Not sure if it was official or not. Thought I'd start a thread for those who spoke about it in the Christian Discussion Thread.

I have read this, but I find Lewis to be a very dry read.  Try as I might, the two books of his that I have read just seem to plod on and on and on.

Thanks for the warning. LOL. I haven't read it yet myself and I'll see if I can get through it.

I was afraid it might be dry, just from looking at the preview at Amazon.  If I get a chance, I'll get it from the library and give it a try.

Thanks, Shannon, for starting this thread.  I am going to start reading mine today.

...and hit 'enter' before I meant to!  <sheesh>

Interesting to think that unseen beings may be discussing ways to deceive us.  All the more reason to have the Word hidden in our hearts.

~Jori

I'm going to go to the library (maybe not until Monday though) and try to find this and join in! The kids are reading Chronicles of Narnia, and so reading the same author would be enjoyable for me. (Of course, I never read any of the chronicles either, so that's on my list as well!)

I've marked this thread - am excited to find it! :D

I've read the introduction (long), the Preface, and the first letter.  Pretty interesting.  It puts me in the mind of Peritti's Darkness books--at least so far.

Kay who wrote the introduction in your copy? Mine has a preface and an introduction both by Lewis himself. I'm delighted by the fact that the book was dedicated to Tolkien, I know the two men were close friends at Oxford.

My problem with his books is the fact that I keep finding myself jumping from one to another. I see something in one book that makes me wonder about something in another book, or I wonder how his real life affected his writing of some specific topic, and jump to one of the biographies...I'm the same way with Tolkien and it makes it very hard to actually FINISH any of their books!

Has anyone else read any of the Lewis biographies esp. Shadowlands or any of his other non-fiction?

Bren,

I've read "Jack" by George Sayer.  I thought it was really fascinating.  (I actually read it twice!)  It tells you about many of the spiritual ups and downs of his life, and shows him as a real human being with faults like all of us, but I think I liked him even more after reading it.  He was a very genuine and unique person.

I've read "The Screwtape Letters" and really loved them.  I usually read just one at a time and thought about it before continuing.  It gives you a lot of insight into how Satan, through demons,  might be working behind the scenes in our lives.  Lewis said it really exhausted him, spiritually, having to put himself in Screwtapes' place and figure out how he would view things.

I also enjoyed his space trilogy, "Perelandra", "Out of the Silent Planet" and "That Hideous Strength".  I'm currently collecting all of the Narnia books through PBS.  I read them to my kids when they were younger and want to re-read them for my own pleasure and have them on my bookshelf for others to read.

I've started "Mere Christianity" several times and pooped out.  It takes a lot of thinking! =0)  I also started "The Problem of Pain" and haven't gotten back to it.  But I plan to read more of his non-fiction when the time is right.

Go Lewis fans!

Bren--Yes, both the introduction and preface in my book were by Lewis, himself, and I thought they gave good insight into his writing of the Screwtape Letters.

I am reading this book in the same fashion that you did, Lisa, one letter at a time and then taking time to ponder.  I agree with you, it does really show how Satan might be working in my life.  I was thinking that very thing this morning when I was reading my Lenten devotion--as my mind was wandering and I started to get off-track thinking of what I needed to get done today...It took a little more prayer to get my mind where it needed to be :-)

I think that Screwtape should be read with a group.  You really get to see how related the main human character is to all of us.  But, I think the Great Divorce is my favorite Lewis book.  It completely changed the way I think about spirituality.  It is a beautiful picture of faith as a journey that perhaps does not end with this life.

Thank you, Richard, for your thoughts on the Great Divorce.  I haven't read that one, or actually heard anyone talk about it before. 

The interest in Lewis and Tolkien seem to be very high right now. Two series that are basically fictional accounts of their lives have been written just in the past two years. Melanie Jeschke's Oxford Chronicles are Christian fiction about the Inklings (their club at Oxford). The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica by James Owen is a YA fantasy series about how Lewis, Tolkien, and other fantasy authors were influenced by an alternate universe that only those with powerful imaginations combined with creativity can journey to - so fascinating how the author brings so many past writers into these stories. Both series are wonderful and I highly recommend them.

I suppose the renewed interest is because of the movies that have been made recently. I loved Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings, but I didn't like The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe very much. I was also upset to find that another author has written a novelization of the movie that has totally lost all the religious connotations of the original book.

I remember really liking "The Great Divorce" also.  It was quite a few years ago that I read it, and my 23 year old son just bought it! 

I just finished "Inklings" by Melanie Jeschke.  I LOVED it!  I actually thought I was requesting a non-fiction book about The Inklings, but I wasn't disappointed.  It was really good and it was fun to read a light piece of fiction for a change.

It sounds like a book I might like to read.  I looked it up on Amazon.  Did you know there are 2 more books in the series?  There is an interesting write-up--actually a blog entry--by the author there, also.

I've read the entire series - it was great. I actually have all 3 of them autographed by the author so they are on my keeper shelf!