The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis (novel #226)

The Screwtape Letters with Screwtape Proposes a Toast

 

The Screwtape Letters is an epistolary novel: a series of letters from Screwtape, a senior demon, as he mentors and advises his nephew, junior tempter Wormwood.

 

It is commonly referred to as a Christian allegory or apologetic, but I don’t agree with either designation. I don’t believe Lewis was describing something unreal to explain something real. I believe he was describing something quite real, with fictional characters, that occurs very nearly as he describes it. Oh, I doubt there are physical letters exchanged between demons, but I believe the methods of deceit, confusion, despair, and temptation they use are very similar to what takes place in the unseen spiritual realm. Neither does Lewis seem to be making a defense of Christianity.

 

Further, I don’t think of this as a novel even, at least not in intent. I think it is more of an instructional warning of the intents and wiles of the demonic hordes.

 

I don’t feel adequate to synopsize beyond one central point: Screwtape does not take much satisfaction when Wormwood gets his ‘patient’ to merely sin. The senior demon is more concerned with getting humans to disbelieve.

 

Excepts, all the words of Screwtape to Wormwood:

 

Do remember you are there to fuddle him [the patient]. From the way some of you young fiends talk, anyone would suppose it was our job to teach!

 

Keep his mind off the plain antithesis between True and False.

 

Jargon, not argument, is your best ally in keeping him from the Church. Don’t waste time trying to make him think that materialism is true! Make him think it is strong, or stark, or courageous – that it is the philosophy of the future. That’s the sort of thing he cares about.

 

It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick.

 

Let him have the feeling that he starts each day as the lawful possessor of twenty-four hours.

 

Looking round your patient’s new friends I find that the best point of attack would be the borderline between theology and politics.

 

We thus distract men’s minds from who He [Jesus] is, and what He did. We first make Him solely a teacher, and then conceal the very substantial agreement between His teachings and those of all other great moral teachers.

 

…you soon have merely a leader acclaimed by a partisan, and finally a distinguished character approved by a judicious historian.

 

…the strongest and most beautiful of the vices – Spiritual Pride.

 

What we want, if men become Christians at all, is to keep them in the state of mind I call ‘Christianity and’. You know – Christianity and the Crisis, Christianity and the New Psychology, Christianity and the New Order, Christianity and Faith Healing, Christianity and Psychical Research, Christianity and Vegetarianism, Christianity and Spelling Reform.

 

So inveterate is their appetite for Heaven that our best method, at this stage, of attaching them to earth is to make them believe that earth can be turned into Heaven at some future date by politics or eugenics or ‘science’ or psychology, or what not.

 

END Excerpts

 

I’ve wanted to read this for years. It was fascinating. Lewis said of it…

 

Though I had never written anything more easily, I never wrote with less enjoyment.

 

I can understand that. He dedicates it to his friend J. R. R. Tolkien. The version I read includes the addendum Screwtape Proposes a Toast, added years after the initial publication.

 

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

 

 

This novel satisfies the “Double Letters” category (title must contain double letters) in the What’s in a Name 2024 challenge.

 

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The Abolition of Man by C. S. Lewis

The Abolition of Man: Reflections on education with special reference to the teaching of English in the upper forms of schools

 

This is a challenging book to review. It is brilliant, profound, and timeless, even though it was published in 1943.

 

It is nearly prophetic.

 

It is Lewis’ defense of Natural Law versus Subjectivism and derived from a series of lectures he delivered at King’s College Newcastle. The lectures directly responded to a contemporary book espousing subjectivism in education, but I infer Lewis’ lectures and book were also in response to subjectivism as a whole.

 

It’s a short book but too big to synopsize into a few paragraphs. It is surprisingly lacking in Christian ideology. This was Lewis’ expressed intent. He makes a purely logical case, the conclusion being that when subjectivism has its way…

 

Man’s final conquest has proved to be the abolition of man.

 

I’ve not read That Hideous Strength by Lewis, but I understand it to be a fictional rendering of The Abolition of Man.

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My Favorite Classic - The Classics Club Monthly Meme (May 2018)

My Favorite Classic – The Classics Club Monthly Meme (May 2018)

I’m very happy The Classics Club is reviving the monthly meme and I have to admit that the topic makes sense – it’s an obvious starting place to reboot the meme – But seriously?

What is your favorite classic book? Why?

You might as well ask which of my children is my favorite. Yes, I know that is not a very original phrase. I’m just reusing it because it makes the point so perfectly.

I just can’t.

But I want to support the return of the Monthly Meme, so I’m going to make an honest effort. For starters, I’ve given nine novels 5 Stars: The Grapes of Wrath, Lord of the Flies, The Lord of the Rings, To Kill a Mockingbird, Gone With the Wind, David Copperfield, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Little Prince. 

I don’t give out 5 Stars easily, so I thought all these deserve mentioning. However, in my opinion, THE BEST of these Best are:

The Grapes of Wrath

Lord of the Flies

To Kill a Mockingbird

Gone With the Wind

Now it gets very hard. If asked, I might name any one of these at any given moment, but I think the one that would most often come to mind – To Kill a Mockingbird.

Why? It made me cry; it made me laugh. It filled me with rage; it filled me with hope. It moved my emotions to every extreme and it made me think. More than that – you may read my review. It isn't necessary to point out that in the review, I name The Lord of the Rings as my favorite; I’ve already confessed to being somewhat fickle on this subject.

So I did it. Now what is your favorite classic?

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Planet Narnia by Michael Ward

Were The Chronicles of Narnia 'composed in a hasty and slapdash manner' as Lewis’ friend J. R. R. Tolkien stated, or 'products of a mind in psychological shock' as Lewis critic Wilson described?

Or – is there meaning more profound hidden in plain sight?

Why would a childless academic, theologian, poet, and writer suddenly decide to write a children’s story? How could the result, if it be so simple as some decried, stand the test of time and have such widespread appeal?

Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C. S. Lewis is Michael Ward’s scholarly examination of The Chronicles wherein he presents evidence that Lewis did indeed use mythological untruths to hint at theological truths, a practice he did not invent but may have learned from Milton, Dante, or Chaucer. Lewis may have been quietly laughing up his sleeve at his detractors.

Ward’s major premise appears to be that Lewis used characteristics of the seven medieval (pre-Copernican) planets – Jupiter, Mars, Sol, Luna, Mercury, Venus, and Saturn, and their associated mythology, as themes, one for each of the seven books of The Chronicles. More importantly, Lewis used the qualities of each planetary deity, to portray via subtle imagery the attributes of the Christ figure Aslan.

…each planet, as a symbol of Christ, represents the ‘all-pervasive principle of concretion or cohesion whereby the universe holds together’

Lewis believed that the romantic or poetic is at least as compelling as many scholarly arguments. It seems appropriate then that The Chronicles of Narnia, Lewis’ most beloved and widely read work, should supersede his scholarly, but poorly received apologetic Miracles. Ward’s minor premise may be that The Chronicles were Lewis poetic answer to his more academic Miracles.

I would do injustice to Ward and Lewis should I attempt to defend Ward’s position. I will just state that he convinced me. I was at first dubious at the use of pagan polytheistic symbols by a Christian author to portray Christ, but Ward points out that medieval cosmology was a lifelong passion of Lewis’ used frequently in his other works of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. Lewis believed that…

symbolism exists precisely for the purpose of conveying to the imagination what the intellect is not ready for.

I won’t attempt to explain Ward’s position in any detail; for that I recommend the book, but I will offer a few examples of the planetary symbology that Lewis portrayed as…

spiritual symbols of permanent value

Jupiter or Jove chases away winter, is the bringer of jollity, influences people so they turn into helms of nations, and is of course Sovereign – themes often repeated in The Lion the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and attributes of Aslan. Also, the children often use the phrase “by Jove”, which is seldom used in elsewhere in the Narniaed.

Mars is important to plant life, and symbolic of war, major themes in Prince Caspian

Sol (the Sun) is the source of gold and makes men wise – recurring themes in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. And of course, even the title is evocative of the Sun.

Luna (the moon) is the source of silver, a theme of The Silver Chair, but the most convincing symbol is the central theme of madness or lunacy.

Mercury the deity of languages and speed. In astrology, Mercury rules Gemini or the twins and has a theme of “same but sundered” In The Horse and His Boy, twins Cor (Shasta) and Corin are separated at birth but reunited in the tale. There is even at one point in this book a Narnian lord who wears a silver helmet with wings on each side.

Venus the morning star (a Biblical name for Christ), is also known as a comical spirit explaining why The Magician’s Nephew contains more humor than any of the other Chronicles.

Saturn is symbolic of Father Time, and time marks the end of Narnia in The Last Battle. The concept of time, aging, and death are evident in this Chronicle which has more death than the other Chronicles combined.

These are only small peaks at Ward’s logic. For me, the evidence is overwhelming. I don’t often read books about books, or books about authors, but Lewis is an exception. If you have read The Chronicles of Narnia, I highly recommend Planet Narnia.

Thus, in the Lion they become monarchs under sovereign Jove; in Prince Caspian they harden under strong Mars,; in The Dawn Treader they drink light under searching Sol; in the Silver Chair they learn obedience under subordinate Luna; in The Horse and His Boy they come to love poetry under eloquent Mercury; in the Magician’s Nephew they gain life-giving fruit under fertile Venus; and in The Last Battle they suffer and die under chilling Saturn.

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The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis (90 down, 10 to go)

“Yes,” said Queen Lucy. “In our world too, a stable once had something inside it that was bigger than our whole world.”

I feel terribly inadequate as I attempt to express my thoughts and feelings of The Chronicles of Narnia.

“thoughts and feelings” being the key phrase, since for me, they are the measure of a great book. Did the author evoke profound thought or powerful emotion?

Yes!  Both!

The Chronicles of Narnia is C. S. Lewis’ timeless masterpiece – timeless is probably a good third criterion for literary greatness – and again it passes the test. It may be characterized a number of ways: children’s fantasy – yes, though countless adults have enjoyed it; High Fantasy – mostly; Christian allegory – at least in part; symbolic; beautiful; frightful; joyful; powerful; triumphant – yes and yes!

This was my first read, though as a Christian, I was vaguely familiar with the allegorical theme. I have often been surprised, in the past, when I’d encounter non-Christians who enjoyed – even loved – The Chronicles of Narnia.

It surprises me no longer; it is testimony to the greatness and versatility of the author.

And to his love. Please forgive my maudlin sentiment, but I felt Lewis poured a lot of love into The Chronicles of Narnia.

In the only other work I’ve read by C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, I marked his ability to make complex ideas simple, and then to make the simple incredibly profound. There’s more of that in the Chronicles. I am far from being an expert on Lewis, but I have concluded he possessed an extraordinary mind.

The Chronicles of Narnia is composed of seven distinct novels – any of which can be enjoyed on its own – though I highly recommend reading them together, and in publication rather than chronological order. Reason? Simple, it is the order Lewis intended. He presumes the reader to know later Narnian history, when reading an earlier story.

(It’s a little like watching Star Wars in chronological order: you don’t get the stunning reveal that Darth Vader is Luke’s father.)

Wanderer’s commentary on the primary Christian themes of the seven tales (in publication order):

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe – Redemption of the lost

Prince Caspian – Corrupt religion restored to truth and purity

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader – The spiritual life

The Silver Chair – Good vs evil

The Horse and His Boy – The calling and conversion of the lost

The Magician’s Nephew – Creation of the world and the entry of evil

The Last Battle – Evil’s imitation of the benevolent creator, the final conflict, end of the old world, beginning of the new

Individually they are marvelous. Collectively they are beautiful and masterful. The Last Battle moved me to tears. Have you read The Chronicles of Narnia? In whole or in part? What did you think?

My rating: 5 of 5 Stars

 

…Polly Added, “But we’re not quite as bad as that world, are we, Aslan?”  “Not yet, Daughter of Eve,” he said. “Not yet. But you are growing more like it. It is not certain that some wicked one of your race will not find out a secret as evil as the Deplorable Word and use it to destroy all living things. And soon, very soon, before you are an old man and an old woman, great nations in your world will be ruled by tyrants who care no more for joy and justice and mercy than the Empress Jadis. Let your world beware. That is the warning. ~ Excerpt from The Last Battle

I’m currently reading Planet Narnia by Michael Ward which offers a compelling argument that Lewis hid more meaning in the Chronicles than most have surmised. Lewis may have been laughing down his sleeve at those, including his good friend Professor Tolkien, who thought the Chronicles were simple and incongruous. Planet Narnia is fascinating, and I’ll give a few, more technical, thoughts about both the Chronicles and Planet Narnia when I finish that book.