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A review by jhamm
Boxen: The Imaginary World of the Young C. S. Lewis by C.S. Lewis
3.0
This was the most difficult book from C. S. Lewis I’ve read so far, which is very interesting considering he started writing it when he was eight years old! He and his brother wrote all the imaginative stories found in here, and it’s incredible the amount of detail that were put into these stories considering the ages of the authors.
The stories themselves, as I alluded to, are VERY tough reads. They consist mainly of the fictional geographical and political landscape of the fantastical land of Boxen. Even though it’s very dense, it’s also really cute to see how imaginative the two bright, young minds who conjured this world were. The trademark humor of the younger Lewis is also found within several of these stories, foreshadowing his later works. I also found it so wholesome and hilarious how C. S. Lewis went back as an adult and attempted to write an “encyclopedia” explaining the world of Boxen as many of the stories are contradictory and he wanted to establish what is factual! It’s so nerdy, yet so wholesome!!
Overall, I find the story behind these writings more fascinating than the actual tales. The stories were never written to be published, but exist merely as windows into the adolescent years of “Jack” and Warnie” Lewis. It’s a cute little book and I enjoyed it!
The stories themselves, as I alluded to, are VERY tough reads. They consist mainly of the fictional geographical and political landscape of the fantastical land of Boxen. Even though it’s very dense, it’s also really cute to see how imaginative the two bright, young minds who conjured this world were. The trademark humor of the younger Lewis is also found within several of these stories, foreshadowing his later works. I also found it so wholesome and hilarious how C. S. Lewis went back as an adult and attempted to write an “encyclopedia” explaining the world of Boxen as many of the stories are contradictory and he wanted to establish what is factual! It’s so nerdy, yet so wholesome!!
Overall, I find the story behind these writings more fascinating than the actual tales. The stories were never written to be published, but exist merely as windows into the adolescent years of “Jack” and Warnie” Lewis. It’s a cute little book and I enjoyed it!