Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Reviews of The Great Divorce

The Great Divorce
The Great Divorce
Author: C. S. Lewis
ISBN: 241668
Publication Date: 1976
Pages: 128
Rating:
  • Currently 5/5 Stars.
 1

5 stars, based on 1 rating
Publisher: Macmillan Publishing
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Write a Review

15 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

reviewed The Great Divorce on
Helpful Score: 2
In "The Great Divorce" C.S. Lewis's classic vision of the Afterworld, the narrator boards a bus on a drizzly English afternoon and embarks on an incredible voyage through Heaven and Hell. He meets a host of supernatural beings far removed from his expectations, and comes to some significant realizations about the nature of good and evil.

"Lewis, perhaps more than any other twentieth-century writer, forced those who listened to him and read his works to come to terms with their own philosophical presuppositions." (Los Angles Times)

C.S. Lewis was a professor of medieval and Renaissance literature at Oxford and Cambridge universities who wrote more than thirty books in his lifetime,including "The Screwtape Letters", "The Chronicles of Narnia", and "Mere Christianity". He died in 1963.
reviewed The Great Divorce on
Helpful Score: 2
I at first didn't grasp what the book was saying. It seems to say that even when in hell we can still choose to go to heaven. As I continued I came to understand that this is not the case, it is merely a playing out of choices that the people already made throughout their lives. It shows the folly of clinging so closely to the past that we cannot grasp onto the great glory that the Lord has ready for us. Or believing that we have always tried our best to be good and never taking anything that we didn't deserve, and how this stops us from accepting God's gift of life because we didn't "earn" it.
Overall I enjoyed the book immensely and found it's view refreshing in this age of relativism. Because ultimately it shows the kinds of things that keep people from accepting God's gift are the ordinary everyday events it's not the great sins alone that we have to be wary of but the things that we often feel are quite acceptable such as always being true to oneself can be just as much a hindrance to salvation as adultery would be. It's a very difficult book to describe, but at the same moment is also very much worth the read. It's a small book, I read it in an evening and an afternoon. I think it's one of Lewis's more underrated works, but it should not be overlooked.
reviewed The Great Divorce on
Helpful Score: 1
C. S. Lewis cleverly uses a fantasy to cause the reader to consider the choice of heaven or hell. While Lewis' non-fiction books require a more mature reader, his fiction books can be enjoyed and then appreciated by readers of most ages. Even the title draws in the reader since it appears to be an oxymoron; curiosity regarding the title and later the story line propels the reader through the fantasy.
reviewed The Great Divorce on
Helpful Score: 1
I think this book gives a very theologically sound view of heaven and hell - which is difficult to understand. It answers the question - if God is merciful and forgiving and kind why does hell exsist?
eds avatar reviewed The Great Divorce on + 9 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Not what I expected; Too, often we are quick to judge the same behavior others see in us. Short, concise, quick read, excellent story. Passed it on to my hug-buddy.
harmony85 avatar reviewed The Great Divorce on + 982 more book reviews
The narrator of this story gets on a bus on a drizzly English afternoon and embarks on an incredible voyage through Heaven and Hell.
reviewed The Great Divorce on + 3 more book reviews
I read this back in high school and I just remember that it was a great book and it seemed like i was watching someones dream.
reviewed The Great Divorce on + 6 more book reviews
I love CS Lewis, this book is a beautiful story about Heaven and Hell told in a very different way.
reviewed The Great Divorce on + 57 more book reviews
Spiritual Classics by C.S. Lewis
reviewed The Great Divorce on + 13 more book reviews
Lewis at his best.
reviewed The Great Divorce on + 57 more book reviews
very good
reviewed The Great Divorce on + 82 more book reviews
good book
reviewed The Great Divorce on + 29 more book reviews
An allegory, a fantastical tale, and insights into the nature of humanity. What more could one want?
reviewed The Great Divorce on + 496 more book reviews
One I remember having to read for College.
Uyulala avatar reviewed The Great Divorce on + 16 more book reviews
Although it is a wonderful allegory and story, it was too built up for me and I was disappointed. Very easy read, though--I got through it in one sitting.