Rating: 
Summary: Even More than Expected
Review: Any Lewis book is a guaranteed good read. But if you want to expand your viewpoint about the afterlife, the value of this life, God's mercy and justice, or virtually any other highly important topic, pick this one up. It's an extremely quick book (the chapters are short, and the book is thin) with brilliant imagery and an interesting concept- what is Heaven and what is Hell? However, Lewis warns in a preface not to take this writing literally, and I do the same. The plotline serves more as a contextual setup in order to get his point across. You'll have to read it to discover that point.A great addition to your library.
Rating: 
Summary: Well-written but a bit lacking in compassion
Review: Although I do not share Lewis's metaphysical assumptions about heaven and hell, I think The Great Divorce, in addition to being a thought-provoking religious piece, is one of the best "ghost stories" I have ever read. There's always been a moral dimension to the ghost story...the ghost seen as a sad spirit bound by the faults that enchained him in life. Lewis skilfully presents this concept in this novel about a group of spirits in hell who take a bus-ride to heaven but find no happiness there, because they bring their own hell with them. If there is one criticism I have of the novel it is that it seems rather heartless at times. While Lewis's narrator does not go so far as to rejoice in the sufferings of the damned, neither, it seems, is there much pity for them in the celestial realm. Lewis at times takes pains to criticize human emotions like pity, compassion, and an inordinate desire for human (as opposed to divine) companionship. His whole concept of saved vs. damned leaves very little room for ordinary human-ness, which sometimes imparts a rather cold and inhuman quality to the novel. Nevertheless, the novel's originality and skillful style do make it worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: incredibly powerful
Review: The imagery Lewis uses in this book is incredible... it is impossible to walk away from it unaffected. I saw myself in so many of his characters, a little bit here, a little bit there.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Amazing
Review: A must read for any believer, as with all of Lewis' books.
Rating:
Summary: Another CS Lewis Gem
Review: Cold, gray, you might get a chill just reading this book. CS Lewis uses a clever story to convey a different, though no less frightening scenario of hell and Heaven. This book will not only make you re-think your life after death.....it will challenge you to consider giving greater meaning to your life right now. The brilliance of Lewis is that he was able to convey his message equally well through non-fiction or fiction. Mere Christianity or The Great Divorce, both take different paths to the same destination...the need for God, for Christ in our lives. And the consequences of living our lives thoughtlessly or thoughtfully.
Rating:
Summary: Actually deserves 4.5 stars
Review: I have not read anything by Lewis for many years, and what I do remember of Lewis' work is very different from what I read in The Gread Divorce. While I am not a Christian and therefore not exactly sure how I feel about heaven and hell, this book was inspiring. The story is unlike any other I have read before, and I think accurately represents people's attitudes about heaven and hell. According to Lewis, "All that are in hell, choose it." Kind of a radical idea! (For anyone who is interested, the title of the novel is in reference to Blake's The Marraige of Heaven and Hell.)
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: This is book is so thought provoking! I've been reminded of it so often since I read it and I'm sure that it will be something that I read again and again! The simplicity is astouding. It still all goes back to free will. We choose....
Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece of Allegory
Review: You always hear about people talking about life-changing books. Perhaps I greeted this with a certain degree of incredulity. Surely they were referring to books they simply liked, or maybe even loved? That was before I happened upon this book. It was recommended to me by a minister and director of a youth organization where I volunteered several years ago. And it isn't until now that I completed it. But I can finally say that I have encountered a book that has truly sparked cause for me to take a look back on my life. Lewis takes the reader on a bus ride from hell to heaven, or rather the Valley of the Shadow of Heaven. In heaven we see that all who took the bus ride are merely Ghosts here: ethereal figures. They are greeted by Spirits, people of light and substance who have accepted God as their ultimate Love. The Ghosts are given the choice to continue on to Heaven, or take the bus back to Hell. The path to Heaven won't be without pain, as the Ghosts must give up the earthly vices they have made their God. Lewis' talent is in depicting so well the nature of humans. Don't expect to see the Ghosts' vices being anything so simple as hate for someone. Rather in one instance it is a mother's love for her son that keeps her from choosing Heaven, a love that blinds her from the ultimate love of God. I see so much of myself in these "Ghosts", and Lewis paints a very compassionate picture of the "damned" (they need not be if they choose not to be). Lewis' book in a sense almost helps you to step outside yourself and look with less clouded vision on the person you are. It is for this reason this has become my favorite work.
Rating:
Summary: Another Lewis masterpiece
Review: This brilliant little piece of literature takes only an hour or two to read, but will foster a lifetime of contemplation and thought concerning heaven and hell. What if God gave people in hell (which, in the novel, is a gray, drab, lonely place) a second chance at heaven? Would they take it, or would they desperately hang on to their miserable lives, which is a hell in itself? Lewis, in his "dream", sees a procession of people who are given that chance and, sadly, hardly any take it. That illustrates what I've always believed about hell: God doesn't send you there, you basically send yourself by rejecting His free gift of salvation. To those "ghosts" in hell, heaven is actually a scary place, at least at first. Most don't want to go any further past the "hard part" to the glories that reside up the "mountain". Some may get a little tripped up by the rather unorthodox theological implications, but don't let that hinder you. Just enjoy the ride, and let it speak deeply to your spirit.
Rating:
Summary: A story of morality and a must read!
Review: The format of the story is this: A bunch of "ghosts" board a bus in a dreary, drizzly town which is in perpetual twilight (we later learn that this place is "the valley of the shadow of death"). This flying bus takes them up to a bright (as in "a minute or two before sunrise") natural setting (which we later learn is "the valley of the shadow of life"). Here the narrator (presumably Lewis himself) sees how without substance the ghosts (including himself) really are. They are not even substantial enough to bend the grass beneath their feet. Some of them are barely visible. They are met by "spirits" (each ghost has a specific spirit coming to meet him/her) who are bright and solid. The narrator describes each "interview" he sees between ghost and spirit. Each interview highlights a specific manifestation of pride, greed, selfishness, pettyness, manipulation - any of the sins that weigh us down. Eventually, the narrator meets the spirit sent for him (writer George MacDonald). If you read this book, you will see a lot of people you know. If you read this book HONESTLY, you will find pieces of yourself as well. This book is a magnificent moral story. An absolute must read!
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