C.S. Lewis is a genius. Imagine me saying period at the end of the sentence not just typing the "." itself. I can't wait to read his other books after reading this one. Besides The Chronicles of Narnia (which are obviously amazing), The Screwtape Letters and Til we have faces, A myth retold are the only books I have read by Lewis.
The Screwtape Letters is letters written to a brand new tempter from his uncle Screwtape. Screwtape is leading his nephew in his new job as he tries to claim the soul of a young man for their boss The Devil. It is so interesting and I couldn't stop reading. Here are just a few of the quotes that I loved from the book:
"Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one-the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts,"
"They anger him because he regards his times as his own and feels that it is being stolen. You must therefore zealously guard in his mind the curious assumption 'my time is my own'. Let him have the feeling that he starts each day as the lawful possessor of twenty-four hours. Let him feel as a grievous tax that portion of this property which he has to make over to his employers, and as a generous donation that further portion which he allows to religious duties. But what he must never be permitted to doubt is that the total from which these deductions have been made was, in some mysterious sense, his own personal birthright."
"The basic principle of the new education is to be that dunces and idlers must not be made to feel inferior to intelligent and industrious pupils. That would be 'undemocratic'. These differences between pupils-for they are obviously and nakedly individual differences-must be disguised. This can be done on various levels. At universities, examinations must be framed so that nearly all the students get good marks."
"Children who are fit to proceed to a higher class may be artificially kept back, because the others would get a trauma-Beelzebub, what a useful word!-being left behind."
"In a word, we may reasonably hope for the virtual abolition of education when I'm as good as you has fully had its way. All incentives to learn and all penalties for not learning will vanish. the few who might want to learn will be prevented: who are they to overtop their fellows?"
Til We Have Faces is a myth retold. I have never really gotten into studying Greek mythology so I hadn't heard the story prior to reading Lewis's version, so I really don't have anything to base it on...but I really enjoyed it and loved the lessons and morals it teaches. I am not going to retell the story here but if you want more information on it Amazon gives you all the information you need. All I can add to what they say is there is just something about the way Lewis writes that just makes you want to read, and learn, and soak it all in. If I were to make a list of people I want to meet in Heaven C.S. Lewis would definitely be on it.
I know, I know this post doesn't exactly give a whole lot of info. but I just had to get the word out how much I enjoyed these books and I only have a few minutes!!! I thought if I put some words from the author rather than my own you may actually be interested enough to read them! (I had a couple quotes form Til we have faces but the book marks got pulled out.) Just take my word for it: you will love these books!!!
Have you read any books by C.S. Lewis that you think I should put on the top of my list to read next?
