This book is a fine resource for looking up Lewis quotes or for thumbing through to read Lewis in a different light. The quotes are grouped alphabetically by topic (e.g. "courage", "experience", "joy", "Macdonald", or "Middle Ages"), being culled from the academic and popular works alike. Lewis enthusiasts (or pastors or priests or rabbis looking for material for their sermons) would do well to invest a few dollars and purchase this book. It comes equipped with a preface & introduction, bibliography, a helpful index, and several pages of pictures.

Not only is this book an excellent resource for Christian speakers/preachers/etc., but it can also be of usefulness an individual's personal life by offering words on joy, peace, death, etc. The quotes are topically organized, and the references back to the original works are very helpful when you can't quite remember exactly which book contains that C.S. Lewis quote that has been running through your mind lately. This book is also helpful if you engage in theological conversations and/or debates. The quotes included in the book are good encapsulations of the gyst of many of Lewis' insights into human nature, Divine nature, and Divine human nature. Some sections that I have found especially helpful in informal philosophical debates are "Free Will", "Sin", "Human Nature", and "Love." Any diehard Lewis fan (without a photographic memory), who loves being able to quote him in sermons, academic papers or in conversation, could greatly benefit from having this book.

I've thoroughly enjoyed reading the Quotable Lewis and continue to use it often in my study of the Gospel. C.S. Lewis is the greatest Christian Scholar of our time and in reading passages from his works in the Quotable Lewis I've gained greater insite into what being a Christian is all about.

Letters to Malcolm was the last book that C.S. Lewis wrote, and consists of twenty two letters written to a fictitious character named Malcolm, mostly concerning Lewis's thoughts about prayer. This may be the most personal glimpse of Lewis's spiritual side, and many have enjoyed his relaxed, warm dialogue in these epistles. For those wishing to meditate on the various aspects of praying (content of prayer, petitionary prayers - does God grant requests?, prayer as worship, penitential prayer, the Lord's prayer, or prayer for the dead) this book will give plenty of food for thought. Personally, I like most of Lewis's other books better than this one, but if you are studying the subject of prayer, pondering worship in prayer, or musing about whether or not praying does any good, this book will be a good purchase for you.

The format of this book is in short letters to a friend on prayer. We are presented with only Lewis' side of the conversation, but his references to his friend's response or counterpoints is clear. I loved this book because it encourages us to pray, not to provide God with a grocery list of our problems or desires, but to draw into communion with God...and through that 'conversation' we learn about God and ourselves. Like other of Lewis' books (Mere Christianity)this book is short in length but long in wisdom. Also like Mere Christianity, you'll want to keep it in your library and read it again.

In his Christian works, CS Lewis tackles many difficult and important subjects--love, miracles, and pain, to name a few. For each of these topics, and for many others, Lewis uses a very straightforward technique, and explains things how he perceives them to be. With prayer, however, Lewis takes another approach. He was constantly writing and saying that he knew nothing on the subject, that he felt himself wholly inadequate to write about the subject. His solution was to offer his feelings on prayer in the form of informal letters to a friend, thus enabling him to explain his views without appearing to claim any knowledge on the subject.

For all his feelings of inadequacy, Lewis does a remarkable job with prayer. Like many of his other books, this short work provides many insights which simplify and explain otherwise difficult subjects. He speaks not only of how and when we should pray, but also discusses what he considers to be the most elevated form of prayer, and offers his opinion of just what God expects of us when we pray.

This short book can be understood without a background in Lewis's writings, as his ideas are not really dependent on his earlier theology (this was one of his last works). This book does lean toward the mystical at times, and can be somewhat difficult to follow, but the insights it provides on prayer are invaluable. This may not be the best introduction to prayer, but it is definitely worth the time for anyone wanting to benefit from the great Christian apologist's views on communication with God.

C. S. Lewis would doubtless have scoffed at the idea of a reference book about himself, just as he disapproved of university courses devoted to modern authors on the sensible ground that "helps" to reading them are not needed and come between the writer and his audience.

Nonetheless, students and "fans" of the great Christian apologist and literary scholar now are offered two thick compendia on his life and work. Each has its virtues and faults, and both are worthwhile investments - though not a substitute for the straight, unfiltered Lewis.

The "Readers' Encyclopedia", reviewed here, contains articles by 44 contributors, many of them very prominent in the world of C. S. Lewis studies. The one striking absentee is Walter Hooper, Lewis' semi-official literary executor and solo author of the rival work, "C. S. Lewis: Companion and Guide". This omission is, as the saying goes, not accidental.

In more than 400 pages, consisting of a 57-page biography followed by topical entries, the Encyclopedia covers the full scope of Lewis' life, work and thought. The "work" draws the greatest attention. There are articles not only on the major books but also on virtually all of Lewis' shorter pieces, including even letters to newspapers. In addition to summarizing content, most of the contributors consider its significance, respond to the views of critics or advance criticisms of their own. They may admire their subject, but this volume is not the production of a fan club.

Weighing the Encyclopedia against the Companion, the latter is heavier (almost twice as many pages), but the former is wider in scope, with more attention to CSL's career as a scholar and more systematic coverage of his entire body of work. It makes room by treating topics more succinctly. Epitomes are shorter, there is less biographical detail, and quotations from the Lewis canon are less extensive. Unfortunately, one space saving idea was the omission of an index, the need for which is distinctly not obviated by putting articles into alphabetical order.

Often both works are excellent, though many times in different ways. The Companion's life of CSL's close friend Owen Barfield tells much about the man but is rather imprecise on his ideas and how they influenced Lewis. The Encyclopedia's fine article fills those gaps.

Elsewhere the Encyclopedia is clearly superior. The Companion's discussions of "An Experiment in Criticism" and "The Personal Heresy" leave out the context in which Lewis developed his critical theories. The Encyclopedia gives him a place in the debates occasioned by the "New Criticism".

The Companion has its innings, too. Its introductory biography is fuller and less given to unsupported psychological speculations. The Encyclopedia writer, curiously, accepts the conjectures of the anti-Christian polemicist A. N. Wilson on major issues (e. g., Lewis's relationship with Mrs. Moore and the impact of his debate with Professor Anscombe), even while pointing out that Wilson in unreliable in detail and malicious in intent.

There are spots, inevitably, where both volumes are weak. Neither describes the substance of Professor G. E. M. Anscombe's famous critique of Chapter III of "Miracles" or how Lewis amended the text to answer her criticisms. Those matters are surely of more lasting import than whether Lewis did or did not feel "defeated" after debating Anscombe.

They can also fail in different ways on the same topic. The Encyclopedia's article on "The Dark Tower", the now controversial novel fragment published after Lewis's death, is a one-sided diatribe on behalf of the theory that the work is a forgery. The Companion naturally does not allude to that allegation (as Walter Hooper is the accused forger), and it also says virtually nothing useful about the story. In fact, the uninspired plot summary is marked by omissions and mistakes. (The writer does not realize, for instance, that "Michael" is the given name of the protagonist, not of his Othertime double.)

Finally, each volume has its (very small) share of this-can't-be-real lapses. An Encyclopedia article begins, "C. S. Lewis followed traditional theological thinking of his time in presuming the Holy Spirit was the third person of the Trinity." What a ripe example of the liberal historicizing that CSL so persistently combated! But it is probably a more serious matter that the Companion barely notices "The Allegory of Love", Lewis's pioneering work on medieval love poetry that laid the foundation of his academic reputation.

But let me pause here. It is easy - and an occasion of intellectual sin - to scrutinize every inch of a mighty edifice in search of blemishes. Overall, the Encyclopedia is a capacious and well-wrought work. It may not be a work that C. S. Lewis would have desired anyone to undertake, but I do not think that he can be displeased with the quality of the result.

If you can have only one reference work on Jack Lewis, this is the one to have. This volume is well edited, well written, and complete. You can find allmost as much about some of Lewis' obscure essays as about the Chronicles of Narnia and the Screwtape Letters. Most of the entries include suggestions for further reading. There is also short but reasonably complete biography included, written by John Bremer.

A book with such a dry-sounding title will necessarily cause the prospective reader, even the fans of CSL, to wonder whether it is worth its price and the effort of reading it. To answer that question, I would say that the book is of real value to both the diehard Lewisophile, and the researcher of well-known characters from that period of Oxford such as John Betjeman (Lewis's comments chime nicely with the biography of 'The Young Betjeman' by Bevis Hillier).

This book is for anyone who has already read: 1) the Lewis autobiography, 'Surprised by Joy'; 2) 'Jack: a life of C.S. Lewis', the biography by his good friend, George Sayer; and 3) the official biography by W. Hooper and R.L. Green. I would rank it about equally with books like 'C.S. Lewis at the Breakfast Table and Other Reminiscences' by James T. Como, and Kathryn Lindskoog's books, but before his collections of letters.

The time period covered is given by the title which covers his study for the second of his three degree subjects, to the second year of his English Fellowship at Magdalen. On eventually being offered a position, he was asked would he mind teaching some philosophy as well as English. In a letter to his father, he records that by that time he would have 'agreed to coach a troupe of performing bagbirds in the quadrangle' - the Lewis wit not yet baptised.

His main motive for keeping the diary was that the entries were read aloud to his companion Mrs Moore, who kept house for him. If he allowed the diary to lapse, she would prompt him to start again. This is all to the good in terms of a candid insight into his life, as publication would be the last thing he would have expected. The published text is well edited, and generally gets the flavour of his domestic and college life. The general range and depth of his intellectual life is captured particularly well, with Shakespeare, Sigmund Freud, Havelock Ellis, and a variety of philosophical savants (now mostly forgotten) being the daily diet.

There are some surprises in the text. I was surprised at the extremely social nature of his life at this time. Far from a life of solitary study, the steady stream of houseguests, companionable walks, and visits to the theatre or musical performances form a large part of the normal routine. Without doubt the most horrifying section is his account of their attempt to help 'The Doc', who goes mad shortly before his death. This reminded me of the later Lewis who was to write 'A Grief Observed' - an account of his wife dying, and his coming to terms with it - a rare blend of compassion and self-analysis. At the end of the book is a fascinating but rather uncompromising set of nine pen-portraits of his Magdalen colleagues. These are private notes, and not intended for publication, but we see how the lancet accuracy of his analysis is turned with equal facility on human nature or literary works. It explains why he could be unintentionally intimidating, and why he was not equally appreciated by all his colleagues.

I have always been a big fan of C.S. Lewis and this book is just one more glorious example of his skill and his intuitive writing. In fact, his diary gives us a clear picture of the man he was, and the man God was to make of him in later years. God's gifts are irrevocable and this book is a testament to that reality. C.S. Lewis was given an amazing talent to write and in his diary I can see the shaping of his mind and his heart, long before he professed to be a Christian. There is something so humble and unassuming about Mr. Lewis' writings. He was, in essence, a very simple man who led a complex mental life. I finished this book with a sense of amazement at the grace of God, who used an atheist to give the world a clearer picture of Christianity and all that it stands for. C.S. Lewis' words are always encouraging, even in his days as an unbeliever, he still managed to write reflectively and with an imcomparable sincerity. This book/diary is worth its weight in gold!

William Nicholson's Shadowlands (adapted for a radio theater production by Jenny Sullivan and Martin Jarvis) is the story of C.S. Lewis and the American poet Joy Gresham. Lewis, famous for his "Alice In Wonderland" fantasy for children, was a teacher at Cambridge and Oxford Universities, and an avowed atheist throughout his early life. But in 1931 Lewis converted to Christianity and became an outspoken defender of the faith until his death in 1963. Shadowlands is based upon this his meeting Gresham and how their lives became entwined with a shared love that transformed all of Lewis's relationships, including his relationship with God. A full cast that included Martin Jarvis as C.S. Lewis and Harriet Harris as joy Gresham, under the direction of Jenny Sullivan, makes Shadowlands a superb acquisition selection for personal, professional, academic, and community library collections.

Shadowlands is my all-time favorite play to read on a rainy day, on a lazy Sunday, and even on a rainy, lazy Sunday! The story of the famous Christian writer, C.S. Lewis, moves the reader to tears, laughter, and reminds us that life is a precious gift. Lewis marries a divorced woman named Joy, which creates a conflict with his solid religious beliefs. Joy's severe case of bone cancer causes Lewis to question the God in whom he has so firmly belived, despite his famous speeches written about the purpose of pain and suffering. As Lewis is forced to grow up through experience, one can share his emotions and close the book with renewed faith and hope for our own lives. Nicholson writes eloquently, bringing to life Lewis' speeches on pain and suffering within the play. The play is based on the actual lives of Lewis and Joy.

A perfect play! Something that one could really relate to. Love & pain and the connection between them...you can't get one without the other! Also, great ideas on God's infliction of suffering, something very believable for me. "We're like blocks of stone, out of which the sculptor carves the forms of men. The blows of his chisel, which hurt us so much, are what makes us perfect. The suffering in the world is not the failure of God's love for us; it is that love in action." How true!

Lewis's shorter works were generally originally composed as speeches or as articles for periodicals. Various sets of them were collected and published in book form both during his life and after his death. Trying to determine what works are in what collections is difficult - most works appear in more than one collection, some works appear under more than one title, and some collections appear under more than one title.

To aid readers, in this review I've listed the works in this collection, with notes indicating other collections they have appeared in. Where a work has appeared under more than one title, I give both titles separated by a slash.

Table of Contents:

"The Efficacy of Prayer" (1), (2)

"On Obstinacy in Belief" (2), (3), (4)

"Lilies that Fester" (2), (3), (5)

"Screwtape Proposes a Toast" (2), (4), (6)

"Good Work and Good Works" (2), (4)

"Religion and Rocketry" / "Will We Lose God in Outer Space" (1), (2)

"The World's Last Night" / "Christian Hope - Its Meaning for Today" (1), (2)

Notes:

(1) also published in "Fern-Seed and Elephants and Other Essays"

(2) also published in "Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces"

(3) also published in "They Asked for a Paper"

(4) also published in "Screwtape Proposes a Toast and Other Pieces"

(5) also published in "Christian Reunion and Other Essays"

(6) also published in "The Screwtape Letters" / "The Screwtape Letters and Screwtape Proposes a Toast"

Recommendations:

If you are interested in Lewis's shorter works, my best advice is to get "Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces", which, as of the time of this writing, is available from Amazon UK but not Amazon US. That collection consists of about 130 short works by Lewis. The works in that collection are mostly, but not exclusively, Christian.

If your interest in Lewis's shorter works is restricted to those on Christianity, and your budget or enthusiasm does not run to "Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces", then my second-best advice is to get any or all of the following (they don't overlap significantly, and between them they include most of Lewis's shorter Christian writings):

"God in the Dock - Essays on Theology and Ethics"*

"The World's Last Night and Other Essays"

"Christian Reflections"

"The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses"

* Be careful - there is a UK Fontana paperback lurking about called "God in the Dock - Essays on Theology" that is substantially shorter than the "God in the Dock - Essays on Theology and Ethics" collection. A full version of "God in the Dock - Essays on Theology and Ethics" was published in the UK under the title "Undeceptions - Essays on Theology and Ethics".

The World's Last Night is an education smushed into a neat, tiny, little package. Whenever I read Lewis, I am struck by his intense clarity of thought. This book is no different. Lewis is at his brightest and most lucid in these pages.

A variety of topics-from the effectiveness of prayer, to the end of the world-are covered in the pages of The World's Last Night. Each essay (and the story) is brilliant in its own way.

Lewis is one of my favorite writers. I have come to believe that I like him so much not because of his clarity or depth of thought-which are good reasons for liking him-or even because we share a distaste for modernism and all that it has done to cloud modern thought, but I believe what I appreciate most about Lewis is his sense of humor. Lewis' humor is on display in every one of these very diverse pieces. Even when I disagree with Lewis, his humor humanizes him, and I cannot hold anything against him. Contemporary authors could take a lesson from this.

Buy this book. It is worth reading and rereading. If nothing else, the humor will lift your spirits.

This book is a collection of various essays that C.S. Lewis authored and published a few years before his death. The titles are "The Efficacy of Prayer" (that discusses what practical, if any, effect our prayers have), "On Obstinacy in Belief" (exploring the reasons why people cling to a particular world view), "Lilies that Fester"("Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds," a talk about those whose concern is with a superficial desire to "be cultured" versus those who really care about the things that comprise culture), "Screwtape Proposes a Toast" (a short sequel to his book The Screwtape Letters), "Good Work and Good Works" (describing the difference between quality workmanship and Christian charity), "Religion and Rocketry" (discussing the truth of religion in a world where advancing technology allows humans to visit other worlds), and "The World's Last Night"(about the second coming of Christ). The essays are full of the usual vintage Lewis: shrewd, humorous, wise, and clear. In brief, they make for a fine reading time.

In _Sleuthing C.S. Lewis_, Kathryn Lindskoog carries on her crusade against Walter Hooper with all the balance and objectivity of a prosecuting attorney. Readers of Mrs. Lindskoog's earlier book _Light in the Shadowlands_ may find it useful to know that this latest book is not really a sequel but a modest revision. (Neither the Amazon website nor the Mercer University Press website mentions that fact.)

The reason for the relatively low rating I gave _Sleuthing_ is that I don't think the way Mrs. Lindskoog presents her case is commensurate with the seriousness of her allegations. Unlike a real prosecuting attorney, Mrs. Lindskoog is able, and more than willing, to present information whose prejudicial effect outweighs its probative value. I don't see the point of the rumormongering that takes place on pages 90, 177, and 178, or the catty remark about Hooper's conversion that is included on page 179, for instance. For some time Lindskoog has been making insinuations about Hooper's sexual orientation, and those appear, if anything, to be getting more numerous. (As a small example, compare footnote 6 on page 58 of _Sleuthing_ to footnote 6 on page 55 of _Light_.)

It would have been nice if Mrs. Lindskoog had said more about her methodology. She bridles at the charge that her theories are unfalsifiable, but the way that both similarities and dissimilarities between disputed and undisputed Lewis texts are used to bolster charges of forgery makes one wonder what sort of evidence she would accept as exculpatory. A.Q. Morton's identification of _The Dark Tower_ as a composite work is reported by Mrs. Lindskoog, but criticism of Morton's cusum technique by Michael Hilton, David Holmes, Pieter de Haan, and Erik Schils is not.

There are probably few living scholars who know more about C.S. Lewis than Mrs. Lindskoog does. The first book about Lewis I ever bought was the 1981 edition of Lindskoog's _C.S. Lewis: Mere Christian_; I enjoyed it greatly. Looking back at that book, I see that while Mrs. Lindskoog now writes "The most far-fetched fantasy of 1977 may have been the idea that Lewis was the author of _The Dark Tower_", in 1981 she wrote that "Lewis unfortunately got only halfway through [_The Dark Tower_] . . . No one knows why Lewis gave up on this innovative story".

Kathryn Lindskoog does not appear to take the role of judge or prosecuting attorney, but of investigative journalist as well as literary critic. She makes it clear in the preface material that this is an updated, expanded version of her earlier book "Light in the Shadowlands (also an excellent read). The interesting subtitle here is MORE Light in the Shadowlands. Anyone who dislikes wit and cheerful satire in serious scholarship should not read Lindskoog, because that's what she's noted for.

One should note that there is some extremely important new material in "Sleuthing", such as proof that 45 of the 75 poems that Lewis published in his lifetime were altered in 1964 by someone named Walter Hooper. So the versions that are familiar to Lewis' readers are inferior to what Lewis actually wrote. (One becomes increasingly familiar with Hooper in both books). Some of the poems are completely ruined. She also reveals shocking new facts about the secret ownership of the Lewis literary estate and the fact that the royalties on his estate go to (get this) a tax shelter in Lichtenstein, where they can't be investigated.

There are plenty of other new suprises in this highly entertaining new book, and I highly recommend it!

Lindskoog leaves a comet-trail of controversy wherever she goes in Lewis studies, but nobody who is interested in the writings of C. S. Lewis can afford to be ignorant of the case she makes in this book and in its earlier version, _Light in the Shadowlands_. What, after all, _are_ the writings of C. S. Lewis? There appears to be legitimate doubt about the authorship of some of the posthumously-released material.

_Sleuthing C. S. Lewis_ is an update and expansion of Lindskoog's earlier volume, and the text contains numerous additions. I thought it well worth the read, both to revisit the old material and to pick out the new. Also, this version has a much-needed index, unlike the earlier edition.

The text is marred by an unusually large number of typographical errors, no doubt the result of being handled by a small university press. However, this book is an important one. It is civil yet witty in tone and packed with fascinating stuff.

Buy, read, make up your own mind. (Or reserve judgement until more complete evidence is available, as the case may be.) These are important questions, and Lindskoog is the only writer on the market that treats them.

Hello there!

I am looking for a book called "Secret of the Psalms.

Please advise if you have one in your shelves.

Regards,

Carlota Lesava Email address: carl@batelco.com.bh

The first time I read this book, many years ago, I was bothered by what I took as Lewis' disrespectful approach to the OT. One chapter of the book is called "Cursings," and in it Lewis forthrightly notes his initial impression that "the Jews are much more vindictive and vitriolic than the Pagans." While he finds something of great value (even refreshing) in their honest anger at injustice, (see Rene Girard's The Scapegoat for a fascinating perspective on violence and religion) some passages he still labels "diabolical." In the following chapter, "Death in the Psalms," Lewis frankly admits that most of the psalmists did not appear to know about heaven and hell. And in his chapter on "Scripture," he admits to the presence of "naivite, error, contradiction, even wickedness," in the OT.

I did not like this. Nor did I know enough about nature poetry and paganism, monotheism in other cultures, or Meditteranean cultures, to appreciate all his insights.

What I think I did appreciate, and still do, was the way in which Lewis explains the poetry of the Psalms, the "beauty of the Law," (as in Psalm 119), love of nature, "second meanings" in the Psalms, and most of all, the life-enhancing chapter called "A Word about Praising." John Piper developed this chapter into a whole theology. (See Confessions of a Christian Hedonist.) But the most poetic explanation lies here: "I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise . . . I had not noticed how the humblest, and at the same time the most balanced and capacious, minds, praised most, while cranks, misfits and malconents praised least . . . Praise almost seems to be inner health made audible . . . The Psalmists in telling everyone to praise God are doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about."

That chapter is one of the most enlightening and enchanting (in the literal sense) series of marks that have ever been made on paper, I think. Lewis works a powerful counter-spell to the curse of the reductionists, whom he soundly defeats in argument, re-enchanting the world with the glory of God. I see Lewis' idea confirmed every day -- when my children call me to see a funny scene in a cartoon, or a beautiful sea shell on the beach, for example.

What I found on my first reading of this book remains with me, and grows as I learn more of life. I've also come to appreciate Lewis' take on Scripture, though I am not sure he is completely right. Lewis differs from both skeptic and inerracist in that he makes no a priori assumptions, either that there are no mistakes in Scripture, or that God cannot do miracles. This allows him to be frank and take a truly empirical approach. His conclusion is that the Bible is inspired not like the Koran is said to be, written word-for-word in heaven before time began, but as "the same sort of material as any other literature . . . taken into the service of God's word." Those who see only a human literature are like illiterates who see only ink blots on paper, and are unable to see a poem. Lewis also hints that the best pagan philosophy and poetry can be "taken up" into God's revelation in a similar, though less authoritative, manner.

If all that gives you the impression that Lewis covers a lot of territory, with little detailed discussion of most individual psalms, that's true.

Author, Jesus and the Religions of Man

It's a shame that so many of the people who enjoy Lewis's theological works never read his enlightening discussion of the Psalms. This book does not have the polemic approach of some of his other works. This is (by Lewis's own admission) not a work of scholarship, being more like one schoolboy comparing notes with another in describing the difficulties met and joys gained in reading the Psalms. Lewis notes that the Psalms are poems, intended to be sung, and not doctrinal treatises on which to base a system of theology. He selects various psalms for his discussions, enlightening them with his usual good sense, using illustrations from daily life and the literary world. Lewis's approach is far more helpful than most others who comment on the Psalms and should be read with interest by those familiar with this part of the Bible.

...this is on it! I have read and re-read this thing, and will continue to do so! My usual reaction to reading anything that Lewis committed to paper is something like... "Now there's something worth remembering for the rest of my life." His poems are no exception.
This compilation is superb in that it spans all of the short verse that Lewis wrote from the age of sixteen until his death at age sixty-five.
He was profoundly disillusioned with the direction of the "modern" poetry of his day. He lamented the incoherence and lack of structure that was taking place (his poem "A Confession" addresses these feelings), and he greatly favored a return to a metrically disciplined, rhyming style.
That's what we get here in Lewis's Poems. Over one hundred lightning flashes bursting with intelligent layers of meaning, yet remaining accessible to the average reader. These poems are healthy, they embrace life, they respect death, they exalt nature, they are wide-eyed at night and squinting at the brilliance of noonday. Using subject matter as diverse as salamanders to meteorites, these poems impart truth because they come from the mind of someone who believed in objective truth. As he said, "Great subjects do not make great poems; usually, indeed, the reverse."
And elsewhere "'Look in thy heart and write' is good counsel for poets; but when a poet looks in his heart he finds many things there besides the actual. That is why, and how, he is a poet."
If I started listing my personal favorites I'd exceed amazon's 1,000 word limit! Suffice it to say that perhaps the greatest thing about Lewis's Poems is that once you've read them you're left with a sense that the author thinks highly of the reader!

"It seems to me appropriate, almost inevitable, that when that great Imagination which in the beginning, for Its own delight and for the delight of men and angels and (in their proper mode) of beasts, had invented and formed the whole world of Nature, submitted to express Itself in human speech, that speech should sometimes be poetry. For poetry too is a little incarnation, giving body to what had been before invisible and inaudible."
- from Lewis's "Reflections On The Psalms" -

What makes Lewis so great?
Well, for starters... he thinks that words like Imagination, Nature, and Itself, are proper nouns that deserve capitals!

Many readers, even some of C.S. Lewis' biggest fans, don't realise that Lewis wrote poetry. In fact, Lewis once said that poetry was his favorite literary form. Well, as it turns out Mr. Lewis was an excellent poet, full of style, emotion, and above-all, imagination! The poems in this collection show C.S. Lewis to be a true master of rhyme and meter, and he is also quite masterful in his uses of imagery, sound, and metaphor. There are also some fine non-rhyming pieces here, but it is really his excellent sense of rhyme that sticks out in your head long after you put the book away. Much of the work here (though not all) is of a spiritual nature, and Lewis expresses his faith in Christ quite openly, but never crosses the line into the type of overt "preachiness" that taints much of Christian-oriented poetry. Poems such as "As the Ruin Falls" (which was later turned into a song by Christian musician Phil Keaggy), "Reason", "Pan's Purge", "Deadly Sins", "Pattern", and "Love As Warm as Tears" rate right alongside some of the finest spiritual rhymes ever written, and for fans of Lewis' popular Narnia stories, there is even an imaginative piece called "Narnian Suite". If you are a fan of C.S. Lewis, or just a fan of classic-style poetry, then please crack open this fine book and enjoy!

While his prose is outstanding and without peer in the English language both in content and style, C.S.Lewis' poetry is worthy of note, although not to the level of Thomas Hardy, Robert Frost or W.B.Yeats. Favorites are Meteorite "glad rush of the golden shower"; a poem about a snubbed unicorn who missed Noah's ark; and a parody of Evolution. If you like thoughtful poetry that rhymes and makes sense, you will enjoy this book.

Armand Nicholi's The Question of God presents itself as a fair and balanced presentation of theism versus atheism as told through the writings and perceptions of two of modern histories' most influential men: C.S. Lewis (for the theistic side) and Sigmund Freud (for the atheistic side.) Nothing, however, could be further from the truth.

Nicholi's well-written and fascinating book is nothing more than Christian propaganda disguised as objective scholarship. This becomes abundantly clear about halfway through when he repeatedly implies that atheists (or, rather, those like Freud who embraced a naturalist world-view) are generally fearful, dour, negative and unhappy while theists (or, more precisely, Christians) like Lewis are content, positive, fun-loving and kind. To his credit, Dr. Nicholi doesn't hit the reader over the head with his presumption-he is more subtle than that-but that is the only reasonable conclusion an objective reader could possibly get out of it. In contrasting Freud's unhappy life with Lewis' apparently more joyful existence (particularly after his conversion to Christianity at age 33) he repeatedly demonstrates the point that only within a spiritual world-view is happiness possible which, even if potentially true, is hardly objective. Even though the book tells the reader to decide for himself which man's world-view is best, Nicholi, however, leaves little doubt which one has the strongest hand.

Lest anyone imagine I am a grumpy old atheist with an ax to grind, that is not true. I hold to the spiritual world-view and come out of an evangelical Christian background (though my views have taken on a considerably more ecumentical flavor as of late); yet even a huge Lewis fan like myself could tell when old Sigmund was being set up. He simply can't compete with Lewis' more eloquent arguments or personable style. Whereas Freud comes across as angry, arrogant, fearful and frequently depressed (and as such one more in need of receiving therapy than dispensing it), Lewis appears caring, clever, humble, and upbeat, leaving Freud and his naturalist world-view looking pretty dismal in comparison. This, naturally, forces the reader to assume-as Dr. Nicholi apparently does-that most of Freud's woes were the direct result of his own militant atheism. Though he does acknowledge that Freud might have been dour for other reasons, such as the blatant anti-Semitism he suffered all his life (at the hands of professing "Christians" no less) and his dysfunctional upbringing, it is still clear he perceives his world-view to be the real culprit. I wonder, though, how Lewis would have looked upon Christianity had he been a victim of religious intolerance or if Freud had grown up a gentile? It's hard to tell.

The biggest problem with the book, however, is in pairing Freud with Lewis, especially as the two men were not contemporaries of each other (Freud died just as Lewis was beginning to come into his own as a writer and apologist) leaving Freud with no opportunity to rebut Lewis' comments (a point the author, in all fairness, does acknowledge.) Further, Lewis had the distinct advantage of having been an atheist for thirty years, giving him a thorough understanding of the atheist's viewpoint beforehand, whereas Freud had no such experience with or understanding of the theistic or supernatural world view. As such, I think Lewis would have been better matched against the celebrated American atheist Bertrand Russell-a scholar and writer on Lewis' level-or if Freud had been paired up against his colleague and former pupil, Carl Jung (who in later life embraced the spiritual world-view Freud was to so determinedly fight.) Such pairings would have produced debates that would have been more truly objective and balanced (and, I suspect, heated); comparing Freud's psycho-analytical musings with Lewis's traditional apologetics, however, is like comparing the dancing styles of Fred Astaire to that of Eminem.

Finally, the other element missing from the book is the third voice of eastern metaphysical thought. Lewis and Freud debate issues like the existence of God, sin, sexuality, and death from a purely western standpoint, treating God as the monotheistic, transcendent deity of western religion. An eastern perspective on reincarnation and divine immanence, however, would have been an interesting counter to both Freud's and Lewis' arguments, and would have really given the reader something to think about. As such, the book remains incomplete in that it offers one only two different doors in a room filled with doors. I suspect, however, that Dr. Nicholi was not really interested in presenting diverse options in theology but was instead out to endorse a particular religious perspective from the beginning. I don't mind if one has made that their stated objective from the start, of course, but it seems a little disingenuous to sneak it in dressed in the clothing of objectivity when it is nothing of the kind.

In any case, I still give the book four stars just because Dr. Nicholi does such a superb job with the material in general. Even though he has left vast areas of the nature of the Divine unexplored, he still gives the reader a thought-provoking perspective from which to begin their own spiritual journey, and so I highly recommend this book for the true theophile.

Nicholi's The Question of God illuminates in an extraordinary way how two of the great minds of recent history explored the most intriguing questions in life, perhaps the only ones that really matter. Nicholi sets up a fictional debate of sorts that pits Freud, espousing a secular worldview, against Lewis's spiritual one. The dialogue is riveting. Using excerpts from the volumes of written material the two men produced over their lifetimes, Nicholi skillfully culls passages that give insight into how each man struggled with the "great questions" of life and how each ultimately developed and then embraced his own definition of truth. It's interesting to note other reviews of this book as biased towards Lewis since Nicholi is widely known as being psychoanalytically trained. I found the book the well balanced with the author as adroit facilitator.

Quite simply, The Question of God is an exceptional book. Where to start? Dr. Nicholi's basic premise is ingenious: compare and contrast the material (Atheistic) wordview of Sigmund Freud with the spiritual (Faith-based) worldview of C.S. Lewis. The result is an exceptional book that goes straight to the heart of life and living: Is there a God? Is death our only destiny? How can we/should we enjoy life? Answers to these and other life and death (literally) questions are addressed through Dr. Nicholi's remarkable and successful effort.

Dr. Nicholi's writing style is lucid, learned and accessible. Other Amazon.com critiques of his writing style as merely being "Freud says this, but Lewis says that" simply do not hold water. Dr. Nicholi injects his text on Freud and Lewis with meticulous direct quotes from each man's writings, both public and personal, plus accounts from others who knew Freud or Lewis. Dr. Nicholi's writing succeeds on all levels: fairness (Dr. Nicholi's truly unbiased prose is to be commended), lucidity, and captivation: as the favorable comments from readers on the back cover notes, I too had a hard time putting this book down.

At least one earlier Amazon reviewer dismissed the book because Lewis, being a generation after Freud, always gets the last word, so the book's premise is hopelessly flawed. On the contrary, while Dr. Nicholi not only notes in the Prologue that Freud had no chance to rebut Lewis directly, he nevertheless anticipated some spiritual worldview arguements made by Lewis, and are so noted by Dr. Nicholi.

Finally, still other reviewers dismissed C.S. Lewis as just another "apologetic" and not a very good one. Ridiculous! I was aware of Lewis' Christianity writings (had not yet read them) but was surprised to realize that Lewis did indeed bring 'authority' to his critical reading of the Bible: his vast education in mythology, and ability to read Greek. Prior to this book, I had simply assumed Lewis was just a Max Lucado or Lee Strobel of an earlier era. Frankly, I very much dislike "Christian inspiration" books that seem to be written only to the "God says it, I believe it, that settles it" type of Christian, but no one else. I was pleasantly surprised to realize Lewis is not part of that "preaching to the choir" genre, but rather a leader in framing faith based on reason. I suggest non-believing and/or uncertain readers will find Lewis' reasoning intellectually stimulating and strong.

Quite frankly, the above raps against the book by some other reviewers puzzled me, as if reviewers were looking for a reason to disqualify this book and dismiss it out of hand. To those reviewers I wish to simply remind them of Dr. Nicholi's simple and quite reasonable request of the reader in the Prologue: he quotes Sir Francis Bacon (I'm quoting from memory): "Read not to contradict, but to weigh and consider." If you are willing to do this, your effort will repay you well.

Which brings up a key point: if you are a non-believer (as I have been), be willing to read this book with an open mind. Weigh and consider. Rest assured, this exceptional, fair book is worthy of your effort to do so. You will be glad you did. If you feel you are in the category of non-believer or uncertain or believe you must commit intellectual suicide to be a Christian, and you have been disappointed by weak "preach to the choir" books like Strobel's vapid "The Case for Faith," you owe it to yourself to read this finely executed, genuinely intellectual and thoughtful work on this important subject; no, make that the most important of all subjects.