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roseon3rdday's review against another edition
1.0
C. S. L. is in my top ten favorite writers (maybe top five). This work was written prior to his conversion to Christianity. A lot of it is composed of dry daily facts, such as what he had for lunch and if he took a walk.
For most of the book, I kept thinking "what an insufferable prig" he was and how I could not have been friends with him in real life during his youth (I.e., if he would deign to be friends with a mere female).
But he somewhat redeems himself when he admits on page 511, "Was led somehow into a train of thought in which I made the unpleasant discovery that I am becoming a prig-- righteous indignation against certain modern affectations has its dangers, yet I don't know how to avoid it either."
Some phrases he uses are nothing short of racist and misogynistic. It’s fascinating how much a person can change. His later works suggest a wiser, humbler man of faith.
The positive take away from this book is being able to more fully appreciate the transformative power which believing in Christ can give.
For most of the book, I kept thinking "what an insufferable prig" he was and how I could not have been friends with him in real life during his youth (I.e., if he would deign to be friends with a mere female).
But he somewhat redeems himself when he admits on page 511, "Was led somehow into a train of thought in which I made the unpleasant discovery that I am becoming a prig-- righteous indignation against certain modern affectations has its dangers, yet I don't know how to avoid it either."
Some phrases he uses are nothing short of racist and misogynistic. It’s fascinating how much a person can change. His later works suggest a wiser, humbler man of faith.
The positive take away from this book is being able to more fully appreciate the transformative power which believing in Christ can give.
catereads's review against another edition
4.0
All My Road Before Me is CS Lewis's journal for the years before his conversion. The book is filled with off-hand insights about life and literature, but my favorite part was learning more about the role that Maureen Moore played in Lewis's life. Lewis essentially adopted Maureen as a daughter/ sister. Maureen wanted to be a musician, and she had a fairly good music teacher in Oxford. After finishing his 3(!) degrees, Lewis was unemployed for months, but he didn't want to accept a position away from Oxford partially because moving would disrupt her potential music career. Lewis eventually got a fellowship in Oxford. If he'd left and accepted a position elsewhere, he would have probably never met JRR Tolkien. Tolkien would have never converted Lewis, Lewis would have never written his apologetics cannon, and Lewis would have never convinced Tolkien to try to publish The Hobbit. Arguably, the Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings would never have existed if it weren't for Maureen.
mischiefphantom's review
I didn't find anything particularly wrong with this book, but I discovered by reading this that I don't particularly enjoy just reading people's diaries. I prefer Surprised by Joy, his autobiography, which I did quite enjoy.
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