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 Worth Reading Over and Over and Over Again March 22, 2008
Everyone says this isn't Lewis' best work, and they're right. But it's still great. I just finished it for the fourth time and I'm not finished with it at all - I'll re-read it again and again.
The best criticism of it came from Lewis himself in his (later-written) introduction on Romanticism, but my two-cents is that some of the conversations and speeches are so erudite that they take a great deal of knowledge to follow the thoughts. That can be a plus - the reader is given plenty to think about. But it can make it slow going. Also, a bit of caricaturing points-of-view grated on me this time.
But the characters are fascinating, even startling at times (the gaunt woman who "picks clean" her environment so as not to let fleshly realities contaminate her!). Lewis has a gift like Stanley Kubrick for haunting imagery. I'm amazed that this book hasn't been illustrated or developed into visuals - it would make a powerful series of animations - though not for kids.
 Slightly Dated, but Still Very Relevant June 24, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I both enjoyed and unenjoyed this book. It's a bit hard to explain why, though. I enjoyed it because it was an interesting tale and lightly told. Many of the points are not difficult to graps, even when guised as allegory. But at times, some of the allegorical characters really got rambling on and on and this made it difficult to wade through for what, exactly, was being allegorized. But, as Lewis himself admits, it was a bit dense at times and therefore he added bylines at the tops of each page to help readers who get bogged down in the quagmire. So, I suppose, on the whole it was good, and I would recommend it to other Christians, but I have my suspicions that non-Christians won't quite see it the same way.
A Searing Commentary September 21, 2006
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
While on the surface this book is an allegorical journey of Lewis' progressive conversion experience, it gets little "press" as a commentary on society. Just about everything modern (and even post-modern) civilization hold dear is put in its proper perspective in this novel (autobiography). Continuing on in his diatribe against the Establishment (e.g., the "world" and its values) in "That Hideous Strength" and "Abolition of Man," Lewis picks apart specific philosophies and values in everything from what we now call post-modernism back to Spencer, politics to art, hedonism to ascetism.
Read C.S. Lewis' first fiction August 16, 2006
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
If the first fiction by Lewis you read is the seven volume Narnian set, the rest of his works can appear rather puzzling. Lewis said to Tolkien, there wasn't anything available of the sort of thing he liked to read, so he'd have to write it himself; arguably both Tolkien and Lewis wrote for readers who liked to read what they liked to read, and in so doing struck a deep vein and a lost chord.
This book was originally published by Catholic publishers Ward and Sheed who naturally pitched it to their Catholic readers. However, that got Lewis regarded as an RC, a reputation he was anxious to live down, and he referred lightly to the publishers as "Ward and Sneed". That was only the first of many misunderstandings he'd be involved in simply because he wrote what he wanted, ignoring the dictates, as it were, of the market.
This book has been released in various versions. Some have, as Lewis intended, notes or annotations explaining the allegorical meaning, for instance the Red and Black savages are communists and fascists, respectively. Oddly enough, at one point Bantam published a pocket version leaving off these notes, which transforms the allegory to a "straight" fantasy, and leaves many readers confused.
Tolkien said he didn't write allegory, and the Narnian Chronicles, despite certain correspondences are not allegory, but this book is. The form is based on John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Regress. Ironically, Bunyan began his work with a long poem apologizing for the fact that it's an allegory. Lewis spent much of his time apologizing that his books weren't. Why we still read them is that he refused to conform to his times (and their notion of "best-sellers", and therefore has outlived them.
Between this, his first fictional work and 'Till We Have Faces, his last, Lewis output varied widely, not in quality but in style and genre. This volume, with the graphic enhancement of a well-known illustrator of Tolkien, re-introduces us to the long-forgotten genre of allegory at its most imaginative and captivating. Lewis demonstrates his unique gift of resonating with diverse readers and making a story his own.
Listen to the Audio Tape if you can! February 24, 2006
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I recently listened to this work of Lewis' as read by Whitfield from the 3rd edition. I have no doubt that I would have enjoyed reading it, but this narration truly brought it to life in a manner that reading might have failed to do.
Having some background certainly will help the reader to understand what Lewis is doing here. Certainly, someone unfamiliar with John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" would stand a pretty good chance of getting lost. I'm not sure I agree that familiarity with Lewis's other, later, writings is necessary although it certainly wouldn't hurt. Aside from Bunyan, I believe this work stands well on its own.
You might want to consider as well, reading the afterword to the 3rd edition in which Lewis gives some insight to his use of the word romanticism which he believes on second thought adds to some confusion due to it's broad use. Reading that in advance may add some needed enlightenment. Reading it a second time is probably a needed investment as new applications and understandings will appear. That is the nature of well written allegory.
Allegory is often a misunderstood literary vehicle. Lewis struggled with his relationship with JRR Tolkien at some levels because Tolkien absolutely despised allegory in all its forms and was wary of any work where he detected it. No doubt Lewis was well aware of that and got an earful through his association with Tolkien as well as his other acquaintances who over the years came to be known as the "Inklings" where current writings were read, critiqued and evaluated.
Lewis dabbled in allegory in other areas although no other work truly can be called a pure allegory so much as this, his first novel as a believer. The Narnia Chronicles contain allegorical literary devices but are not purely allegory. The Space Trilogy can be said to do the same but is even less allegorical than the Narnia Chronicles.
Really good allegory, doesn't require a key to give it understanding. This work of Lewis can be said to be really good allegory but there are some elements of higher literature (to be expected in a professor of Literature) and some language elements where Latin maxims are included without the benefit of translation. If you're reading this for anything other than entertainment you'll find you probably need to do some work to understand the subtle nuances that Lewis conveys in his use of these maxims as well as some of the names which will not be so readily apparent to the casual reader. That understood, the casual reader should still be able to come away with the gist of what Lewis is illustrating and be entertained in the process.
A brief word about the narration, as I listened to this on CD rather than reading it directly. It is outstanding! The use of many distinctive voices which are memorable and consistent make this a dramatic reading that is rivaled by few others I've ever heard. In fact, I'm almost tempted to push for your first experience to be hearing it that reading it for just that reason. There is a cadence to the reading that shows Lewis had a grasp on drama and poetry that I wish he'd have continued to evidence in his later works to the degree he did here. It is breathtaking and brilliant on its own merits whether you are in sympathy with his primary message or not.
Definite 5 stars all the way around! An excellent book.
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