Synopsis
Kathryn Lindskoog has compiled a comprehensive study explaining C. S. Lewis' views on a number of key topics. She supplies biographical background and analysis to bring the reader intimately in touch with one of Christendom's greatest thinkers. Though there have been many books on Lewis since "Mere Christian" first appeared in 1973, this book continues to be the chief one-volume survey of his thought. The new fourth edition adds an annotated listing of his published works and an appendix surveying Lewis' thoughts on the Christmas holidays.
From the Author
"The centre of the target..."In 1957 I sent C. S. Lewis a copy of my master’s thesis about his writing, and he answered "Your thesis arrived yesterday and I read it at once. You are in the centre of the target everywhere. For one things, you know my work better than anyone else I've met; certainly better than I do myself."
Eventually I decided to share my wide-ranging knowledge of Lewis with other people in book form, so I organized it into five sections and 13 chapters. Half of each chapter is about a given element in Lewis’s life, and the other half tells what he wrote and taught about it. Every chapter is followed by a list of choice readings by and about Lewis on the topic.
1. Introducing C. S. Lewis: Sincerity Personified
Reality: What is life all about?
2. God
3. Nature
4. Humanity
Destiny: What Will Become of Us?
5. Death
6. Heaven
7. Hell
Mystery: How Can We Believe This Business?
8. Miracles
9. Prayer
10. Pain
Character: What Does Christ Cost Us?
11. Love
12. Ethics
13. Truth
Culture: What Is Our World View?
14. Sciences
15. The Arts
16. Education
Appendix 1: The Years of the Life of C. S. Lewis
Appendix 2: Key Places in the Life of C. S. Lewis
Appendix 3: Special Resources for C. S. Lewis Readers
Appendix 4: Chronological Listing of C. S. Lewis’s Books
Appendix 5: A Year with C. S. Lewis
Appendix 6: C. S. Lewis on Christmas
Here are sample responses to this book from other Lewis buffs:
The best general introduction to C. S. Lewis in existence. --Corbin S. Carnell, author of Bright Shadow of Reality: C. S. Lewis and the Feeling Intellect
Her fresh insights opened my dusty windows to see Lewis in all his sanity and merriment. --Terry Lindvall, author of Surprised by Laughter: C. S. Lewis and the Comic Spirit
Both scholarly and practical insights. --Bruce Edwards, author of The Taste of the Pineapple: Essays on C. S. Lewis as Reader, Critic, and Imaginative Writer
Lindskoog is an engaging and reliable guide to the contours of Lewis’s thought. --Gilbert Meilaender, author of TheTaste for the Other: The Social and Ethical Thought of C. S. Lewis
A cause for celebration. An indispensible guide for anyone interested in Lewis. -- Perry C. Bramlett, author of C. S. Lewis, Life at the Center
