The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis
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Book Reviews of The Screwtape Letters
Book Review: A Few Tips, I Hope Helpful
Summary: 5 Stars
I enjoy a book for its combination of conciseness, clarity, and profound meaning -- "The Screwtape Letters" has this very enjoyable combination.
An earlier post suggested that those under the age of 17 not read this marvelous book, and I'm supposing this certain someone says so with a good intention, just with not much thought. I am now 17, and when I first read this book I was sixteen.
My suggestion, is, of course, quite different then: no one should be told not to read this book merely because of age, because wisdom has no preference of age. This wisdom that I speak of is not "worldy" wisdom, but heavenly; it comes from only the Good and Eternal Father, our Maker. Worldy wisdom is gained by experience neccesarily, yet heavenly wisdom is freely given by Him.
"The Screwtape Letters" is filled with this heavenly wisdom, this profound meaning which I spoke of at the first. How? Because Lewis was (and is) a son of God; God blessed his heart, soul, and MIND. Each man --whether non-christian or "not of age" -- who reads this book will be possibly graced with this heavenly wisdom. My first tip then is: Do not feel yourself below or above this book, for it has wisdom even for the smallest and biggest of minds.
Lewis accomplished in this book, a very strenuous task: he communicated heavenly wisdom through the view-point of a devil. It is astonishing to think some find this book funny, as suggested by some other reviewers; this book was written with much discipline and if that provokes some laughs, reconsider yourself. Lewis has communicated his thoughts in this book so well, he has poured out so much effort, that this book is not to be taken lightly. God and his creeds, viewed through the eyes of demons, is serious. My second tip is: Much is to be learned from this eloquent work; therefore, be an alert reader, and pray for God's guidance on this one.
Ryan
Book Review: Clever exposition
Summary: 5 Stars
The Screwtape Letters is an extremely humorous and clever exposition of the traditional theology of temptation. The concept of a correspondance between devils is not entirely new; Mark Twain wrote a satire just as clever (though from an opposite perspective) in his "Letters from the Earth." But Lewis brings a certain malevolent charm to his demonic bureaucracy, a darkness of soul that contrasts with his insistence of the importance of everyday actions in making one's way to heavenly bliss.As always with Lewis, I think, this book is really about himself as much as anything. Like Augustine, he is amazed to find both a devil and an angel within himself. Lewis admitted that writing the book placed a great cramp in his spiritual life. Then there is that strange statement in the introduction in which Lewis reveals that he developed a sort of occult technique that assisted him in writing the book. Lewis testily states that people who want to obtain this writing technique from him for nefarious purposes will be unsuccessful. One might ask who those "evil people" who want to "use" a writing technique (!) might be. I have often thought that getting in touch with his own dark side created such anxiety for Lewis that in this statement he is simply projecting dark desires onto others. (The other alternative is that Lewis really believed he was channeling demonic energies when he wrote the book. Such an act of admitted consorting with the enemy would be surprising in a Christian writer, however.)
Lewis was fascinated his whole life with the figure of the magician, the manipulator of others, the evil, resentful monster that he insisted lives within each of us. More than most of us, he seems to have been aware of both the dark and light sides of himself. This is one of the best books he wrote in which to explore the personal obsessions of a deeply passionate soul.
Book Review: the anti-psychology of the soul - enjoy reading, ponder, and thrive
Summary: 5 Stars
INTRODUCTION:
This was my introduction to C.S. Lewis, as the writer. I have watched the Disney [the Chronicles of] Narnia, but never made time for his famous books "Mere Christianity", "Surprised by Joy", "Reflections on the Psalms", "Space Trilogy" and "The Screwtape Letters."
I am glad this book has been my first introduction to C.S. Lewis. This book is a unique book because I have never heard of a book being written from the perspective of the bad spirits. At least not in the Christian books genre.
AUTHOR:
CONTENT:
Basically the book is a compilation of short chapters (2-4 pages). Each chapter is a letter that Screwtape (name of the uncle) to Corkscrew (name of the nephew). Both Screwtape and Corkscrew work for the Devil (whom they call .... ) and his kingdom is called ..... Corkscrew's mission is to subvert the human who was assigned to his care. Screwtape's mission is to advise his nephew in how to better accomplish his mission, and in the end work against God's Kingdom, which they call -
Here are some excerpts from this wonderfully psychological book:
CONCLUSION:
You will be surprised by this book, because the format and idea behind the plot is quite unique. In the 1961 edition by Collier Books there is the great introduction to the topic by C.S. Lewis, which is fascinating and informative in its own right (especially about the topic of "angels" throught western history). What I took away from this book, is that the evil one will try to subvert us at the mental level, to work at the anti-psychology of our soul. Knowing the strategies of the enemy, is half-way towards winning the battle. This earthly life is the battle field. But someone in the 1st century Palestine, had already won the battle for us, God's children. How wonderful, and what a way to thrive on this beautiful planet.
Book Review: Psycho-ethical insight into man as eternal battleground
Summary: 5 Stars
This book jumped into my top 10 favourite books of all time, which shouldn't have surprised me as I had already realized that Lewis was bound to be a big influence on my thought... but artistically and intellectually, this book entertained me like few others I have read.Past the brilliance of the original idea (I call it 'reverse theology', reverse in the sense of reverse psychology), its strengths lie in C.S. Lewis' astoundingly insightful analysis of how the devil tries to trip us up. A recurrent theme is the need for a demon to keep his human target hazy - reacting to or embracing terms and ideas without carefully considering them, living on the surface. Lewis does the reader a great service - we learn from Screwtape how to be better, more thorough, thinkers. And the psychological and ethical insights go far beyond this one example.
I recommend this book to all and I have a suggestion for getting the most out of it: take it letter by letter. Read a chapter and go about your daily business, letting the thoughts sparked by the chapter grow and develop. I sometimes did this, other times I was too addicted and kept reading, but I find the latter method sometimes made me stay too much on the surface - letting go of the trains of thought great sentences or phrases might have taken me on.
I actually had the idea of writing a book called "The Screwtape Ideas: A Letter-by-Letter Look at C.S. Lewis' Classic"... with exploration of the theological, philosophical, socio-political, historical, and artistic issues raised by the book, in content and in form. I found out here at amazon.com there's already a study guide written, so I guess if I actually did this I would need to be very original. Anyway, at some point, I must own the John Cleese book-on-tape version The Screwtape Letters, I'm sure it's delightful.
Book Review: How the Devil wins his souls
Summary: 5 Stars
This wonderfully witty work of CS Lewis brings to light many weaknesses of the human race, and especially those pertaining to Christians. In a masterful style of satire, the book consists of a series of "letters" written from a high-ranking devil to a low-ranking one. The latter, Wormwood, has just received his first "patient," a young man, and Screwtape, his uncle, corresponds with him, giving advice and pointers as to how Wormwood can effectively conquer this man's soul.The genius in this book lies in the advice Screwtape provides. Rather than counsel Wormwood to tempt this man into large sins which would instantly destroy his soul, Screwtape takes a subtler approach. Letter after letter outlines ways in which Wormwood can turn the man's triumphs into tragedies, progress into hindrance, and virtues into vices. Instead of trying to tempt the man into quitting church, for example, he advises persuading him to visit a number of churches, thus insuring that he will become a 'comparer' of churches rather than a follower of one specific doctrine.
The obvious message of this book is a warning against the old "frog in hot water" idea. If you throw him in hot water, he will jump out, but put him in cold water and gradually increase the heat, and you will soon have a cooked frog. Lewis's message, masterfully presented and so clearly thought out (as is typical of him), is that Christians need to stop looking beyond the small things, to see the error in so many of their seemingly insignificant actions. Perhaps the beauty of this book is that it shows just how easy it is to lose one's soul.
CS Lewis was a master of Christian thinking. This book is a product of his genius, a masterpiece full of invaluable advice.