Book description
This collection brings together the best of C. S. Lewis's letters -
some published for the first time. Arranged in chronological order, this
is the first volume covering Family Letters: 1905-1931.
C. S. Lewis was a most prolific letter writer and his personal
correspondence reveals much of his private life, reflections,
friendships and feelings. This collection, carefully chosen and arranged
by Walter Hooper, is the most extensive ever published.
In this great and important collection are the letters Lewis wrote to
J. R.R. Tolkien, Dorothy L. Sayers, Owen Barfield, Arthur C. Clarke,
Sheldon Vanauken and Dom Bede Griffiths. To some particular friends,
such as Dorothy L. Sayers, Lewis wrote over fifty letters alone. The
letters deal with all of Lewis's interests: theology, literary
criticism, poetry, fantasy, children's stories as well as revealing his
relationships with family members and friends.
This first volume of Family Letters: 1905-1931 covers Lewis's boyhood
and early manhood, his army years, undergraduate life at Oxford and his
election to a fellowship at Magdalen College. Lewis became an atheist
when he was 13 years old and his dislike of Christianity is evident in
many of his letters. The volume concludes with a letter describing an
evening spent with J. R.R. Tolkien and Hugo Dyson when he came to see
that he was wrong to think of Christianity as one of 'many myths.' 'What
Dyson and Tolkien showed me was that… the story of Christ is simply a
true myth… but with this tremendous difference that it really happened.'
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) is one of the greatest writers of the 20th
century and his works of children's fiction, fantasy and popular
theology are enduringly appealing. The biographical film 'Shadowlands'
has brought Lewis to a wider audience, as has the celebration of his
centenary, including the RSC production of 'The Lion, The Witch and the
Wardrobe.'
