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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read this book by the recommendation of the former pastor of my church, a revered teacher of theology, Earl Palmer, and in reading it, I saw a different perspective of Christianity. By reading the voice of a devil (Screwtape) who is talking about the strategies and techniques of temptations and pulling unsuspecting humans to "Our Father below," as a Christian reader, I saw my faith in a different light. I thought about my shortcomings and my own temptations and also grew to cherish all the more the everlasting, unconditional love of God as greatly contrasted with the darkness and evil of hell.
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I don’t usually read this find of stuff. I like stories that are linear with characters I can follow along with on their journey. But this was…wow. I was both enlightened and entertained as by the one sided correspondence and letters between demons. C. S. Lewis was able to tell a story of a man living during Word War 2, without the reader ever directly meeting him. The amount of wisdom and biblical truths in this fictional book had me picking up a highlighter and wanting to tab so many pages. And the fact that I was laughing out loud is a testament to the wit of the author because the subject topic is heavy. Spiritual Warfare.
Amazing and worth a read.
I don’t usually read this find of stuff. I like stories that are linear with characters I can follow along with on their journey. But this was…wow. I was both enlightened and entertained as by the one sided correspondence and letters between demons. C. S. Lewis was able to tell a story of a man living during Word War 2, without the reader ever directly meeting him. The amount of wisdom and biblical truths in this fictional book had me picking up a highlighter and wanting to tab so many pages. And the fact that I was laughing out loud is a testament to the wit of the author because the subject topic is heavy. Spiritual Warfare.
Amazing and worth a read.
funny
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Reading through this again after a while was an interesting experience. The last time I remember reading this was when I was in middle school. Looking back a lot of the books themes and morals just flew past me. To the point I had the notion of CS Lewis abhorring the governmental structure of Democracy.
The Ideas he brought up in relation to democratic thinking and the leveling of a culture feels oddly relevant in today's culture regarding the rampant Anti-Intellectualism and Racism. I think a lot of this thinking may have came from WW2 mindsets and eugenics as is briefly mentioned in the text.
The narrative presentation is as great as I remember it being and it flows wonderfully. One thing I did notice was the touching on every one of the 7 sins which I found interesting.
The mention of Limbo surprised me as I wasn't under the impression that it was a widely held belief in wider Christianity other than Dante's Inferno. I wonder if Lewis thought Limbo was a good enough compromise or if he believed in a redemptive purgatory. This book was also a lot funnier than I remembered. The cruel nature of Screwtape was pushed often to the point of hilarity. The idea that demons go to school is also in way deeply humorous
The way in which women are presented isn't bad but definitely isn't great. Leans into some femme fatale and fragile tropes. Also makes the distinction between feminine and masculine vices to be distinctly defined with lust seemingly a more male vice which I found a bit amusing/odd from a modern perspective. The discussion on selflessness in regards to this was an interesting one though. I am unsure how true it is but the differing views of selflessness that being giving vs losing (giving up what you want) sacrifice was an interesting dichotomy and while overly simplified is an interesting perspective.
The discussions on time and the nature of Free Will were also very interesting. I especially liked Pg 78 "Present because there, and there alone, all duty, all grace, all knowledge, and all pleasure dwell".
The idea that demons eat those who end up in hell and different sins have different flavors is also fun. I especially like the way Lewis describes the distillation process of the heresy wine Screwtape toasts with. Though this does make the eternal punishment of those who end in up in hell significantly less eternal so that's something to consider on a philosophical level. To add to this the way in which Screwtape describes a worldly philosophy of competition and predation vs a religious philosophy of connection and love felt quite apt.
Overall really enjoyed re-reading the book and feel I understand a lot more of it this time around. I definitely disagree with a chunk of what's presented but I'm glad I can name and understand why I dislike it now rather than the vague sense I had when I was younger.
The Ideas he brought up in relation to democratic thinking and the leveling of a culture feels oddly relevant in today's culture regarding the rampant Anti-Intellectualism and Racism. I think a lot of this thinking may have came from WW2 mindsets and eugenics as is briefly mentioned in the text.
The narrative presentation is as great as I remember it being and it flows wonderfully. One thing I did notice was the touching on every one of the 7 sins which I found interesting.
The mention of Limbo surprised me as I wasn't under the impression that it was a widely held belief in wider Christianity other than Dante's Inferno. I wonder if Lewis thought Limbo was a good enough compromise or if he believed in a redemptive purgatory. This book was also a lot funnier than I remembered. The cruel nature of Screwtape was pushed often to the point of hilarity. The idea that demons go to school is also in way deeply humorous
The way in which women are presented isn't bad but definitely isn't great. Leans into some femme fatale and fragile tropes. Also makes the distinction between feminine and masculine vices to be distinctly defined with lust seemingly a more male vice which I found a bit amusing/odd from a modern perspective. The discussion on selflessness in regards to this was an interesting one though. I am unsure how true it is but the differing views of selflessness that being giving vs losing (giving up what you want) sacrifice was an interesting dichotomy and while overly simplified is an interesting perspective.
The discussions on time and the nature of Free Will were also very interesting. I especially liked Pg 78 "Present because there, and there alone, all duty, all grace, all knowledge, and all pleasure dwell".
The idea that demons eat those who end up in hell and different sins have different flavors is also fun. I especially like the way Lewis describes the distillation process of the heresy wine Screwtape toasts with. Though this does make the eternal punishment of those who end in up in hell significantly less eternal so that's something to consider on a philosophical level. To add to this the way in which Screwtape describes a worldly philosophy of competition and predation vs a religious philosophy of connection and love felt quite apt.
Overall really enjoyed re-reading the book and feel I understand a lot more of it this time around. I definitely disagree with a chunk of what's presented but I'm glad I can name and understand why I dislike it now rather than the vague sense I had when I was younger.
Although the Screwtape letters are written in a "fun" almost light-hearted way, the core ideas of the text really struck something in me.
The notion that if Devils and demons and evil do really exist, they work in subtle, sneaky ways, is much more terrifying than the idea of them being obvious, goat-horned monster's who plague you intensely.
As always C.S Lewis is a great starting point for getting into Theology and Christian philosophy, he has an ability to notice and pull into focus human misconceptions about the divine and the sinful, making then digestible when before you could hardly notice or think on them.
It's another one of those books that helps me to understand myself and the nature of how things work around me. I'm glad that people like Lewis put pen to paper and wrote about concepts that to others might seem silly, but to me are important.
The notion that if Devils and demons and evil do really exist, they work in subtle, sneaky ways, is much more terrifying than the idea of them being obvious, goat-horned monster's who plague you intensely.
As always C.S Lewis is a great starting point for getting into Theology and Christian philosophy, he has an ability to notice and pull into focus human misconceptions about the divine and the sinful, making then digestible when before you could hardly notice or think on them.
It's another one of those books that helps me to understand myself and the nature of how things work around me. I'm glad that people like Lewis put pen to paper and wrote about concepts that to others might seem silly, but to me are important.
If nothing else, it made me think. I want to read it again when I'm 30.
challenging
funny
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I’m finding myself fascinating by the topic of religion, particularly Christianity, lately. C.S Lewis really writes up a humorous discussion about morals and religion in Screwtape’s letters. As much as I enjoyed the audio version, I feel that this is a book worthy of some physical annotation.
C.S. Lewis had a lot of good points and I think this style of writing was really suited for his message. However sometimes the veneer of the story came apart at points and the fact that Lewis was trying to hammer in a lesson became obnoxiously obvious.
I listened to the audiobook and hearing Cleese lose his character's voice and pretty much ramble in exasperation was when it was painfully obvious that it was a Christian apologist talking through a demon. Which, of course, is fine on some levels since this isn't a story just to be a story, but sometimes the writing suffered from it. I started to get frustrated at those points where I felt it became out-of-character for Screwtape to be going on and on about God's goodness and what God's intentions were for humans, and even Cleese's phenomenal voice acting couldn't make it sound like Screwtape was in fact being masqueraded by a clearly Christian apologist. It was hard to not be biased at those parts when I felt I was being lectured at rather than piecing the message out myself.
Other than that, Lewis is really good at satire, Cleese is a wonderful voice actor, and the piece, overall, was thought-provoking and pretty humorous at times.
I listened to the audiobook and hearing Cleese lose his character's voice and pretty much ramble in exasperation was when it was painfully obvious that it was a Christian apologist talking through a demon. Which, of course, is fine on some levels since this isn't a story just to be a story, but sometimes the writing suffered from it. I started to get frustrated at those points where I felt it became out-of-character for Screwtape to be going on and on about God's goodness and what God's intentions were for humans, and even Cleese's phenomenal voice acting couldn't make it sound like Screwtape was in fact being masqueraded by a clearly Christian apologist. It was hard to not be biased at those parts when I felt I was being lectured at rather than piecing the message out myself.
Other than that, Lewis is really good at satire, Cleese is a wonderful voice actor, and the piece, overall, was thought-provoking and pretty humorous at times.
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced