By Terry Glaspey
“By his words and his life, Lewis demonstrated the power of a life touched by a deep intellectual commitment to the truth of the gospel, and of an imagination energised by the glory of the Christian vision of reality.”
– Terry Glaspey
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Book Summary
GENRE:
Biography
THEMES:
Storytelling, Grief, Imagination, Theology, Mythology, Faith
AGES:
13 years +
Storyline:
“The legacy Lewis left behind is a rich one indeed – a long list of books, which not only show evidence of a firm commitment to orthodoxy, but also a scintillating wit, a logical mind, and an ever-fresh imagination. He was a man who surrendered to God, was in love with life, and was ready to share all that he could with others. His was a wonderful example of the Christian life lived with fullness and passion”.
This book is such a friendly invitation into the brilliant mind and life of C. S. Lewis. It is split into two parts: His Life and His Thought. This works very well and creates such an interesting and thought-provoking flow, and I loved the bite-size chapters which made it so easy to pick up and put down.
Part One, His Life: Jack’s life-altering and profound moments often collide with some form of book. From the rejection of his family’s faith as a young man to the reigniting of a desire for faith to battling with grief at the death of his beloved Joy, his life’s timeline can almost be told, through a booklist of stories – whether his own or something which moved him.
Part Two, His Thought: This is a brief and insightful summary of Lewis’ ideas and orthodoxy.
CONTENT WARNING:
Mentions of war violence. Brief discussions of Joy’s and Jack’s relationship which includes speculations at the time of whether or not it was appropriate. The impact of Joy’s cancer diagnosis and death on Jack’s life and writings is deeply explored.
In Part 2 on pages 220-221, Terry references Lewis’ book The Four Loves and explores the different types of love; Storge, Philia, Eros, and Agape. While briefly discussing ‘eros’ (erotic love), it is mentioned that as humans, our sexual appetites are being led astray through overindulgence and an example of a striptease, “to watch a girl undress on the stage” is used to prove this point.
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