- Paperback: 288 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins; (Reissue) edition (5 Jun 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0006280838
- ISBN-13: 978-0006280835
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
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- #26 in Books > Biography > Religious > Christianity
Surprised by Joy
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Product Description
Review
‘He is admirably equipped to write spiritual autobiography for the plain man, for his outstanding gift is clarity. You can take it at two levels, as straight autobiography, or as a kind of spiritual thriller, a detective’s probing of clue and motive that led up to his return to the Christianity he had lost in childhood.’
Isabel Quigley, Sunday Times
Review
'He is admirably equipped to write spiritual autobiography for the plain man, for his outstanding gift is clarity. You can take it at two levels, as straight autobiography, or as a kind of spiritual thriller, a detective's probing of clue and motive that led up to his return to the Christianity he had lost in childhood.' Isabel Quigley, Sunday Times
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First Sentence
I WAS BORN in the winter of 1898 at Belfast, the son of a solicitor and of a clergyman's daughter. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
I WAS BORN in the winter of 1898 at Belfast, the son of a solicitor and of a clergyman's daughter. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
32 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have loved this book for the better part of thirty years - - and not simply because it is the autobiography of one of my favorite authors. I would revere this book if it was the only work by C. S. Lewis that had ever been published.
Lewis himself said that the best part of many long novels, such as Dickens's, is the beginning - - the childhood years. As an autobiographer Lewis excels here, too, with his account of his imaginative formation in a big old Belfast house and as a junior member of a family that included some eccentrics indeed. We read on to an account of his school-days miseries that rivals George Orwell's notorious essay "'Such, Such Were the Joys'." (One of Lewis's masters was institutionalized as insane within a year or so of Lewis's leaving the school.) Later, we read of his wartime experiences. (He did not have to serve in World War I, by the way, as Irish-born.)
Are you a Tolkien fan? You'll enjoy Lewis's account of his wary meeting with a "Papist" philologist.
The account of his conversion is, of course, a classic, one that people may, I believe, be reading for decades, even centuries, to come; many people have found it useful in understanding their own spiritual experiences.
The book is generous, poetic, and fresh.
Dale Nelson English Department Mayville State University, USA
46 of 48 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have already read most of C.S.Lewis' works, but I'd intentionally put-off reading 'Surprised by Joy'. I'd felt it more interesting to learn Christian Wisdom from what he wrote after his conversion, than to concern myself with how he became converted. However, I finally gave in; and it is a thoroughly good read, unusually humorous in some places: his memories of his eccentric father and also of a wartime troop-train had me laughing out- loud. Another C.S.Lewis triumph.
36 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Before I saw this book on a shelf in a library, I knew that C.S. Lewis married a woman named Joy. When I saw the title, I thought the book must have been about how he and Joy met each other and that since he was an older man when he married, he was "surprised by Joy." Funny thought, but not the case. This is C.S. Lewis' spiritual autobiography. He describes his early years, his internal yearnings, his hunger for he-knew-not-what. A more honest book, you would be hard pressed to find. I give it the highest rating possible and recommend it to all. Also recommended: Castle of Wisdom by Rhett Ellis-- a Christian book that is... well, different.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Surprised by Jack
"Surprised by Joy" is one of C.S. Lewis' most well-known books. In it, he tells the story of his conversion to Christianity. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Ashtar Command
Depressed by Joy
I have enjoyed several of Lewis's books, and expected to do the same with "Surprised by Joy", but was hugely disapointed. Read more
Published 14 months ago by John McCann
Surprised by Joy
Surprised by Joy is a sort of autobiography of the famous writer C S Lewis, the author of the famous Narnia childrens books. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Archer City
My books
This is a book that I have had for years but it was falling apart. I was glad to be able to replace it so reasonably through Amazon.
Published on 22 Mar 2010 by Peter
joyous book
as a non bookophile i was pleasantly surprised by how much i enjoyed this book..i found some parts warming and amusing as you lived through his early years
it was... Read more
it was... Read more
Published on 2 Mar 2010 by timthumb
Joyful
This is a delightful book typical of the man. I think it takes a while to get used to his way of writing but once this is mastered a store of wealth is awaiting.
Published on 19 Dec 2009 by Mrs. K. Drain
Surprised by Joy
An interesting read but covers most of his early life, school and university years
Published on 9 Nov 2009 by Mr. K. Heatley
I don't quite know how to tell you this, CS........
As a Christian and perhaps one of the greatest admirers of Lewis' incredible literary intellect and an utter devotee of the allegorical Narnia Chronicles, I found this book... Read more
Published on 10 Oct 2009 by R. Faulkner
mrs
I amvery satisfied with the fast delivery of the book surprised by Joy by C.S.Lewis ,it is just what wanted.
Published on 24 Aug 2009 by Mrs. M. Richards
A true philosopher
I read this book before any of Lewis' other non-fiction works (with the execption of 'Screwtape letters') to find out something about the man. Read more
Published on 10 Aug 2009 by Medieval Lady
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