Rating: 
Summary: "We live on a knife-edge between Heaven and Hell." (CSL)
Review: The devil Wormwood is slowly taking ruin of a Christian man. Invisibly, subtely, he deviates the man from a the Right Path. But he needs help from Screwtape, the uncle, upon whom the 31 letters are based. Together, they arrange intellectual and emotional scenarios that lead to a man's breaking from the Christ life. They have him be "proud" of his honesty, so that honesty loses its much needed humility. They have him associate Church with ugly ill-dressed people. They have him associate Christianity with politics, whereby Christianity is a tool for a better society here on Earth, thus undermining the "eternal" and otherworldliness aspect of religion. They have him associate reality with "ordinariness" rather than the mystical or miraculous. They have him consider an "historical Jesus." They have depend on the "Christianity and..." syndrone: Christianity AND politics, Christianity AND psychical research, Christianity and...This way, their man always avoids Christianity at bottom. Instead, he'll have to find some "new fashion" and sprinkle it with a little Christianity. Now that is a dose of what the two of them do. They do much else besides, but inevitably fail as the man reaches God. This book reveals the high education of C.S. Lewis: his knowledge of philosophy, literature, theology, history, satire, religion, psychology. It is probably his most well rounded book. Each letter has specific manipulations which urge us to be ever watchful of invisible tempters, of whom Lewis believed in.
This becomes, then, a scary book, as it reminds us (like Spiritism) that spirits can influence our thoughts and actions. But only if we let them by being too passive. This is one of the best books I have ever read and should have got him the Nobel Prize.
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Summary: DEVILISHLY CLEVER!
Review: Leave it to C.S. Lewis to do the undoable--write an epistolary novel from Hell's vantage that delights as much as it educates, and illuminates even as it sends cold chills up your spine. But Lewis was a genius, and The Screwtape Letters is literary proof. Written as a series of letters from old devil Screwtape to his apprentice nephew, Wormwood, Lewis's novel tells the story of Wormwood's increasingly desperate efforts to ensnare the soul of a young Englishman during World War I. Through this correspondence we follow Wormwood's "patient" through conversion, to doubt, love and his ultimate fate. The novel's suspense comes from the question of whether or not the young man will actually escape becoming a midnight snack for Wormwood, and besides being a genuinely fun read the novel is packed with ingenious observations about innumerable human fallacies: from lust to "falling in love," to cowardice to fanatic patriotism, piety to self-righteousness. One of Lewis's great literary gifts was his ability to pinpoint the subtle flaws in human nature that most of us probably don't think twice about but which we may end up regretting for all eternity. His eye for the touch of evil in the most seemingly innocuous areas of life lets Lewis hit all the major spiritual pressure points with amazing--and sometimes painful--accuracy. Deliciously funny as only a grand parody can be, yet likewise terrifying in its implications, The Screwtape Letters is a must-read for everyone who ever even thought about religion. A magical novel of wisdom, encouragement, and dire warning, The Screwtape Letters has my wholehearted recommendation.
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Summary: A wonderful faith book
Review: C.S. Lewis writes the ultimate Christian primer -- telling his readers how best to be faithful Christians by showing us how we should NOT behave! Screwtape, a high level denomic bureaucrat, is advising his neophyte demon nephew Wormwood on how to win over to "Our Father Below" his "patient," a new Christian who must be wooed away from "the Enemy," who is, of course, God. What makes this book so profound is that the temptations Screwtape suggests to Wormwood are not just the obvious ones, but the subtle ones that get to us everyday, sometimes under the guise of "doing good." How many of us, for example, have gotten into arguments with a loved one over who was being more unselfish -- "I don't want pepperoni on the pizza, but go ahead, have pepperoni, I don't mind." "No, I insist. No pepperoni, even though I love it so much, because I know you hate it." "No, please, have the pepperoni, darn it!" And so the resentment builds. It is this sort of sin and temptation that Screwtape urges Wormwood to play upon his hapless "patient."
But Screwtape knows his "enemy" and he knows his limits. My favorite line, and one well worth hanging on to for all of us who feel we have lost hope: "Do not be deceived, Wormwood. Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy's will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys" (p. 40). And never forget. The demons never deny the existence of either Father or Son.
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Summary: Great Devil's Advocacy book (literally)
Review: If you didn't have the benefit of taking a general theology class in college or you want to grow in your faith, read and discuss this book with a few friends. Lewis's elder demon Screwtape can teach us a lot about ourselves, about God, and about contemporary culture. Lewis writes in an easy-to-read, quotable style which is sure to challenge our modern thinking. In one sense, it's a primer on how to sin. The book is full of "advice" on how turn a good thing into a sinful one. I remember my wife being challenged by the discussion of gluttony. According to Screwtape, it works both ways, by eating too much or too little, because the key is flattering your pride. All sin stems from our natural, self-honoring pride, and Screwtape gives many examples of how to insert that pride into everything we do. Of course, it isn't as if you are reading letters from the devil himself, every word corrupting your spirit. This book praises God's grace in a Christian's life (in a back-handed sort of way). And it's funny. I love it when Screwtape gets so mad he morphs into a worm, and his secretary has to finish the letter. I also love his description of the coup Lucifer led against God Almighty before he and the angels who supported him were kicked out of heaven (becoming the demons they are now). It's a great, little work of fiction, loaded with applicable truth.
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Summary: BASICS FOR BELIEF
Review: LEWIS HAS WRITTEN A GREAT BOOK FOR THE SKEPTIC. LEWIS HIMSELF DID NOT BELIEVE IN GOD, HOWEVER, THAT WAS CHANGED. LEWIS GIVES A THOUGHT PROVOKING LOOK INTO THE EXISTANCE OF GOD. SOME PARTS OF THE BOOK ARE DIFFICULT TO FOLLOW, HOWEVER, AFTER GOING OVER THE HARD PARTS SEVERAL TIMES, YOU WILL SEE THE POINT LEWIS IS MAKING. IS IS A MUST BOOK FOR EVERY CHRISTIAN.
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Summary: The Greatest Audiobook Ever
Review: Frank Muller is and always will be the King of audiobook readers. That said, this recording of C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters, read by John Cleese wins my all-time greatest audiobook award. Cleese is a perfect festering, seething devil. I cannot now read the letters without first having Cleese's slimey interpretation run through my head. Good or bad? Who knows? Either way it is joyfully inescapable.
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Summary: Funny, clever, and above all - practical
Review: Taking a unique, insightful spin on Christian life, CS Lewis takes a look at Christianity from a perspective we rarely do - from a devil's point of view. This view is a polar opposite of ours - what is good to us is evil to him, and vice versa. He even refers to God as The Enemy... his goal is to aid his nephew in the "conversion" of a Christian male. As the book goes on, so does the man's faith, and as it begins to mature into a fuller form, the devils try to sabotage it at every turn. The book takes a unique look at how Christians try to live their lives. It peers inside the heart of the man, and details the great conflicts that go on in his, and all of our, hearts. It does this in a clever manner that will make you laugh, and even more importantly, think. By giving you the devil's perspective, it allows you to see how you can combat his advances in your daily life. It is practical advice, given in a truly unique and wonderful way, as only CS Lewis can do it!
Rating:
Summary: Taken from a different angle!
Review: This was a great book but took some getting used to since everything is from Screwtape's perspective (exactly opposite of what most of us think). Nevertheless, it was interesting to read from that angle and reaffirm my views of the "Enemy" as the book calls Him.
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Summary: Sinning the Screwtape Way
Review: This is an excellent manual from Hell that reveals a few of the enemy's methods. Unless you are unusually self-aware or totally self-unaware, this book may/will show you some dark spots of your heart, hidden so deeply that you no longer realize their presence. Satan (along with his minions) is truly worthy of the moniker deceiver. Maybe the devil does "make" us do it, but we still may suffer the eternal consequences if we let Satan play his hand to the full. This fictional book is well-written as a series of letters from a demon in his bureaucratic office to his subordinate field worker. It tells us how a young demon may learn the craft of temptation while we learn along with him. It also tells about the hearts of his temptees (us) and how noble we often feel while we are being lured away from Jesus. After all, pride may be our greatest sin. C.S. Lewis is a master of thought, insight and plain expression in my opinion, as well as in the opinion of many others. Read this one, then read more, like Mere Christianity, etc. And don't forget his fantasy tales. Tolkien had nothing on him except popularity.
Rating: 
Summary: Well-Written, But Extremely Boring
Review: ...It is very well-written, and the premise is interesting. However, I found it so boring I could hardly pay attention. C.S. Lewis does make some good points, but he really beats them to death. The reason I'm rating the book two stars instead of one is that it really is very well-written, in spite of being extremely boring.
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