What C.S. Lewis books would you recommend?

[Galnextdoor]

I have heard many people refer to C.S. Lewis’ writings. I know that he was a Christian apologist. I am interested in reading his non-fiction works. Does anyone have any suggestions about where I should begin?

 

[90Domer]

The Screwtape Letters.

 

[Just_Lurking]

Mere Christianity

 

[StevenFrancis]

On the nonfiction side I would recommend starting with Mere Christianity and then Miracles, but Mr. Lewis gave us a few novels which have just as strong of theology as his nonfiction. My two favorite books of his ever are The Great Divorce and The Screwtape Letters. Both are works of fiction, and are deeply wrought with Christian theology and even apologetics. If like our dear Clive, however, you’ll LOVE Mr. Gilbert K. Chesterton. Start with Orthodoxy. Also, anything you can get your hands on by Hillaire Belloc. Why 19th/20th century British writers, (Chesterton didn’t even live to see WW2) are so much better at describing the spiritual condition of 21st century USA is a wonder and a puzzlement to me, but I’m sure having an enjoyable time. My mind pretty much stays in late 19th century London these days.

 

[Timmy_Z]

Essential CS Lewis: Mere Christianity

My favorites: The Great Divorce, Perelandra, Narnia (A horse and His Boy, The Dawn Treader)
(I like allegory)

-Tim

 

[Timmy_Z]

Steven above is correct. I used to participate on the CS Lewis society boards and was once (correctly) told that if I liked Lewis I would love Chesterton.

Everlasting Man should be required reading to be Christian.

-Tim

 

[Syntax]

Steven above is correct. I used to participate on the CS Lewis society boards and was once (correctly) told that if I liked Lewis I would love Chesterton.

-]Everlasting Man /-]should be required reading to be Christian.

In my not-so-humble opinion, Chesterton’s Everlasting Man is lame. Read Chesterton’s Orthodoxy instead. SO much better. It is the most sarcastic, witty, funny, yet upbuilding and enlightening piece on Christian Faith you will ever read!

I recommend Lewis’ Mere Christianity too, of course

 

[Galnextdoor]

Thank you. I guess I’ll start with Mere Christianity

 

[chazk728]

Mere Christianity and Miracles - C.S. Lewis

Orthodoxy - G.K. Chesterton (this book totally grounded my faith - it’s awesome)

Have fun reading

 

[lizaanne]

Orthodoxy - G.K. Chesterton (this book totally grounded my faith - it’s awesome)

Have fun reading

Wow - I really need to give it another try then. I just could NOT get myself into this book, I have no idea why. Maybe because I read before I go to sleep and I was just too tired to grasp it?? I have heard nothing but wonderful things about it so I was disappointed when I couldn’t get interested. Must just be me!

~Liza

 

[Timmy_Z]

In my not-so-humble opinion, Chesterton’s Everlasting Man is lame. Read Chesterton’s Orthodoxy instead. SO much better.

I really wanted to like Orthodoxy. It just didn’t click.

How can you call Everlasting Man lame?

-Tim

 

[Bob_Crowley]

I have heard many people refer to C.S. Lewis’ writings. I know that he was a Christian apologist. I am interested in reading his non-fiction works. Does anyone have any suggestions about where I should begin?

I get the impression that CS Lewis is to Protestantism as GK Chesterton is to Catholicism. I suspect Lewis is the more effective apologist. But Chesterton’s books seem harder to come by, and I don’t think I’ve ever read any of them, although I’ve often seen him quoted. It also appears that Protestants are more avid readers, and their bookshops outnumber Catholic bookshops by a factor of several, in this part of the the world anyway. While I’ve never seen any of GK Chesterton’s books in Protestant bookshops, I know for a fact that CS Lewis is stocked in the bookshop associated with the Catholic Cathedral in Brisbane.

I’ve read a number of his books. He also wrote some academic treatises in his official role as a professor in medieval literature.

They’re all readable, whether fiction or non fiction. I copied the following list from Wikipedia and then categorised it somewhat. I’ve never read the entire Narnia series, having converted at the age of 28, so I was a bit old to be interested. I did read
“The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”. His Dr. Ransom trilogy however had me enthralled, the first time I read it.

As someone just starting out, I suppose I’d read them in the following.

First Pick

Mere Christianity (1952; based on radio talks of 1941 – 1944)
The Screwtape Letters (1942)
The Problem of Pain (1940)
Space Trilogy or Dr. Ransom trilogy - Out of the Silent Planet (1938), Perelandra (aka Voyage to Venus) (1943), That Hideous Strength (1945)

Second Pick

The Great Divorce (1945)

Thereafter any of his apologetic writings. I’ve read the following -

The Abolition of Man (1943)
Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life (1955; autobiography)
Reflections on the Psalms (1958)
The Four Loves (1960)
A Grief Observed (1961; first published under the pseudonym «N. W. Clerk»)
God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics (1970), = Undeceptions (1971) — with one essay not included in Essay Collection (2000)
Present Concerns (1986; essays)(All essays found in Essay Collection (2000)
The Pilgrim’s Regress (1933)
Till We Have Faces (1956)
Screwtape Proposes a Toast (1961) (an addition to The Screwtape Letters)
Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer (1964)
The Dark Tower (1977)

THe Narnia Series if you are interested. They’re aimed at children, but they have a distinctly Christian ethos.

The Chronicles of Narnia
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)
Prince Caspian (1951)
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
The Silver Chair (1953)
The Horse and His Boy (1954)
The Magician’s Nephew (1955)
The Last Battle (1956)

I have not read the following, and some of them are purely academic with a bearing on his role as a professor specialising on Medieval Literature

The Allegory of Love: A Study in Medieval Tradition (1936)
Rehabilitations and other essays (1939) — with two essays not included in Essay Collection (2000)
The Personal Heresy: A Controversy (with E. M. W. Tillyard, 1939)
A Preface to Paradise Lost (1942)
Beyond Personality (1944)
Miracles: A Preliminary Study (1947, revised 1960)
Arthurian Torso (1948; on Charles Williams’s poetry)
English Literature in the Sixteenth Century Excluding Drama (1954); 1975 reprint ISBN 0198812981;
Major British Writers, Vol I (1954), Contribution on Edmund Spenser
Studies in Words (1960)
An Experiment in Criticism (1961)
They Asked for a Paper: Papers and Addresses(1962) (All essays found in Essay Collection (2000)
Selections from Layamon’s Brut (ed. G L Brook, 1963 Oxford University Press) introduction
The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature (1964)
Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature (1966) — not included in Essay Collection (2000)
Spenser’s Images of Life (ed. Alastair Fowler, 1967)
Letters to an American Lady (1967)
Christian Reflections (1967; essays and papers)(All essays found in Essay Collection (2000)
Selected Literary Essays (1969) — not included in Essay Collection (2000)
Of Other Worlds (1982; essays) — with one essay not included in Essay Collection
All My Road Before Me: The Diary of C. S. Lewis 1922 – 27 (1993)
Compelling Reason: Essays on Ethics and Theology (1998)
Essay Collection: Literature, Philosophy and Short Stories (2000)
Essay Collection: Faith, Christianity and the Church (2000)
Collected Letters, Vol. I: Family Letters 1905 – 1931 (2000)
Collected Letters, Vol. II: Books, Broadcasts and War 1931 – 1949 (2004)
Collected Letters, Vol. III: Narnia, Cambridge and Joy 1950 – 1963 (2007)
The Business Of Heavenaily Readings From C. S. Lewis ed. Walter Hooper, 1984, Harvest Book, Harcourt, Inc.

[edit] Fiction

Boxen: The Imaginary World of the Young C. S. Lewis (ed. Walter Hooper, 1985)
[edit] Poetry
Spirits in Bondage (1919; published under pseudonym Clive Hamilton)
Dymer (1926; published under pseudonym Clive Hamilton)
Narrative Poems (ed. Walter Hooper, 1969; includes Dymer)
The Collected Poems of C. S. Lewis (ed. Walter Hooper, 1994; includes Spirits in Bondage)

 

[Mystic_Banana]

I’m something of a Sci-fi/fantasy buff, and I’d definitely recommend the cosmic trilogy (or Ransom trilogy, or whatever you want to call it) - great stuff, and the anti-Scientism rallying cry of the 3rd book is close to my heart! I’ve read the dark tower as well (the uncompleted 4th book), but that’s just odd…

The Narnia books I read while an adult, and they’re quite entertaining, although one of them (Prince Caspian I think) had what I felt were subtley xenophobic elements. Then again, it was probably daringly multiculturalist by the standards of the 50’s, especially by the standards of Science Fiction and Fantasy

 

[Galnextdoor]

I get the impression that CS Lewis is to Protestantism as GK Chesterton is to Catholicism. I suspect Lewis is the more effective apologist. But Chesterton’s books seem harder to come by, and I don’t think I’ve ever read any of them, although I’ve often seen him quoted. It also appears that Protestants are more avid readers, and their bookshops outnumber Catholic bookshops by a factor of several, in this part of the the world anyway. While I’ve never seen any of GK Chesterton’s books in Protestant bookshops, I know for a fact that CS Lewis is stocked in the bookshop associated with the Catholic Cathedral in Brisbane.

I’ve read a number of his books. He also wrote some academic treatises in his official role as a professor in medieval literature.

They’re all readable, whether fiction or non fiction. I copied the following list from Wikipedia and then categorised it somewhat. I’ve never read the entire Narnia series, having converted at the age of 28, so I was a bit old to be interested. I did read
“The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”. His Dr. Ransom trilogy however had me enthralled, the first time I read it.

As someone just starting out, I suppose I’d read them in the following.

First Pick

Mere Christianity (1952; based on radio talks of 1941 – 1944)
The Screwtape Letters (1942)
The Problem of Pain (1940)
Space Trilogy or Dr. Ransom trilogy - Out of the Silent Planet (1938), Perelandra (aka Voyage to Venus) (1943), That Hideous Strength (1945)

Second Pick

The Great Divorce (1945)

Thereafter any of his apologetic writings. I’ve read the following -

The Abolition of Man (1943)
Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life (1955; autobiography)
Reflections on the Psalms (1958)
The Four Loves (1960)
A Grief Observed (1961; first published under the pseudonym «N. W. Clerk»)
God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics (1970), = Undeceptions (1971) — with one essay not included in Essay Collection (2000)
Present Concerns (1986; essays)(All essays found in Essay Collection (2000)
The Pilgrim’s Regress (1933)
Till We Have Faces (1956)
Screwtape Proposes a Toast (1961) (an addition to The Screwtape Letters)
Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer (1964)
The Dark Tower (1977)

THe Narnia Series if you are interested. They’re aimed at children, but they have a distinctly Christian ethos.

The Chronicles of Narnia
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)
Prince Caspian (1951)
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
The Silver Chair (1953)
The Horse and His Boy (1954)
The Magician’s Nephew (1955)
The Last Battle (1956)

I have not read the following, and some of them are purely academic with a bearing on his role as a professor specialising on Medieval Literature

The Allegory of Love: A Study in Medieval Tradition (1936)
Rehabilitations and other essays (1939) — with two essays not included in Essay Collection (2000)
The Personal Heresy: A Controversy (with E. M. W. Tillyard, 1939)
A Preface to Paradise Lost (1942)
Beyond Personality (1944)
Miracles: A Preliminary Study (1947, revised 1960)
Arthurian Torso (1948; on Charles Williams’s poetry)
English Literature in the Sixteenth Century Excluding Drama (1954); 1975 reprint ISBN 0198812981;
Major British Writers, Vol I (1954), Contribution on Edmund Spenser
Studies in Words (1960)
An Experiment in Criticism (1961)
They Asked for a Paper: Papers and Addresses(1962) (All essays found in Essay Collection (2000)
Selections from Layamon’s Brut (ed. G L Brook, 1963 Oxford University Press) introduction
The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature (1964)
Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature (1966) — not included in Essay Collection (2000)
Spenser’s Images of Life (ed. Alastair Fowler, 1967)
Letters to an American Lady (1967)
Christian Reflections (1967; essays and papers)(All essays found in Essay Collection (2000)
Selected Literary Essays (1969) — not included in Essay Collection (2000)
Of Other Worlds (1982; essays) — with one essay not included in Essay Collection
All My Road Before Me: The Diary of C. S. Lewis 1922 – 27 (1993)
Compelling Reason: Essays on Ethics and Theology (1998)
Essay Collection: Literature, Philosophy and Short Stories (2000)
Essay Collection: Faith, Christianity and the Church (2000)
Collected Letters, Vol. I: Family Letters 1905 – 1931 (2000)
Collected Letters, Vol. II: Books, Broadcasts and War 1931 – 1949 (2004)
Collected Letters, Vol. III: Narnia, Cambridge and Joy 1950 – 1963 (2007)
The Business Of Heavenaily Readings From C. S. Lewis ed. Walter Hooper, 1984, Harvest Book, Harcourt, Inc.

[edit] Fiction

Boxen: The Imaginary World of the Young C. S. Lewis (ed. Walter Hooper, 1985)
[edit] Poetry
Spirits in Bondage (1919; published under pseudonym Clive Hamilton)
Dymer (1926; published under pseudonym Clive Hamilton)
Narrative Poems (ed. Walter Hooper, 1969; includes Dymer)
The Collected Poems of C. S. Lewis (ed. Walter Hooper, 1994; includes Spirits in Bondage)

Wow! Thanks for taking the time to create such a comprehensive list!