The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C. S. Lewis – A Biography of the Narnia Author's Patterns of Thought and Faith

by Alan Jacobs

A journey into the imagination of C.S. Lewis explores the themes and life events that contributed to The Chronicles of Narnia, the most enduring classics of children’s literature C.S. Lewis was one of the intellectual giants of the 20th century and arguably the most influential Christian writer of his day. Yet among his poetry, literary history and criticism, novels and Christian apologetics stands a unique, delightfully imaginative children’s series called The Chronicles of Narnia, which have become enduring classics. Alan Jacobs takes this imaginary world of Narnia and uses the themes and stories found within to explore the imaginative life of C.S. Lewis. Not just a conventional, straightforward biography of Lewis, Jacobs instead seeks a more elusive an understanding of the way Lewis’s experiences, both direct and literary, formed themselves into patterns―themes that then shaped his thought and writings, especially the stories of Narnia.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Christian, Christianity, Biography Memoir, History, Audiobook

392 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2005

About the author

Alan Jacobs is a scholar of English literature, literary critic, and distinguished professor of the humanities at Baylor University. Previously, he held the Clyde S. Kilby Chair of English at Wheaton College until 2012. His academic career has been marked by a deep engagement with literature, theology, and intellectual history.
Jacobs has written extensively on reading, thinking, and culture, contributing to publications such as The Atlantic, First Things, and The New Atlantis. His books explore diverse topics, from the intellectual legacy of Christian humanism (The Year of Our Lord 1943) to the challenges of modern discourse (How to Think). He has also examined literary figures like C. S. Lewis (The Narnian) and W. H. Auden. His work often bridges literature and philosophy, with books such as A Theology of Reading: The Hermeneutics of Love reflecting on the ethical dimensions of interpretation.
An evangelical Anglican, Jacobs continues to influence discussions on faith, literature, and the role of reading in contemporary life.

Reviews

[Cindy Rollins · Rating 5 out of 5]

The single best book on Lewis I have ever read.
Not just the facts but Jacobs discusses all the things we all wonder about Lewis in our own minds. Of course, I cried at the end. Just like I always do.

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

A long and enjoyable romp through the life and ideas of Lewis. This book is not for the casual reader. It takes ages to get through and the writing is thick and circuitous (in a good way). But it is so much more than a biography: it explores the thoughts of Lewis. It's an exploration not only of his life, but his work. I don't know how else to describe it. This book is a magnificent journey, if you're willing to go on an adventure!

A wonderful Lewis biography right up there with McGrath's C. S. Lewis: A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet.

[Dan Glover · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this biography of Lewis and, in particular, of his imagination. I have praised it left, right and sideways, when people have asked me about it. So for the record, I wish to add my voice to the chorus of praises being sung about this book, and will not restate the many strengths of this book here. However, unlike many reviews I've heard or read, I cannot praise it without reserve. Epecially since its one glaring error finds its place between the covers of the same book that does such a good job of recognizing and describing something so central and foundational to Lewis man and mind , and which has largely been neglected by previous biographers: Lewis as last of the Old Western Men.

I was disappointed with Jacob's handling of Lewis's take on gender roles/relationships and his stance against modern feminism as found in his writings. In light of Jacob's excellent description of Lewis as an Old Western Man (something Lewis described himself as), it boggles the mind how Jacobs can see Lewis's opposition to the ordination of women, as well as certain other of his statements and treatments of the differences in gender roles (husband's headship in marriage as found in Mere Christianity) as something which Lewis would think differently on if he were alive today. Far from Lewis being the one confused and conflicted over his own thinking on this issue, it is clearly Jacobs who is confused and can't seem to see past his own buy-in to the feminist understanding of gender of his own day and culture. Also, for Jacobs to base Lewis's opposition to the ordination of women ministers in the church to Lewis's high church Anglican (or Anglo-catholic) view of the celebration of the Eucharist, where the minister represents Christ to the Bride (church) and to state that this is not the view of the vast majority of Protestants is misleading at best and irresponsible and dishonest scholarship at worst. While it is true that the majority of Protestants don't hold such a high view of the priest's function in the Eucharist (or don't agree that a minister of the gospel is infact a "priest" any more than the rest of the congregation), it is not correct to say that the majority of protestants don't share Lewis's perspective on the ordination of women and the role of the minister to represent Christ to the congregation in some fashion. In fact, Protestants have traditionally seen this as part of the minister's role, though not in precisely the same way as Roman Catholics, High Anglicans or Orthodox. They still have seen, however, that when a minister is in the pulpit or leading the congregation in worship, the minister must be male (along with all the other biblical qualifications) so as to maintain the imagery of Christ the husband speaking to his bride, the Church, through a masculine spokesman (some recent or contemporary low-church Anglicans who hold to this are John Stott, J.I. Packer, and J.C. Ryle). It is only recently that much of the Protestant church has abandoned this view. So historically speaking, Jacobs stands in the minority view, one which has capitulated to the pressures of modern secular feminism, and Lewis stands in the historical majority view, one which is still shared by Christians seeking to remain faithful to Scripture in its instruction of the functioning of the church. Jacobs seems to be the one who is confused on this issue and who projects his wishes that Lewis had made himself more palletable to the feminist scholars in whose circles Jacobs no doubt presently labours. This was not the glaring inconsistency and sectarian oddity in Lewis's otherwise "mere Christianity" which Jacobs thinks it is but was a faithful and consistent part of Lewis's make-up as an Old Western Man and a Christian committed to biblical faithfulness and the traditions of the church as handed down from the Apostles. Feminism in the church is largely a result of pure reason applied to a given issue separated from the "mythology" of the biblical narrative. No wonder Lewis, the man who couldn't be won to the faith through pure logical argument and reason, but had to come to see the beauty of the story, rejected what is simply a philosophical and psychological argument from reason, divorced from the plain text of Scripture and from the sweep of the story it is telling, which is a romance (in the old sense) that we experience in the narrative and that we act out in our functioning as the Church, the Bride of Christ, who is as yet in the care of the groomsmen and under-shepherds (ministers).

Let no one who has ever read the Lewis canon go on thinking that Lewis had a low view of women or viewed them as generally weaker than or inferior to men. I've seen more than one feminist author tear a strip off Lewis for what he says about Susan in The Last Battle (interested in boys and clothes and parties, perhaps not unlike the girlfriend in his short work, The Shoddy Lands). Yet those same feminists all fail to recognize that Lewis also consistently describes Lucy as the character with the most consistent, most constant and strongest faith of all the children who ever visited Narnia. Lewis clearly viewed his mother as his father’s spiritual superior and viewed his wife Joy as his equal intellectually and probably his superior in strength of faith and bravery in suffering. Far from misogynistic, in his writings Lewis displays a high, biblical and complementary view of women. But his high view of women is not an egalitarian view and that is something that feminists can’t stand, interpreting Lewis’s deference and chivalry toward women as condescending and patronizing. But to really understand what Lewis thought, one has to get inside his mind as an Old Western Man, not observe his actions and read his works through the grid of modern feminist egalitarianism.

Other than that inconsistency, this truly was a great book and I very highly recommend it. Were I to write a comprehensive review of the entire book, this critique would be only a small part of the whole. However, as I haven't seen anyone else take Jacobs to task on this one flaw in his otherwise great biography, I squeaked up. But I do hope someone who is someone takes Jacobs to task on this point. If it hadn't been for this glaring inconsistency in this otherwise great book, I would have given it 5 stars (six, if it was an option). As it was, I barely convinced myself to give it 4 but someone has to.

[ladydusk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started this a number of years ago. Got into a reading slump and DNF. Picked it back up this week on audio and powered through because I was enjoying it so much.

Familiarity with CSL's catalog is really helpful.

[ValeReads Kyriosity · Rating 5 out of 5]

Splendid. I feel I know Lewis a thousand times better after listening to The Narnian. I am especially grateful for audiobooks that are read by the author, as I can trust that the text is being faithfully expressed.

Just one small peeve about the formatting: the tracks ran entirely too long for an audio book. Get distracted for a moment and want to listen to some last little bit, and you might have to go back 5 or 10 minutes to catch it again. So one could spend an entire commute and not actually hear any more of the book than you'd heard before. Audio book tracks should be no longer than three minutes.

[Skrivena stranica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know. I can't say that I like this book. This book tried to make this story about Lewis's life and his writing as interwoven fabric which somehow didn't work for me. I also don't feel like this was written by someone who understood Lewis enough. Also, some chapters would start with this approach of interwoven life and writing and somehow turn to some completely separate themes. Also, sudden jumping in of an author in some moments was completely uncalled for and pulled me out from reading. It's ok, but far from all the good books and papers on Lewis and his writing.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read a lot about Lewis starting with my philosophy class about Lewis’s life and work in college, so I have read at least two other biographies of Lewis. This one was unique in that it was as much about Lewis’s mind and intellect as it was about his life. This was a perfect time for me to read it because I know so much more about twentieth century England and Oxford and the intellectual milieu of the time than I ever have before. Jacobs does an excellent job of exploring all that in depth while also focusing on what made Lewis unique: his Christian faith, his commitment to imagination, and his delight in old books. (There is a funny passage about how much Lewis hated T.S. Eliot and his early work. Apparently Lewis had no idea until later that Eliot had become a Christian and that their lives had many striking parallels.)

As Jacobs traces Lewis’s intellectual development, he also shows how Lewis’s ideas manifest in the Narnia books and how consistent Lewis’s books are in theme even though he wrote in so many different genres. I think my only disappointment in the biography was that I was expecting more in-depth exploration of Lewis’s actual writing of the Narnia books and Jacobs’ commentary on the content of Narnia. As I mentioned before, it was laced through the whole book instead of being concentrated in one chapter.

Honestly, it’s amazing Lewis wrote anything and yet he was prolific. He was extraordinarily busy, wrote gazillions of letters, held a rigorous day job, and was increasingly sought after as he became more and more famous. He also seems to have been a man with an extraordinary capacity for human connection and friendship. I was delighted to see Dorothy Sayers’ name pop up several times as a person he regularly corresponded with.

When Jacobs describes Joy’s death and later Lewis’s death, I teared up both times. They both lived lives of such vivacity, such intellectual rigor, such delight in life itself. Even after a third biography of Lewis, I’m not at all tired with him. Bring on all the Lewis content!

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Chronicles are among my favorite books ever, and I happily reread them all every few years. I took up this biography to learn more about how C. S. Lewis came to create his marvelous stories. But although the book bills itself as a biography of the man's intellectual and creative development, what I find most important and fascinating about that development--just why Lewis became a Christian so relatively late in life, after being an avowed atheist, and how he conceived the Chronicles--remain shrouded in mystery even after about 300 pages. There is much discussion of the themes of Lewis's work, including the religious and mythical underpinnings of Narnia. But I don't want someone to interpret Narnia to me; I want to know where it came from. And with a few exceptions (some of them in the book's introductory pages, where they might promise more depth to come), Jacobs glosses over how Lewis wrote the Chronicles. Indeed all of the books' incredibly rapidfire emergence from Lewis's prolific pen is covered in about a page. This book is a better fit for a reader interested in religious criticism and the culture of Oxford after World War I. Fans of J.R.R. Tolkein, though, will find much to enjoy in Jacobs's detailing of how the friendship between Tolkein and Lewis first blossomed as Lewis discovered both his Christian faith and his writing voice, then strained and soured as Lewis became a more outspoken advocate of Christianity and a more well-known writer. Moreover, Lewis's patchwork of allusions to different myths (Father Christmas and the White Witch and Bacchus in the same story? why not, according to Lewis) offended and irritated the purist Tolkein.

[Sue Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Undone! More than just the life of Lewis, I feel I received an education in history and literature after finishing this book. I love how the Lord called this “reluctant convert” to faith after showing him the thread of Truth that all of his “Old Books” shared. The weaving of Chesterton and Tolkien and Macdonald and even Kenneth Grahame and Wodehouse made me in awe of Him who made man in His image...using writers and thinkers to proclaim the greatest Story of all in their own imaginative ways. Lewis has become a dear friend, as the past 6 months my mind has been marinating in his books. What impresses me is that, as this biographer agrees, Lewis wasn’t intentionally didactic in his writing. But what started with the image of a white witch or a fawn carrying a package in the snow, revealed a treasure trove of truth stored up in his heart, spilling over onto his pages...so that ordinary people and readers far less cultured than he, could see the realness of what it means to be laid hold of by Christ. And this relationship with a Savior being far more interesting and adventurous than any fairytale or science fiction story could depict. I closed the book in tears, thanking God for drawing me closer to this friend over the past months and being able to enjoy the fruits of a heart and mind held captive to Christ for many more years to come.

[Sharon Weinschreider · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing biography of Lewis! Loving but realistic and so well written. The ending brought me to tears.

[Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

I probably would have enjoyed this book more if I hadn’t reveled in Volume 2 of C.S. Lewis’ personal letters for most of last year. I loved those glimpses into Lewis’ writing, reading, and friendships “straight from the source” so it was hard at times to read Jacobs’ opinions about Lewis that didn’t match up to the man I’d created in my mind from the letters. (His overemphasis on Lewis’ supposed sexism is one example. He berates Lewis for not supporting women in ministry in his book Mere Christianity simply ignoring the fact that Lewis wrote the book to emphasize what the church had agreed upon for centuries, which definitely did not include women clergy.)

He assumes a lot about Lewis and Mrs. Moore. And also, about Lewis and Joy Gresham. (You may remember he married Joy in 1956 in order to enable her and her sons to stay in England.) Jacobs declares, “Lewis denied that at this point he had any erotic or romantic feelings for Joy, and Green and Hooper, dutiful biographers that they are, take his word for it. This seems crazy to me.” He goes on to describe Lewis as “an American divorcee’s sugar daddy,” which was clever, but unkind.

I didn't dislike the book as much as it seems. In fact I underlined quite a bit of it. But the tone of Jacob’s criticisms kept me from loving it.

[Kay Pelham · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for any bio of Lewis, especially ones as thoughtful and honest as this one.

[Barry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be my new favorite CSL biography, although the Alister McGrath one is pretty great too. Both them concentrate on CSL’s writing and thinking rather than the boring quotidian details that appear in many biographies. Jacobs, obviously an insightful thinker and clear writer himself, demonstrates a deep understanding of CSL’s ideas and here does an extraordinary job of revealing the most fascinating aspects of Lewis’s life.

One story which was new to me was about Kenneth Tynan. Jacobs tells it in the afterword. Tynan, before he became a famous critic, essayist, screenwriter, and dramatist, was a student at Oxford, and his tutor was CS Lewis. Tynan was captivated by CSL’s vision of the world, and was deeply affected by this man who showed him such kindness during at least two significant life crises, later recalling that, “As I listened to him, my problems began to dwindle to their proper proportions; I had entered the room suicidal, and I left it exhilarated.”

“But in the last decade of his life he would return again and again to Lewis‘s writings, and the tone in which he speaks of them suggests not a mind convinced by argument but a spirit deeply attracted by a vision of the life that is best for people to live. ‘How thrilling he makes goodness seem – how tangible and radiant!’
[…]
“What matters in all this is that CSL presents to Tynan an imaginative picture of goodness and love to which he is consistently drawn — even when the arguments do not convince him…But his real power was not proof; it was depiction. There lived in his writings a Christian universe that could be both thought and felt, in which he was at home and in which he made his reader at home.”

Years later, when Tynan died, his daughter read this CSL passage at his funeral:
“The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. These things – the beauty, the memory of our own past – are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself, they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshipers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.”

[Susy C. *MotherLambReads* · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahmazing!
Exactly what I was wanting to read to deep dive into CS Lewis and his life.
So so many backstories and background information about CS Lewis and so many of his works. What a legacy he leaves behind seems trite to say. We lost him way to early, but I'm so glad all his works live on. Really want to dig into him more this year!

I never finished Becoming Mrs. Lewis by P. Callahan and I was pleasantly surprised to see that this book addressed so much of this topic.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't tell you what a tour de force this book on Lewis is. You may have read other biographies on Lewis (by A.N. Wilson or Walter Hooper, for instance), but Jacobs masterfully blends not just readable, engaging narrative of Lewis's life, but also cultural and literary critique of his works as well. You'll learn about Lewis's early embrace of atheism, be given insights into his career as an Oxford don, anecdotes concerning his collaborative work with the other Inklings, and his powerful, short-lived marriage to Joy. Jacobs excels in building and fleshing out the arc of Lewis's life and imagination, beautifully illuminating (through telling quotes from Lewis's voluminous letter-writing and his works of fiction and apologetic) the man's mind and overriding concerns. The concluding sections on Joy's cancer and Lewis's own death a few years later were deeply moving. You'll certainly want to go back and read so many of these works that Jacobs references. I'm teaching a new college course on the works of George MacDonald, G.K. Chesterton, Charles Williams, Lewis, and Tolkien and this book will be indispensable for me. Highly recommended!

[Joseph Leake]

Maybe the best Lewis biography I've read; certainly the most penetratingly insightful and perspicacious when it comes to the connections between Lewis' life, imagination, writings, and worldview. In the same high class (though they are different kinds of books in various respects) as Tom Shippey's Road to Middle-earth on Tolkien.

[Joanna Jennings · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this biography of Lewis!! Alan Jacobs is fun to listen to; his insights are so well-thought out and balanced. Lewis is such an interesting character; he has been called the last great Christian intellectual or something like that. His work in apologetics interests me, his relationships with Tolkien and Joy perplex me, and his books always challenge me. 🤓

[Cara Putman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a wonderful audiobook. It blended the history of his life with the weeving of his writing. This biography doesn’t agree with other biographers and it makes for a richer story and the point counterpoint. I placed a mini bookmarks in this audiobook. Well worth the time.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a pleasure to learn more about CS Lewis and his life, and to hear the background behind so many of his works that I know and love. My only wish is that I would have liked to hear more about his writing of the Narnia stories explicitly, which was mentioned but not emphasized any more than any other works. That said, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jacobs is never afraid to sanely deal with issues other biographers have quibbled over; he interweaves the life with the imagination in a wonderful way, never trying to prove more than can be proved but always coming to sound conclusions; and he dialogues with his reader in a way that some biographers might not think was the done thing, but which gives us insight into Jacobs’ own thinking.

The basic ‘facts’ of Lewis’ life are by now well-known: he was a confirmed atheist until his late twenties; he discovered the reality of God but took some time to grasp it; he was always an extraordinarily prolific writer but even more so in the midst of his teaching duties at Oxford (and later Cambridge); he had an unusual relationship with Mrs Moore, a woman old enough to be his mother; and, late in life, after she died, he finally found the love of his life with Joy Davidson, who then died herself not long after their marriage.
He produced a crop of successful books (many of them Christian apologetics for the man in the street), the wondrous Narnia stories, three fantasy novels and the intriguing Till We Have Faces. But he was also highly regarded in his time for his work in English Literature: two of his books, The Allegory of Love and English Literature in the Sixteenth Century, are classics of their kind.

Jacobs is an Anglican, and a Professor of English at Wheaton College, which makes him well able to appreciate both Lewis’ Christianity and his love of literature. It’s likely, in fact, that any Professor of English would appreciate a man like Lewis, who, in preparation for work on his book on English literature, read every single sixteenth-century book in the Duke Humfrey's Library, the oldest part of Oxford's great Bodleian Library.

Jacobs is good at delineating the relationships between the various people in Lewis’ life: the tensions between Lewis and the closest members of his family (his father and brother - his mother died when he was young); his friendships with other writers and the men who formed the ‘Inklings;’ his long-suffering care of Mrs Moore and her daughter, who both lived with Lewis for many years, and, as his popularity grew, the vast army of people who wrote to him for advice, comfort and friendship.

Though Lewis lived as a true disciple of Christ he struggled in the same way any Christian does, with ethical matters, with crises of faith, with pride, and with loving those who didn't necessarily love in return. Though he was a superb apologist, he could still dig himself into a hole; though he was widely regarded as an excellent teacher, he hated some aspects of the job.

There must now be at least a good half-dozen biographies of Lewis out there (including A N Wilson’s often wrong-headed one), but for me this is by far the pick of the crop.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hodge podge and mish-mash account of Lewis' life. Some parts are thorough, like his account of Lewis and the war. However other parts, such as his relationship to Tolkien, feel more like commentary after the fact. I wanted it to be either or story (covering the major events) or analysis of important themes with connection to events. Jacobs cannot decide which he wants to do.

Speaking of which, sometimes Jacobs irritates me with annoying comments on Lewis' 'sexism' and his critics of Lewis' works. I have heard Alan Jacobs speak and he's very thoughtful in person, but he had no business going some places in this book.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well done. Jacobs did his homework, and expands and explains much that Lewis only hinted at in Surprised by Joy.

Thoughtful passages on Lewis' last decade as he settled into professorship at Cambridge so long denied him by Oxford and came to deal with his own obsolescence, not to mention mortality.

[Kerianne Noel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book by Alan Jacobs is the first biography about Lewis that I have read and so while I am familiar with much of Lewis’s writing, the man called “Jack” by his friends was very much an enigma to me aside from some of the better known anecdotes such as his friendship with Tolkien and the Inklings. Alan Jacobs did a wonderful job bringing Lewis to life in all his complexity - tracing not just the major events and players in his life but also the evolution of his ideas and how those influenced Lewis’s own writing. In a way, the testimony of Lewis’s life felt more convicting than what I have read of his apologetics. As Jacobs observed, mere words often fail because “they are a translation into the dispassionate language of argument of something that resides far deeper in the caverns of volition, of commitment.” Lewis’s life, while not perfect, and in fact often marked by great suffering and disappointments, is a testimony to this deeper commitment. All that is to say that this book, like most things I’ve read by Jacobs, is wonderful and should be read by everyone.

[AmyRose · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good bio of Lewis, though McGrath's is still my favorite. Full of quotations from Lewis's books/letters, and interacts with alot of the literature about Lewis. I listened on audio and wished for a different narrator, but perhaps that's too picky. Solid book overall.

[Mariah Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This 👏🏽 book 👏🏽 was 👏🏽 excellent.

{I listened to this on audio, following along with the book in my hands, and I was thrown because he skips sections (sentences, paragraphs, sometimes pages at a time) and I had to pause to read what was skipped. So if you just listen to the audio, beware you’re not getting the full book.}

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

A look into the Literary and personal life of C.S. Lewis. Some information I knew from reading Lewis’s “Surprised by Joy”. I enjoyed hearing more about his relationship with Warnie, I didn’t realize how much his brother actually helped him. I read this for the Lit Life reading challenge for the category of ‘A Literary Biography’.

[Anna Zehr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alan Jacobs offers an honest telling of details of Lewis's life, creating a clearer picture of his motivations and inner life than I have received from other biographies about him.

[Tim S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read/listen of the life of Lewis! More in-depth than other bios and information I've read and heard about him previously

[D'Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Praising God for the Life of CS Lewis!

It started slow and ended in tears. I didn’t want to let Lewis go. How blessed we are to have had his brilliant mind and voracious work ethic.
This book tells Lewis’ story - you won’t be able to put it down. And, have tissues ready as you finish.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whoever you think C.S. Lewis was, you are probably wrong, at least in part. This is a really fascinating back-story on how Jack Lewis got from son of an alcoholic, emotionally obtuse father to professor at caimbridge, Oxford and author of many novels and works of scholarship, indluding the Narnia series. Did you know he had a whipping fetish when he was young? It's true! His relationship with the mother of a dear friend he lost in the war was also something I had never fully understood. He clearly had a complicated relationship with women. But he also possessed an unquenchable search for truth and beauty and joy and and unfailing sense of kindness. I came away from this book admiring him for all his strengths and flaws and, frankly, a better handle on the world. I kinda want to be just like him in some ways. I'm also resolved to read "'til we have faces" one more time, because I clearly didn't get it the first time. Highly recommended.

As a side note: I wonder if it will be possible to write this biography in the future. We know so much about Lewis because he and all his friends and family communicated regularly by letter and kept comprehensive journals. One wonders how they got anything done at all with all the writing they were doing. I have a hard time believing we'll be able to piece as complete a picture together in 100 years from email conversations.