What do you think?
Rate this book
The Timeless Writings of C S Lewis: The Pilgrim's Regress / Christian Reflections / God in the Dock (The Family Christian Library)
The Timeless Writings of C.S. Lewis includes The Pilgrim's Regress, Christian Reflections, and God in the Dock.
537 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1994
36 people are currently reading
715 people want to read
About the author
C.S. Lewis
796 books47.3k followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Clive Staples Lewis was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably one of the most influential writers of his day. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English Literature at Oxford University until 1954. He was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement. He wrote more than thirty books, allowing him to reach a vast audience, and his works continue to attract thousands of new readers every year. His most distinguished and popular accomplishments include Mere Christianity, Out of the Silent Planet, The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, and the universally acknowledged classics The Chronicles of Narnia. To date, the Narnia books have sold over 100 million copies and been transformed into three major motion pictures.
Lewis was married to poet Joy Davidman.
W.H. Lewis was his elder brother]
Clive Staples Lewis was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably one of the most influential writers of his day. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English Literature at Oxford University until 1954. He was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement. He wrote more than thirty books, allowing him to reach a vast audience, and his works continue to attract thousands of new readers every year. His most distinguished and popular accomplishments include Mere Christianity, Out of the Silent Planet, The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, and the universally acknowledged classics The Chronicles of Narnia. To date, the Narnia books have sold over 100 million copies and been transformed into three major motion pictures.
Lewis was married to poet Joy Davidman.
W.H. Lewis was his elder brother]
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 27, 2012
This book is a three-in-one volume of Lewis writings. The first, Pilgrim's Regress was written in the early 1930s, the second two are collections of his shorter works published after his death in 1963. How to review them? Separately, of course.
Pilgrim's Regress is an allegory, which I generally avoid. It was also Lewis' first fiction work, so I expected it to be poor. In fact, in an afterword written ten years later, Lewis accuses himself of being obtuse and bitter. He was certainly obtuse. If the reader is not conversant in Latin, Greek and French, many of the tossed in phrases will be--well--Greek. That notwithstanding, the book had surprising depth and relevance--much more than Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress written several hundred years before. Worth reading, but not easy going. (January 5, 2012)
Christian Reflections are a series of Lewis addresses and essays published posthumously. They are not his best writings, though some include insights to his character and wit not found elsewhere. Unfortunately, Lewis' prose is much as you'd expect of one who spent his whole life in academia and was a the peak of "his game." His faults include long, complex sentences, liberal quotes from Latin and Greek, and literary allusions which are opaque to twenty-first century readers. Some articles made my head hurt. I feel bad to suggest that all but the much serious Lewis reader skip these. There's gold in this ore, but it's hard rock mining. (January 9, 2012)
God in the Dock is another compendium of speeches, essays and letters. While better footnoted, they suffer from appearing to be the sweepings of all the remaining works which his literary executors could find. A lot of duplication. In some cases a single work would have served better than several variations of a theme. (January 26, 2012)
Pilgrim's Regress is an allegory, which I generally avoid. It was also Lewis' first fiction work, so I expected it to be poor. In fact, in an afterword written ten years later, Lewis accuses himself of being obtuse and bitter. He was certainly obtuse. If the reader is not conversant in Latin, Greek and French, many of the tossed in phrases will be--well--Greek. That notwithstanding, the book had surprising depth and relevance--much more than Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress written several hundred years before. Worth reading, but not easy going. (January 5, 2012)
Christian Reflections are a series of Lewis addresses and essays published posthumously. They are not his best writings, though some include insights to his character and wit not found elsewhere. Unfortunately, Lewis' prose is much as you'd expect of one who spent his whole life in academia and was a the peak of "his game." His faults include long, complex sentences, liberal quotes from Latin and Greek, and literary allusions which are opaque to twenty-first century readers. Some articles made my head hurt. I feel bad to suggest that all but the much serious Lewis reader skip these. There's gold in this ore, but it's hard rock mining. (January 9, 2012)
God in the Dock is another compendium of speeches, essays and letters. While better footnoted, they suffer from appearing to be the sweepings of all the remaining works which his literary executors could find. A lot of duplication. In some cases a single work would have served better than several variations of a theme. (January 26, 2012)
September 30, 2013
This review is for the fiction section only as I have reserved my Goodreads account for that purpose since I am a fiction writer.
The first book of the three is The Pilgrim's Regress, a play on words of The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. Like The Pilgrim's Progress, it is an allegory that endeavors to present a defense for Christianity, reason, and romanticism.
The main character in the book is John who early in his life is presented with a basic understanding of the Rules and the Landlord. It is also at this time that he has a vision of the Island which drives him for the rest of the book to leave home and find it. On his journey, he encounters a cast of characters, Mr. Enlightenment, Mr. Halfway, Mr. Sensible, and a major supporting character named Vertue. The land is filled with cities of people that are quirky and downright weird like Claptrap and Eschropolis.
The book starts off well but then slowly mires itself in recondite prose that seems to end up no where many times. One of the main problems in this book is the obscurity of the symbols. They are buried in their symbolism so deep that they tend to blur the story. The overall presentation is so abstract that you have to re-read sections in order to see where he's going and if there's an actual destination.
In addition, he should have tackled just one subject as did Bunyan. Two at the most. By trying to do all three, the content ends up fading into one another and you're not quite sure which of the three He's addressing. This problem is further compounded by the fact he peppers it in far to many places with Latin and Greek, which just bogs down the reading because you have to stop to go see what the phrase means, or you don't but the flow of the prose is jarred as your mind tries to wrap itself around the meaning, even if it is brief.
I agree with Lewis' own assessment of the book which he wrote in an afterward of it:
On re-reading this book ten years after I wrote it, I find its chief faults to be those two which I myself least easily forgive in the
books of other men: needless obscurity and an uncharitable temper.
I like Lewis. A lot. I've read his Narnia Chronicles and they were good overall, some better than others. The Pilgrim's Regress seems that it's trying too hard to be deep and by doing so ends up being shallow and confusing. Mr. Lewis has done better.
The first book of the three is The Pilgrim's Regress, a play on words of The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. Like The Pilgrim's Progress, it is an allegory that endeavors to present a defense for Christianity, reason, and romanticism.
The main character in the book is John who early in his life is presented with a basic understanding of the Rules and the Landlord. It is also at this time that he has a vision of the Island which drives him for the rest of the book to leave home and find it. On his journey, he encounters a cast of characters, Mr. Enlightenment, Mr. Halfway, Mr. Sensible, and a major supporting character named Vertue. The land is filled with cities of people that are quirky and downright weird like Claptrap and Eschropolis.
The book starts off well but then slowly mires itself in recondite prose that seems to end up no where many times. One of the main problems in this book is the obscurity of the symbols. They are buried in their symbolism so deep that they tend to blur the story. The overall presentation is so abstract that you have to re-read sections in order to see where he's going and if there's an actual destination.
In addition, he should have tackled just one subject as did Bunyan. Two at the most. By trying to do all three, the content ends up fading into one another and you're not quite sure which of the three He's addressing. This problem is further compounded by the fact he peppers it in far to many places with Latin and Greek, which just bogs down the reading because you have to stop to go see what the phrase means, or you don't but the flow of the prose is jarred as your mind tries to wrap itself around the meaning, even if it is brief.
I agree with Lewis' own assessment of the book which he wrote in an afterward of it:
On re-reading this book ten years after I wrote it, I find its chief faults to be those two which I myself least easily forgive in the
books of other men: needless obscurity and an uncharitable temper.
I like Lewis. A lot. I've read his Narnia Chronicles and they were good overall, some better than others. The Pilgrim's Regress seems that it's trying too hard to be deep and by doing so ends up being shallow and confusing. Mr. Lewis has done better.
December 3, 2018
This review is only for Pilgrim's Regress.
I immediately recognized Michael Hague's illustrations. Although they seemed to me "early" Michael Hague. Great background, but the faces weren't up to his normal excellent stuff.
This allegorical journey written in 1933 was intended to be an updated Pilgrim's Progress. It was a hard read that was sometimes rewarding. It would have beenhighly difficult nigh impossible without notes from the Lewisiana blog which translated the Latin and Greek phrases and explained allusions. Large dollops of philosophy. I was reminded of something I don't like in my reading (I also feel this in some of N.D. Wilson's writings): knowing there is a hidden meaning in there, while you stand outside in the dark failing to see through the gauzy curtains. FOMO, indeed.
I think this book was good training ground for the (much-improved) Narnian chronicles. I'm picking up motifs that wander through CSL's writings. In this book, the yearning and longing that saturates young John seems in concert with what Lewis writes about in his autobiography.
Random notes from my reading:
Groups of people: The Clevers, the Cruels, the Halfways
The City of Claptrap: from the notes - a word coined in the 18th c. to denote fashionable nonsense, contrived to elicit applause
Lewis's writing is timeless, yes? Listen to this.
Embarking on a C.S. Lewis Reading Project, I anticipated that some of his academic titles would be a challenge. I did not reckon the difficulties I would have with his early writing. I'm glad I stuck with it to the end.
I immediately recognized Michael Hague's illustrations. Although they seemed to me "early" Michael Hague. Great background, but the faces weren't up to his normal excellent stuff.
This allegorical journey written in 1933 was intended to be an updated Pilgrim's Progress. It was a hard read that was sometimes rewarding. It would have been
I think this book was good training ground for the (much-improved) Narnian chronicles. I'm picking up motifs that wander through CSL's writings. In this book, the yearning and longing that saturates young John seems in concert with what Lewis writes about in his autobiography.
Random notes from my reading:
Groups of people: The Clevers, the Cruels, the Halfways
The City of Claptrap: from the notes - a word coined in the 18th c. to denote fashionable nonsense, contrived to elicit applause
Lewis's writing is timeless, yes? Listen to this.
In a country where all the food is more or less poisoned — but some of it very much less than more — you need very complicated rules indeed to keep healthy.
Embarking on a C.S. Lewis Reading Project, I anticipated that some of his academic titles would be a challenge. I did not reckon the difficulties I would have with his early writing. I'm glad I stuck with it to the end.
January 18, 2011
Another classic from one of the foundational Christian apologetics of our time.
October 3, 2017
Of all the C. S. Lewis I've read I found this collection the least inspiring. The Pilgrim's Regress was thought-provoking, but I found Christian Reflections difficult to wade through and God in the Dock containing such diverse matter that it didn't alight. That said, I still enjoyed it and liked to see thoughts perhaps in earlier stages than their fuller treatment in later works. Good, but not as good as others.
October 28, 2023
At first I merely wanted to read "God In the Dock", but I was sucked in by "Pilgrim's Regress" and spent a month chugging through this brick of a book.
It is the mark of a true classic when it is as fresh and relevant today as it was when it was written. For essays going on 80 or 90 years old, I have found much to review and reference. I might need to buy a copy.
It is the mark of a true classic when it is as fresh and relevant today as it was when it was written. For essays going on 80 or 90 years old, I have found much to review and reference. I might need to buy a copy.
December 10, 2023
Took me far too long to get through, but lots of interesting thoughts in here. I do like Lewis' style, although it always highlights the gaps in my education.
November 28, 2022
Really awesome.
Read
November 10, 2012If man was really supposed to find a rational truth, Lewis seems to have come pretty far. He found something after thinking it all out. This book is a collection of an allegory and two sets of essays. The essays are short and sharp and the Pelgrims Regress story is both bizar and eloquent. The biggest shock comes right in the first part:
When he [as a young boy] looked round he saw what he had never expected, yet he was not surprised. There in the grass beside him sat a laughing brown girl of about his own age, and she had no clothes on.
'It was me you wanted,' said the brown girl. 'I am better than your silly Islands.' And John rose and caught her, all in haste, and committed fornification with her in the wood.
It might be one of those elements of the story about Lewis states this in the Afterword to Third Edition:
On re-reading this book ten years after I wrote it, I find its chief faults to be those two which I myself least easily forgive in the books of other men: needless obscurity, and an uncharitable temper.
One final citation, which is one of the highlighes I remember from the first read, from the ninth part deals with storytelling itself:
And what the others saw I do not know: but John saw the Island. [...] But for John, because so many thousands looked at it with him, the pain and the longing were changed and all unlike what they had been of old: for humility was mixed with their wildness, and the sweetness came not with pride and with the lonely dreams of poets nor with the glamour of a secret, but with the homespun truth of folk-tales, and with the sadness of graves and freshness of earth in the morning. There was fear in it also, and hope: and it began to seem well to him that the Island should be different from his desires, and so different that, if he had known it, he would not have sought it.
When he [as a young boy] looked round he saw what he had never expected, yet he was not surprised. There in the grass beside him sat a laughing brown girl of about his own age, and she had no clothes on.
'It was me you wanted,' said the brown girl. 'I am better than your silly Islands.' And John rose and caught her, all in haste, and committed fornification with her in the wood.
It might be one of those elements of the story about Lewis states this in the Afterword to Third Edition:
On re-reading this book ten years after I wrote it, I find its chief faults to be those two which I myself least easily forgive in the books of other men: needless obscurity, and an uncharitable temper.
One final citation, which is one of the highlighes I remember from the first read, from the ninth part deals with storytelling itself:
And what the others saw I do not know: but John saw the Island. [...] But for John, because so many thousands looked at it with him, the pain and the longing were changed and all unlike what they had been of old: for humility was mixed with their wildness, and the sweetness came not with pride and with the lonely dreams of poets nor with the glamour of a secret, but with the homespun truth of folk-tales, and with the sadness of graves and freshness of earth in the morning. There was fear in it also, and hope: and it began to seem well to him that the Island should be different from his desires, and so different that, if he had known it, he would not have sought it.
Read
February 18, 2021It appeared to me ... that if a man diligently followed the desire, pursuing the false objects until their falsity appeared and then resolutely abandoning them, he must come out at last into the clear knowledge that the human soul was made to enjoy some object that is never fully given ... in our present mode ... I knew only too well how easily the longing accepts false objects and through what dark ways the pursuit of them leads us: but I also saw that the Desire itself contains the corrective of all these errors. The only fatal error was to pretend that you had passed from desire to fruition, when, in reality, you had found either nothing, or desire itself, or the satisfaction of some different desire. The dialectic of Desire, faithfully followed, would retrieve all mistakes, head you off from all false paths, and force you not to propound, but to live through, a sort of ontological proof
(Lewis, The Pilgrim’s Regress, 10).
(Lewis, The Pilgrim’s Regress, 10).
April 8, 2008
The volume contains numerous essays published as part of compilations that go by different titles in the U.S. It also includes Pilgrim's Regress, one of C.S. Lewis's lesser novels, an allegory that is a play on Pilgrim's Progress. It's a nice companion tome to most of your standard "collected works," which will have the better known books.
August 9, 2011
This collection of works written by C.S. Lewis is a treasure trove to anyone interested in gaining a deeper understanding of his thoughts on Christianity, or who want a broader perspective of his viewpoint of the world around him. I was amazed at how relevant his works remain to us today and the precision to which he addresses moral and social issues we are still discussing.
August 4, 2013
I tried to finish this book. CSLewis became profoundly deep in his writing that I felt I needed a scholars degree to comprehend it. I did not finish but half and decided to give my brain freedom from such back and forth mind boggling debates. I would never have wanted to be in the brain thoughts of CSLewis.
3 stars
3 stars
December 17, 2008
C.S. Lewis is one of my favorite authors. His ability to communicate immense concepts in a logical concise way has allowed me to understand religion and faith on a deeper level.
Currently reading
August 5, 2008I love how straight-forward he is about religion. It's refreshing to see someone not afraid of what he believes.
April 17, 2013
I love C.S. Lewis but the allegory Pilgrim's Regress was a bit heavy.
April 11, 2016
This was a very good collection. I always have to go slowly through Lewis' works.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews