The Great Divorce by CS Lewis

[GKC]

Maybe I will

Or, you could try it the way I read it. When it first appeared in pb in the US, around 1965, in the pirated Ace edition, the first volume I found was RETURN OF THE KING. Which I read. Imagine my confusion. But it was intriguing. Then I found TWO TOWERS. and finally FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. So I read it backwards. And have read it between 10-20 times since. The start of my Tolkien collecting hobby.

GKC

 

[Della]

I see what you mean. Makes sense

It’s funny, with Lewis and Tolkien, our reactions are opposite. While I can appreciate all Tolkien accomplished, he always left me cold. The Hobbit was okay I thought, but I gave up on LOTR less than 80 pages in. And I’m not in the habit of giving up early on my reading. It’s interesting how these things affect each of us differently.

Their writings styles were quite different. :yup: While I found Lewis brisk and intellectually stimulating–something like a modern painting done in the heat of the moment. Tolkien, OTOH, was weaving an intricate tapestry of pageantry and ineffable spiritual beauty.

The first few chapters of LOTR are a continuation of The Hobbit, and so it centers around Hobbiton and its inhabitants. The kids especially wanted more about Hobbits after The Hobbit came out and was so popular. LOTR kind of got away from Tolkien and took on a life of it’s own, although he originally intended to tell a more light-hearted story, aka The Hobbit. I think if you keep that in mind the book might become easier to get into. Although, you could start with the chapter about the Prancing Pony and have all you really need to go on with the story. You can always read the opening chapters later on.

 

[GKC]

Their writings styles were quite different. :yup: While I found Lewis brisk and intellectually stimulating–something like a modern painting done in the heat of the moment. Tolkien, OTOH, was weaving an intricate tapestry of pageantry and ineffable spiritual beauty.

The first few chapters of LOTR are a continuation of The Hobbit, and so it centers around Hobbiton and its inhabitants. The kids especially wanted more about Hobbits after The Hobbit came out and was so popular. LOTR kind of got away from Tolkien and took on a life of it’s own, although he originally intended to tell a more light-hearted story, aka The Hobbit. I think if you keep that in mind the book might become easier to get into. Although, you could start with the chapter about the Prancing Pony and have all you really need to go on with the story. You can always read the opening chapters later on.

I certainly did.

GKC

 

[Della]

I certainly did.

GKC

Yes, once you get to know the hobbit characters from The Prancing Pony onwards, then you’ll want to find out more about them in the opening chapters.

My first reading of LOTR was prompted by seeing the Ralph Bakshi animated version. It intrigued me enough for me to buy a three volume paperback set. I followed Frodo’s story from beginning to end in one weekend–I just couldn’t put it down. I wont spoil anything for those who haven’t read the books or seen Jackson’s films. I’ll just say that I was one person when I started to read LOTR and another by the time I’d finished. I can say the same about Lewis’ books, as well, although with him it was more of affirming what I had believed must be truth instead of having anything new revealed, but that’s just me.

 

[Alizarin]

Their writings styles were quite different. :yup: While I found Lewis brisk and intellectually stimulating–something like a modern painting done in the heat of the moment. Tolkien, OTOH, was weaving an intricate tapestry of pageantry and ineffable spiritual beauty.

The first few chapters of LOTR are a continuation of The Hobbit, and so it centers around Hobbiton and its inhabitants. The kids especially wanted more about Hobbits after The Hobbit came out and was so popular. LOTR kind of got away from Tolkien and took on a life of it’s own, although he originally intended to tell a more light-hearted story, aka The Hobbit. I think if you keep that in mind the book might become easier to get into. Although, you could start with the chapter about the Prancing Pony and have all you really need to go on with the story. You can always read the opening chapters later on.

I think the painting analogy you employed is a good one. To me, Lewis uses only the most necessary strokes and a limited palette, while Tolkien is like a hyper-realist in love with infinite detail and infinite shades of color.

For example, in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Lewis gives us simple, but provocative images (like the fawn with the books, the lamp post in the snowy woods) and takes a good long while before he really explains them. He lets wonder take hold. Tolkien, on the other hand, lays out a history of the Shire that reads like War and Peace - dense and complex to the point it is – for me – a little overwhelming. And I’m not a guy afraid of big books. From the Bible to It, I’ve plowed through some big ones…

 

[benjohnson]

. And have read it between 10-20 times since.

It’s defiantly worthy of re-reading. I get to it about every 5 years and it astounds me how much the book seems to change for me.

 

[Peter_J]

defiantly worthy of re-reading

I like it.

 

[Fone_Bone_2001]

Ugh…William Blake. Just skimmed it. :ehh:

Reminds me of the “artsy” friends I had back in school. Not my cup of tea.

No wonder Lewis responded to it. Ghastly, in both senses of the word.

Think I’ll be returning to my reading of Ireneaus’ Against Heresies (though I have been bogged down in book two for weeks )…and all the other ECFs.

It’s not ghastly at all.

Blake is a poet, not a theologian - and he’s a great one. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell is first and foremost a truly playful, tongue-in-cheek work. That is, if you understand it.

Lewis himself, literature professor that he was, understood how great Blake was and greatly respected his work.

Recall that in the introduction to The Great Divorce, his full allusion to Blake runs as follows: “Blake wrote the Marriage of Heaven and Hell. If I have written of their divorce, it is not because I think myself a fit antagonist for so great a genius.”

As a fan of great poetry myself, I know that Lewis meant what he wrote.