The Pilgrim's Regress

Rating:
Summary: An allegorical journey to faith
Review: This was the first book written by CS Lewis after his conversion to Christianity, and was also his first book of fiction. This allegorical look at "the narrow road" of Christianity set the stage in many ways for much of Lewis's later fiction: the Space Trilogy, Till We Have Faces, and the Chronicles of Narnia, for example. In much of Lewis's later fiction the allegory was less prominent and more attention was paid to the story. This book also varies from Lewi''s other fiction in that it is more autobiographical. The main character, John, encounters many different schools of thought and endures much of the intellectual uncertainty that Lewis himself experienced in the time leading up to his conversion.

Lewis's allegory is absolutely spectacular, though it is necessary to have a pretty thorough knowledge of Lewis's way of thinking in order to follow the allegory. The headers at the top of the page do a great deal to clarify, and help the reader avoid getting lost in all the symbolism. This is especially useful when John is encountering some movement which, though prevalent in Lewis's time, is not very well-known today. Despite the excellent headers, however, the best preparation for this book would be to read Lewis's autobiographical Surprised by Joy. Exposure to this book, along with some of Lewis's other apology, will definitely enrich the experience of reading from this excellent book.

Lewis had a talent for explaining things in such a way that nearly anyone could understand them. Nowhere is this more apparent than in his fiction. The lessons he teaches, through his fiction and non-fiction alike, are important insights into the worlds of Christianity and morality.

Rating:
Summary: An allegorical journey to faith
Review: This was the first book written by CS Lewis after his conversion to Christianity, and was also his first book of fiction. This allegorical look at "the narrow road" of Christianity set the stage in many ways for much of Lewis's later fiction: the Space Trilogy, Till We Have Faces, and the Chronicles of Narnia, for example. In much of Lewis's later fiction the allegory was less prominent and more attention was paid to the story. This book also varies from Lewi''s other fiction in that it is more autobiographical. The main character, John, encounters many different schools of thought and endures much of the intellectual uncertainty that Lewis himself experienced in the time leading up to his conversion.

Lewis's allegory is absolutely spectacular, though it is necessary to have a pretty thorough knowledge of Lewis's way of thinking in order to follow the allegory. The headers at the top of the page do a great deal to clarify, and help the reader avoid getting lost in all the symbolism. This is especially useful when John is encountering some movement which, though prevalent in Lewis's time, is not very well-known today. Despite the excellent headers, however, the best preparation for this book would be to read Lewis's autobiographical Surprised by Joy. Exposure to this book, along with some of Lewis's other apology, will definitely enrich the experience of reading from this excellent book.

Lewis had a talent for explaining things in such a way that nearly anyone could understand them. Nowhere is this more apparent than in his fiction. The lessons he teaches, through his fiction and non-fiction alike, are important insights into the worlds of Christianity and morality.

Rating:
Summary: Plato walks with the Monkey King.
Review: While I wouldn't put it quite at the top of my list of Lewis' works, this guided stroll through Lewis' psyche on its dialectic course towards Christ is a pleasant and enlightening journey, full of off-beat humor and insight. Starting from Puritanica (what modern readers might call Fundie-town) and the dread of a black pit with snakes and scorpions for those who do not obey "The Landlord," the hero sets out in the other direction in search of an island paradise. Along the way, he meets a diverse and amusingly described panoply of personalized tempters. Some of these characters are a bit hard to finger, but many still survive as philosophical specimens. Lewis has fun showing cultural Christians, Marxists, and bohemian artists in a Medieval landscape, alongside dragons and giants. Reminiscent less of Bunyan than of Journey to the West at times, Lewis engages a self-depracatory and even slapstick humor to point to serious lessons. But to me, the most poignant scene in the book was a more serious dialogue of riddles between Lady Reason and a Giant whose glance revealed the sub-human underpinnings of soul, revealing horrors in every person. I understood that scene very well. The giant of reductionistic science still walks the land and holds many captive, and may have held me had Lady Reason not come to my rescue, too, with Lewis' help.

Reason defeated the monster with a few quick jabs, which go to the heart of the matter, but if you don't like allegory, Lewis develops his arguments more fully elsewhere. Those who would like to see the story of those years in prose, should read Surprised By Joy. (Pilgrim's Regress is not meant to be entirely autobiographical, I don't think.) For a didactic version of the confrontation with the giant, see Abolition of Man; if you want it in fairy-tale form, read Puddleglum's brilliant speech in The Silver Chair. Lewis was nothing if not a versatile writer.

author, Jesus and the Religions of Man [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: A brilliant allegory
Review: With the title being a parody of Pilgrim's Progress by Paul Bunyan, Lewis's allegory is a rich telling of his own route to faith in God. In what was Lewis's only published allegory (the space trilogy, Chronicles of Narnia, and Till We Have Faces are all fiction, but not allegory) he takes the reader on a journey, complete with a map and one line summations at the top of each page to explain the action taking place. Some of the philosophies Lewis denounced are no longer in vogue and will be unfamiliar to most, but the rest are recognizable and discussed fluently. J.I. Packer likes this the best of all the Lewis books and it is easy to see why. Lewis's work is a virtuoso performance.