C.S. Lewis

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

just out of curiosity how many people have read any of his non narnia books?

what did you like about them?

what didnt you?

[PlayMSTie]

There's not much I didn't like about them.  He's up there with my very favorite authors (the others are Dorothy L. Sayers and Charles Dickens) and I've either read, or am currently reading, or am about to read, everything of his I can get my hands on!

In a nutshell, I like how he combines a brilliant imagination with plain old common sense and practicality. Also, I'm a fellow Christian so he's taught me a lot about faith. And he was a man with a very big heart (his biographies talk about how he gave away practically all the money he ever made from his books, and was generally just a very kind and caring person) and I think that comes through in his writing as well.

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

yeah me too i love how he manages somehow to take very heavy topics and make it seem so obvious and simple

[6079SmithW]

I've only read Screwtape and a few chunks of his science fiction (aside from the Narnia books,) but Screwtape actually reveals quite a lot about the way his mind works. I don't always agree with him, but he's a fascinating man and one of the most reasonable of the apologists.

I've been meaning to read Mere Christianity but I have a really low tolerance for didacticism, so I generally prefer the one-step removed sorts of things.

[AmazingThor]

Yeah I love his non-fiction stuff, but I also enjoyed his "Outerspace Trilogy". I found it was more adult-oriented than the Narnia books.

[LadyKenobi]

Mere Christianity was a textbook of mine in college, one of the few I didn't sell back.  I think every Christian should read it.  As I mentioned in another thread, I think Mike has read a lot of him.

[PlayMSTie]

I've only read Screwtape and a few chunks of his science fiction (aside from the Narnia books,) but Screwtape actually reveals quite a lot about the way his mind works. I don't always agree with him, but he's a fascinating man and one of the most reasonable of the apologists.

I've been meaning to read Mere Christianity but I have a really low tolerance for didacticism, so I generally prefer the one-step removed sorts of things.

You might try The Great Divorce. It's a fantasy about some people in hell who take a bus trip to heaven to decide whether they want to go there. I think it's what you might qualify as a "one-step removed" book.

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

I've been meaning to read Mere Christianity but I have a really low tolerance for didacticism, so I generally prefer the one-step removed sorts of things.

thats a shame because its really a great read.

You might try The Great Divorce. It's a fantasy about some people in hell who take a bus trip to heaven to decide whether they want to go there. I think it's what you might qualify as a "one-step removed" book.

i havent heard about that one.  im definately gonna have to buy that when i get home. 

[J-Proof]

Mere Christianity + Screwtape Letters = NECESSARY Cs Lewis reads....

Hoenstly, these are some of the most sensibly well-thought-out theological novels ever.

[LadyKenobi]

(quietly raises English major head)

... actually, MC is a work of nonfiction, not a novel.

(runs away)

Sorry, I get to use my degree so very, very little.

[AmandaGal]

I haven't finished or really put a dent in Mere Christianity but I have been enjoying Screwtape letters.  I'm not a Christian but I like to know the enemy (no, I'm just kidding. I just enjoy reading about religion of all kinds).

Sarc told me I needed to read Mere and maybe I need to get into it but it doesn't seem to me any different from any other Christian literature I've read.  Is the first part just a setup for the goodness to come?

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

ive never read a another christian book like it.  What one are you comparing it to?  but yes i think so.  the later parts are more about the individual life instead of generics, much like screwtape.

[BEERxTaco]

I just picked up the 4-CD unabridged audio version of Screwtape, read by John Cleese. It was hard to find the complete, unabridged version. I've been checking around every few months or so and just got lucky this time I guess. I can't wait to hear it! Got it on ebay for $35, I think they still have like 4 left...

Check it out, ebay #160112114982

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

man thats an excellent book on tape.  i have it.  and once you hear it screw tape will ALWAYS sound like cleese it awesome. 

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

I've read the Silent Planet Trilogy.

Out of the silent planet was a wonderful work of science fiction. It was rather realistic compared to a lot of Buck Rogers type settings. I really like the fact that C. S. Lewis had an alien society that was friendly rather than hostile, yet still had the mechanics and intrigue to drive an engaging narrative.

Perelandra was an engaging read in a similar vein. It has a good creative concept of paradise, and I like the non-linear texture to the world and the creatures and morality that other authors lack (Normally it's only the bad guys/demons that are interesting.) I did find some aspects of it philosophically off-putting and disturbing, particularly the protagonist having to murder a debate opponent for the good of perelandra rather than using reasoned argument. The lengthy discourse with the oyarsans got a bit tiresome.

That Hideous Strength differed from the previous two stories in that it is, wholly and primarily, a university morality play. The more you agree with the philosophies and counter-philosophies it presents, the more you will like it, and the more you disagree with it, the more it will cause you frustration and pain. The humor is well used, I particularly liked the detached-from-body old man character, and the objectivist became (perhaps unintentionally) laughable, but there are more than a few major points that philosophically rub me the wrong way, because they are sexist or just plain morally incorrect (The female lead should not defer to her husband in the matter of joining up the good guys because her husband is, frankly, a bit of a dope). The masculinity femininity thing isn't something I'm morally opposed to, but I just didn't see much evidence for or interest in that element. Lastly, after summoning all the oyarsans of our solar system, the actual means of destroying NICE seemed a bit anti-climactic.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

All Merlin did was set the curse of babel and set the animals loose, and the whole raining fire and earthquakes was more or less redundant or clean-up crew work )

Throughout all of these works, I love C. S. Lewis's humor, his cosmic perspective, and his ability to filter the story events through the lense of an everyman so that even interludes with extraterrestrial archangels have the ring of realism.