiment House and find themselves in Narnia. They are on the edge of a huge precipice but Jill is showing off and showing contempt. Eustace tries to keep her from falling off but falls off himself.

Jill's response is to say “Well, don’t blame me! It's not my fault he fell off the cliff.” But then Aslan addresses her, asking her how Eustace fell off the cliff. She admits that she was showing off. “That is a very good answer.” He accepts her response as truth and tells her not to do that anymore.

The Last Battle – Puzzle sees Tash go by and sees how wicked Tash is. “I see now,” said Puzzle, “that I really have been a very bad donkey.” It becomes clear to him that he should have stood up to Shift. Clear acknowledgment of sins.

Examples of Bad Apologies:

The Magician's Nephew - Before confessing honestly to waking up the witch, Digory asks Jill for help to help him with the witch who is loose in London. She refuses to help until he apologizes for his actions.

“Sorry!,” exclaimed Digory, “Well, now, isn’t that just like a girl! What have I done!?”

This is the way our minds work. We don’t like taking blame. Aslan though demands honesty -- as painful as it may be.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - Edmund first stumbles into Narnia but does not immediately see Lucy. He calls out to her saying, “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.” “I see now you were right all along.” But Lucy doesn’t hear him because she is with Mr. Tumnus. When she doesn’t respond to his apology right away he, without knowledge of where she is, says “isn’t that just like a girl.”

This demonstrates that Edmund was interested in saying the right words but when he doesn’t get the automatic and specific response that he is after, his apology because imperfect and selfish. It isn’t real. Not then. Not at that time. He was not confessing honestly.

Example of Confessing the Sins of Others:

Prince Caspian - Lucy is telling Aslan that the others did not believe her when she told them she had seen the Lion and received direction from him. Aslan lets forth a sound of a growl. “But she –“ “But he –“ receives the response of a growl. Aslan insists that we deal with our own sins and not try to pin our lack of correct behavior on the decisions, behaviors or beliefs of others. We will be held accountable for our own obedience or disobedience.

When we read through these books we should make note of the character qualities that we read of and say things like, “I want to be Peter here.”

Read. Discern. Learn.

What I Learned in Narnia: Authority

Carrie's notes taken while listening to the audio lecture series What I Learned in Narnia by Doug Wilson which is available through Canon Press. (You can enter to win the book by the same title by leaving a comment on last week's post.)

Today's post, as well as tomorrow's, is a bit different than what you'll normally see around here. Basically I'm sharing the notes I made while listening to Wilson's lectures and you can tell. The format is different but I still find the notes worth posting. Glean what you will.

It should be noted that these are topical talks, so there is no specific order in which you would need to read the Narnia books in order to follow along. Wilson suggests reading the books in chronological order to help you understand the history and progression of Narnia as he says it will help you put a lot of things together.

Wilson is very clear to point out that Lewis was adamant that these books were not an allegory. Rather, they were "a great supposal." “Suppose that….” Aslan occupies the Christ position in these books and it is important for us to see the heart of true authority in these books.

Wilson's agenda, if you will, in giving this series of lectures is to give “a small taste of things that you can be learning from [The Chronicles of Narnia].”

In his first lecture on the topic of authority Wilson talks about using authority the wrong way, using it the right way and submitting to authority in the right way.

He starts by talking about using authority the wrong way, giving examples of characters and situations in the book to illustrate his points.

• Miraz (Prince Caspian) is a usurper. He kills to take the throne and exercise false authority. The book reads, “When he first began to rule, he did not even pretend to be king. He called himself the Lord Protector.”
• The Scrubbs also present a picture of denial of true authority. (Voyage of the Dawn Treader) Eustace calls his father and mother by their first names, refusing to acknowledge parental authority. This is a picture of egalitarianism, saying that everyone should be the same. It is a rejection of authority.
• The false of authority of the magician (Jadis & Uncle Andrew in The Magician's Nephew) They both believe that they are “above the rules.” Rules are for commoners and they feel as if they are more important than others and they do not want anyone telling them what to do.
• Ahoshta Tarkaan (The Horse and His Boy) - wields authority from groveling and manipulating – playing the system. His is authority gained though flattery which is a false authority.
• Shift (The Last Battle) – Manipulates to get his way through lies. He plays on the emotions of others to get his way (i.e., moping, acting deeply offended, etc.) Shift turns the golden rule around. He says, “Why don’t you treat me as I treat you?” What he really means is, “Why don’t you treat me the way the way that I say I treat you, but I don’t really.”
• The Dwarfs (The Last Battle) – “The dwarfs are for the dwarfs!” What they are saying is that they do not acknowledge any authority over themselves at all.

“You should never trust people who have strong views of authority when they are talking about people under them, but have very weak views of authority when they are talking about people over them. Whenever you encounter someone like that, you need to run.” – Wilson

All of the characters listed above are about grabbing, getting and taking. No one has to teach these behaviors to us. Sinful humanity latches on to these attitudes. They are part of the sin nature which we are born with. (Ps. 51:5) Jesus came to deal with these things.

Of course, Aslan sets the example or pattern for true authority in these stories. The heart of all true authority is through sacrificing and giving. The Bible teaches that if you grab for authority, you lose. If you give yourself, you gain authority. The person who sacrifices gains respect and admiration and positions of authority. When people demand authority, it will run away from them. Miraz? He grabs, he loses. Jadis? Finally defeated.

An example that Wilson gives from scripture is of Abraham and Lot. (Genesis Chapters 13 & 14) Abraham gives Lot a choice in the land. Lot chooses greedily and it turns out that his choice is eventually destroyed because of the sin of the people. Lot got his choice in the short term but it was not a wise choice and his family was eventually destroyed.

Is Aslan, the true and right authority a safe character? No. As Mr. Beaver says, “Of course he isn’t safe! But he is good.” He loves. He sacrifices. Aslan’s goodness is unsettling and scary which cause people to react negatively to his authority. They do not understand his ways. His servants, however, following in his footsteps, are humble. When Aslan asks Caspian if he is ready to rule, Caspian says he is not. Which is exactly how Caspian should feel. "When you know you are not ready, you are ready." Frank the Cabbie (The Magician’s Nephew) is also asked if he is willing to serve in Narnia. Frank doesn’t feel confident. Aslan breathes the confidence and assurance in him, building humility.

An excellent point on being in authority:

When you are in authority – you are the first in every attack and the last in every retreat. A king puts himself out front to “take the fall” or lead the army in battle. This is what it means to be a pastor, a father, an elder, a husband. It means stepping up to the plate and taking responsibility and overseeing the people and situations that God has given to you to govern. It is a great responsibility and requires sacrifice and humility.

Wilson concludes his lecture by talking about how we are to rightly submit to authority. For the sake of length I'll only discuss his discussion of Trumpkin the Dwarf (in Prince Caspian).

Wilson points out that Trumpkin doesn’t believe in Aslan but he believes in and will fight for the Narnia. Dr. Cornelius brings the Narnians Susan’s old horn to summon help. Trumpkin doesn’t believe the horn is of any value or will bring the Narnian army any help. He gives his input and then submits to the authority of Caspian.

“I know the difference between giving advice and taking orders. You’ve had my advice and now is the time for taking orders.” ~ Trumpkin

Humility. Honor. Submission.

Definitely a thought-provoking lecture and an eye-opening one as well.

Boxen, by C.S. Lewis and W.H. Lewis

Boxen: Childhood Chronicles Before Narnia was my birthday gift to myself. (It's been a few months.) I keep meaning to tell you about it and other things keep coming up but here I am and I bet you didn't even notice, didja?

Boxen: Childhood Chronicles Before Narnia is filled with the stories that C.S. Lewis wrote with his brother, Warren, when the two were just little imaginative boys in Ireland. If you are a Narnia fan, no doubt you've heard of "Jacksie" Lewis beginning his writing career by creating a history and story around Animal-Land. Those stories are included in this book! So if you've ever been curious to know what the Lewis boys wrote to entertain each other - Boxen is your ticket to that world!

I didn't realize that the stories existed (still) and were available for public consumption until just recently.

Now, grant it, these books were written by young boys. They aren't polished. Words are sometimes badly misspelled. The stories are simplistic -- and yet complex at the same time. You can tell by reading through the bits of Animal-land that if the young writer(s) kept honing their craft, they would be remarkable with age and experience. (And walla!)

I say that, having read a few stories by a young friend of mine who has amazing writing skills, especially when it comes to writing out conversations. My friend's ability to make a story sound believable at his rather young age is just impressive and when I picked up Boxen, all I could think about was my friend. (My friend, btw, shall remain nameless for the time but when he is widely known - which I fully believe he will be - I'll tell you more about him!)

Boxen doesn't read like C.S. Lewis' other stories. It is, after all, the childhood imaginations and dreams of a young lad who was scribbling away as something of a hobby. You would probably enjoy the read about as much as you would reading anything that your 7 or 8 year old might write. "Cute," you would think to yourself. You would smile and nod and unless it was genius, you wouldn't spend a great deal of time with it. That's rather how I feel about Boxen.

I think it's incredible and amazing to be able to dive into the Lewis boys' world and see how C.S. brought animals to life in speech, history and geography. He had remarkable talent and that is instantly obvious when picking up this particular book.

For the curious, this book is a wonder. For a read-aloud or a recreational read it's not much. Boxen is more for the curious and strong-hearted Lewis fan and, as such, I am thoroughly glad to have it on hand. It is a rare opportunity to see where a favorite author had his beginnings and that, my friends, is a treat indeed!

Voyage of the Dawn Treader readers

Trumpet sounds!!!

I was in Borders last night when I discovered that the Voyage of the Dawn Treader readers have been released! (I'll not mention how miffed I was to discover a display case full of books related to the new movie Tron and I found the Narnia readers crammed into the "I Can Read" display in a thoughtless manner. Except I'll say that I was miffed.)

The new titles?

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader: Quest for the Lost Lords

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader: Aboard the Dawn Treader

I like these readers because they allow me to introduce my children to the world of Narnia at a younger age. The text is minimal and the pictures are SCENES FROM THE UPCOMING MOVIE. (Ah hem. Sorry. Didn't mean to scream that at you.) (SNEAK PEEK!)

In the past, I'd not bothered to pick up the readers which are based on the first two films in the series (i.e. Wardrobe and Caspian). However, this past summer, during our Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge I found a few out-of-print copies of the early readers based on the films (based on the books) and used them with Bookworm1. I found that they were mostly useful in introducing him to the characters within the books and giving him an idea of the general storyline. I purposed to pick up the Voyage of the Dawn Treader adaptations as soon as I saw them (and while they are in print!) to use as well. I've been keeping my eyes open and was ecstatic to find these last night!

Hopefully Borders will recognize the quality, beauty and significance of Narnia over Tron but in the meantime, I'm thankful for my copies.



FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10th, FOLKS!!

Letters to an American Lady, C.S. Lewis

I really can't say that I understand why Letters to an American Lady exists. Originally published in 1967, this book contains a collection of letters that C.S. Lewis wrote to an anonymous lady in the United States. He began writing to her in 1950 and continued on until his death in 1963. He never had a thought that these letters would be published, although I suppose it's natural to assume that if you are a famous writer, people will be looking to read everything that you ever wrote.

In my own non-scholarly opinion, Letters to an American Lady is a perfect argument for why we don't need to read every single thing any author ever penned. Some of it is just....non essential. But that's just my opinion.

This book has been described as being important because:

a.) They are a collection of "pastoral letters"; and
b.) They show the humanity of C.S. Lewis.

(I find argument "b" a bit bizarre because all of his writings speak to his humanity. But ok.)

The flap jacket of 1967 edition that I have says the following:

". . . these [letters reveal], perhaps more candidly than anywhere else, the kind of man and the kind of Christian that was C.S. Lewis."

I find that statement incomprehensible, truth be told. He was kind of a candid fellow and unashamedly Christian by nature. His Christianity pervaded everything he ever did/wrote/said. I don't know why this book would be touted as being the most candid of all of his works. Just perhaps, reading that claim soured my opinion of the rest of the book. In the end, I have a rather harsh opinion of it and it has nothing to do with C.S. Lewis. He wrote letters to a lady in America having no thought or intention of ever having them published. In these letters he discusses health and this lady's financial sufferings. He comforts her fears and concerns and encourages her in her faith and sympathizes with her troubles. It's a pen-pal exchange and we don't get see what her letters to him were all about. In fact, I'm not sure that I would have found reading her letters any more helpful as he was obviously trying to sort out the facts of what she was saying to try to have a clear picture of what her spiritual difficulties and general every-day-life trials were.

I closed this book having a rather snarky view of the Anonymous American Lady who wrote to C.S. Lewis constantly - always with a complaint about her personal life. I left with the impression that all she ever said was, "I'm sick! I'm tired! People hate me!" (Guess I should just go eat worms...?) She struck me as a lady who couldn't take a hint when he would tell her that she shouldn't expect to hear from him so often and/or should not expect long letters - particularly around the holiday season when he was buried in fan mail. Reading his letters to her, I got the feeling he had to constantly remind her not to expect so much from him and that he wasn't able to respond as she probably wished. I got the feeling that she wanted and expected too much from him. Even after he married she continually wrote to him, frequently and at length. He remarks in one of his letters that she is one of the few female correspondents that he has left, most having ceased writing to him after his marriage to Joy.

I don't know. It just feels odd and bizarre to me that a single woman would pester C.S. Lewis so, expecting much of him and lodging her list of life's complaints on his doorstep. For all of that though, he seemed to generally respect her as a pen-pal and even arranged for his American publishing company to send her a small stipend of his profits every now and again to help support her when she was suffering financial troubles. He seemed to feel generally kindly towards her. At the same time, you read it thinking to yourself that he was trying to understand her, didn't completely, and so just did the best he could.

I really question why this book was published at all and who brought forth the letters for publication. Huge question mark in my mind but I can't find the answers online. If anyone happens to know, I would really like to understand that bit of history surrounding this book. I did find this quote however, which Lewis made to his lawyer, Owen Barfield:

"If I didn't have so many letters to answer, I'd have time to write another book."

I have to wonder which would be better. Still, she no doubt appreciated his attentions and the letters in her mailbox. For her, that seemed a helpful balm of sorts which helped her to face life. Viewed in that light, you could say that this book showed Lewis's helpful ministry in the area of letter writing. (He responded to every single letter ever sent to him.) If that's the case, I have my example of him acting in this ministry and I'm certainly satisfied.

Worth a read? Well. Perhaps. But I'm afraid I'm left without a good reason to read it. I closed it more annoyed with Anonymous than anything else. Would anyone care to enlighten me further with the history behind this book? I'm definitely willing to listen.*

* After writing this post I did some more searching online and discovered that the anonymous letter receiver was Mary Willis Shelburne, "a widow from Washington, DC. She was a journalist, poet and critic, four years older than Lewis, and a Catholic." (See CSL Bookclub discussion on Letters to An American Lady) She promised these letters to Wheaten College in a letter of 1966. (See article on 30th Anniversary of the Marion E. Wade Center)

The C.S. Lewis Chronicles

What? You've never heard of The C.S. Lewis Chronicles: The Indispensable Biography of the Creator of Narnia? Well neither had I until very recently. I stumbled across it and I've seldom been more grateful. Published by BlueBridge Books and written by Colin Duriez, (who I looked up and discovered has written a vast collection of book titles I am incredibly interested in), this book is filled with lots of tidbits of random (and otherwise) information about Lewis. (I'll remind you that Lewis is my favorite author of all times which is 1.) why my two sons are named after him (that'll keep you guessing!) and 2. why I'm hosting the Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge. Admirable man, wonderful writing. How can one possibly go wrong?


I devoured The C.S. Lewis Chronicles in less time than it will likely take you to read my review of it. I absolutely loved it. Duriez provides so much information that I hadn't heard or seen before and lays it out in chronological order so that you can get a good idea of what was happening in the world along with significant events in Lewis' life.

I probably most enjoyed learning about Lewis' life when he was a young boy and preferred the name "Jacksie." (Although his given name is Clive Staples, he ditched both in favor of being called "Jack" which is how he was referred to by his friends and family until the end of his life. (I'd have done the same thing. Neither Clive nor Staples are very appealing names.) The young Lewis was quite imaginative and loved stories. I was particularly amused by what Duriez shares regarding Lewis' preferences:

"During this happy period Jack, wielding pen and paintbrush like Beatrix Potter, began making a cycle of junior stories about "chivalrous mice and rabbits who rode out in complain mail to kill not giants but cats." These stories were his attempt to bring together his two great pleasures, which were knights in armor and "dressed animals." In collaboration with Warren [his brother], Jack developed he stories into an "Animal-land" with a considerable history. This land of talking animals is strikingly different from later Narnian Chronicles. It is full of a child's view of adult preoccupations." (page 3)

Jack and his brother did create many stories and used their imaginations prolifically during their younger years. Still, Jack liked for things to appear real. Duriez shares a snippet from a letter Jack's mother wrote when he was around 2 years old:

[Lewis' mother writing to his father:] "Here is a story to amuse the old people. I took him to buy a [toy] engine, and the women asked him if she should tie a string to it for him. [Jack] just looked at her with great contempt and said, '[Jack] doesn't see any string on the engines what [Jack] sees at the station.' You never saw a woman so taken aback as she was. (page 13)

The C.S. Lewis Chronicles is filled with little snippets from his parents letters, his brother's journals and from correspondence with friends such as J.R.R. Tolkien. It's a treasure trove of facts on the man behind The Chronicles of Narnia and I would say that this book is not to be missed.

It's hard to narrow down what information to share about this book. My copy has post it notes sticking out from all of the edges. There is just so much here to talk about! One particularly challenging (in a good way) thing that was shared in this book was Lewis' reading list. Here 'tis IN PART:

Agricola, by Tacitus
Anatomy of Melancholy, by Robert Burton
Arcadia, by Sir Philip Sidney
The Argonautica of Appollonius Rhodius (in Greek, mind you!)
Aristotle
Beowulf
Jane Eyre, Villette, the The Professor, by Charlotte Bronte
The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer
The Faerie Queen, by Edmund Spenser
Histories, by Herodotus
Rob Roy and other novels by Walter Scott
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Tristan (in medieval French!)
Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte

I'm showing you a short list of his reading. This, however, is not his life's reading list. The partial reading list you see above is his list from when he was sixteen years old.

It's no wonder he was a brilliant writer. He was a diligent and studious reader. I have much to learn.

I'm very grateful to Colin Duriez for compiling all of this information into one book for easy access. I think it's a must-have for any one who loves Lewis and his writings. It is a joy and a delight and I do hope you'll look into purchasing a copy for your home bookshelves. It's worth it! (And now you can no longer claim ignorance about it.)

The Great Divorce, by C.S. Lewis

I have to admit that I did not get this book. The entire first half I felt extremely lost and debated whether or not I should stop reading it and continue it at some future date. I still really don't get the entire point.

Nevertheless . . . .

The second half of the book was filled with Lewis' trademark descriptions of human character. I love how he paints a picture in your mind of exactly the way someone is by describing their attitudes and actions. In a few paragraphs you feel like you have a mental picture of the complete being. That is an amazing art!

Apparently this is a book about a dream one man had of a trip to Heaven and Hell. I guess I just wasn't following closely enough or it went right over my head. Still, I felt particularly drawn towards Lewis' discussion of why it would be impossible, as a painter, to capture a view of Heaven. He says that we can paint pictures of Heaven on earth because we are seeing glimpses of it. However, we wouldn't be able to go to Heaven and paint a picture of it because it IS. It is not a glimpse, it is reality and it is meant to be seen and experienced as it is and not as we view it to be. I thought that was very intriguing. As a photographer, I like to travel to places with camera on hand and I like taking snapshots of "glimpses of Heaven" which I see and think are beautiful. I cannot presently imagine being in some place so beautiful that I am unable to photograph it because it is. At the same time, that's its true draw, beauty and enjoyment. No pictures necessary. That's an odd concept to get through the noggin', yet nevertheless it is intriguing.

So while in this case, I do not think I appreciated the whole of this work, I enjoyed his book in part and someday when I'm wiser and more intelligent I'll take another whack at it and see what I can glean from it then. Feel free to leave comments of interpretation. Maybe it'll help. For now I just think I haven't read enough to appreciate what Lewis was trying to accomplish.

Jack: A Life of C.S. Lewis, by George Sayer

I read this book based on a review that I found via Semicolon's Saturday Review of Books. Unfortunately I didn't think to make a record of who reviewed it at the time. Whoever you were . . . THANK YOU! I loved this book.

This book was written by George Sayer who was one of Lewis' pupil-turned-friend (of which he apparently had several). Lewis would frequently visit Sayer and his wife, who played hostess to Joy Gresham as well. I liked the way that Sayer approached his writing of Lewis' life by clarifying certain aspects of who Lewis was to avoid uncertainty in the public and/or critics. Sayer struck me as an Honest English Chap who loved Lewis but frequently did not understand his life choices. Nevertheless, he showed loyalty and devotion to Lewis in a manner that I find quite admirable.

I feel like I was a Fad Fan of Lewis before reading this book and a devoted Lewis-ian (?) afterwards. If that's not a mark of a good biographer, I don't know what is.

I very much appreciated Sayer "laying things out" about Lewis' life prior to his conversion to Christianity. Lewis was a sinful man, pure and simple, redeemed by Christ's mercy and grace. Just like everyone of us. He was not a holier than thou type of individual. He was aware of his past and thoughtful towards his future. However, he did have an intellect that many of us are lacking in, purposefully or otherwise. This made him intimidating and formidable soul. Quite frankly, I don't think I would liked his company, personally, although I would like to have known him (if that makes sense). If I'm being honest, I would like the prestige of having known him, without having to try to talk to him. I wouldn't have known what to say. But I would love to hear him speak!

The encouraging thing about this book was that I saw myself as being like Lewis in the respect that he too was always struggling and desiring to learn and know more of God. When I see what Lewis was and what he became, I am encouraged to go a greater distance myself. Does that make sense? God did a lot with Lewis. He can do just as much (or more?!) with me! That's an amazing thought. Here we have a hero of the Christian faith, in a great many respects, but he was just a man like us. His life had potential and so does ours. There is nothing that really separates us in that except that he was willing to put the time and energy into thought and we would rather not.

There is a great deal to say about this book. One little review will not do it a bit of justice. I can tell you that, for me, it made the man more real. It made me want to poke my head out of Narnia and delve into his other writings which explain more of his thought processes. I'm particularly eager to get my hands on a copy of "Surprised by Joy" which tells more of the story of his personal conversation. That would be curious.

I cannot speak highly enough of this book because of its harsh realities and uncommon graces. Lewis' life shouts: "GOD IS A BIG GOD!" I hope mine will say the same.