C.S. Lewis's fabled Screwtape Letters have been on my list a long time, and now I get to talk about 'em.
For me, talking about The Screwtape Letters is problematic. See, I love a good story - a meaty narrative I can sink my teeth into. At the same time, I like to go through a LOT of stories in a short space of time - probably why I prefer comics and poetry to other forms of storytelling.
Of course The Screwtape Letters aren't ABOUT the story. Yes, there are a couple of different plot threads - there's Uncle Screwtape's agenda against his nephew Wormwood, Wormwood's attempted corruption of the unnamed young man, and the young man's courtship, war service, and eventual death...
...um, spoiler alert. I guess.
No, The Screwtape Letters are REALLY a sermon in disguise (we are talking about C.S. Lewis, after all). It takes a bit of decoding to get to the theological core of the message, since the letters are all written from "the wrong side" - of the Atlantic!
ZING!!!
Still, I read The Screwtape Letters and felt enlightened - and that's without taking the hours of meditation and introspection that material of this nature demands. I found myself rethinking the language I use, the company I keep, the very thoughts I occupy my idle time with.
So, yeah, reading this book caused me a lot of grief. But I suppose you can count that a success.
2 comments:
The book definitely makes you stop and think.
however I think I've pretty much come to terms with myself and religion so I didn't really dwell to much on changing my lifestyle...so I pretty much continue with all the "sins" I already know I'm committing.
By the way, I can probably return this book to you now. Thanks for the loan!
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