Present Concerns: Journalistic Essays

by C.S. Lewis

A repackaged edition of the revered author’s essays in which he deliberates on contemporary issues, from the moral to the spiritual to the practical.

C. S. Lewis—the great British writer, scholar, lay theologian, broadcaster, Christian apologist, and bestselling author of Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, The Chronicles of Narnia, and many other beloved classics—was one of the foremost religious philosophers of the twentieth century; a thinker whose far-reaching influence on Christianity continues to be felt today.

Demonstrating Lewis’s wide range of interests, Present Concerns includes nineteen essays that reveal his thoughts about democratic values, threats to educational and spiritual fulfillment, literary censorship, and other timely topics, offering invaluable wisdom for our own times.

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Christian, Christianity, Theology, Religion

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Librarian 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]

Reviews

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good collection of essays published in a variety of journals and newspapers between 1940 and 1962. Interesting to read Lewis being topical, especially in the first several essays, which were written in the shifting context of World War II.

The wartime essays caution especially against the dangers of democracy and envy, and against the potential of wartime powers being continued and abused after the crisis had passed. Notable among them is “On Living in an Atomic Age,” in which Lewis considers what new dangers the Bomb presents to mankind (short version: none, really). Several other essays touch on literary matters like propriety, priggery, censorship, and obscenity.

Perhaps my favorites: “The Necessity of Chivalry,” which opens a running theme of the need for strong, shared, unwritten codes of conduct, and “Talking About Bicycles,” a fun dialogue that proposes four “ages of man” that can broadly apply to our experiences of everything.

Several interesting but oblique references to Lewis’s own experiences as a frontline soldier in World War I are also noteworthy.

Recommended.

(NB: the new [2017] Harper edition I read is nicely bound and printed on deckle edged paper, which makes a lovely impression but is impossible to flip through. A pet peeve.)

[Christine Norvell · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorites in this collection remain "On Living in an Atomic Age" and for its succinct depth "Modern Man and His Categories of Thought."

[Sunshine Rodgers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another amazing book by C.S. Lewis! What I appreciate about "Present Concerns" is hearing Lewis' thoughts on education, philosophy, work classes, equality and of course, religion and he addresses some "hot button" issues to his day (and ours!). Each chapter is short, each one is an essay Lewis has written, so I thought for that reason, this book is easy and quite enjoyable to read. I like learning more about Lewis' childhood and background and in the chapter "My First School", Lewis talks about his upbringing, granted he shared some injustices and personal difficulties with the school he attended as a child. So sorry, Lewis! I love his chapter on "Is English Doomed?" It reminds me of present day... when we don't type out our thoughts, but just use emojis or acronyms as a way to speak. That chapter was definitely a present concern. My favorite essay is "Hedonics" where Lewis writes about the fantasy and majesty of life....as he was riding a train. Wow! His essay, "On Living in an Atomic Age" reminds me of the COVID virus, as he talks about handling life through an uncertain and possible deadly time (in his case, he talked about the fear of the atomic bomb). I could certainly go on and on, but I will stop here. I think for those who love Lewis and love hearing his thoughts on matters existent then and existent now, then you will love reading his essays in "Present Concerns."

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A potential reader might legitimately ask how "present" concerns expressed by C. S. Lewis fifty to sixty years ago might be. These concerns are quite current. In fact, twenty-first century readers might be surprised at the relevancy of Lewis's thoughts on literature, education, and censorship.

Three essays--"Equality, "Talking about Bicycles" and "Living in the Atomic Age"--are worth the price of the book alone. (Spoiler warning: the latter are not about what the title suggests.)

A slim volume but full of timely thought.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading a collection of Lewis essays is like visiting a house with many rooms. The living room for light banter, the dining room for a hearty meal, the study for serious work, the den for deep reflection. Then there is the attic. It's dimly lit and an absolute jumble. To Lewis everything is in perfect order but to us visitors, there's no way to make sense of it. It's part of the experience though. It gives the house its character.

[Elijah Lamb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three Kinds of Men, Modern Man and His Category of Thought, and On Living in an Atomic Age are all epic essays

[Manuel Alfonseca · Rating 3 out of 5]

ENGLISH: A selection of 19 short papers published by Lewis in newspapers and magazines. Some of them are now outdated, as they were written during or just after the Second World War, but a few are now as "present concerns" as they were at the time.

A few interesting quotations:

1. The ideal involved in Launcelot... offers the only possible escape from a world divided between wolves who do not understand, and sheep who cannot defend, the things that make life desirable. (The Necessity of Chivalry)

2. I am a democrat because I believe in the Fall of Man. I think most people are democrats for the opposite reason. A great deal of democratic enthusiasm descends from the ideas of people like Rousseau, who believed in democracy because they thought mankind so wise and good that everyone deserved a share in the government. The danger of defending democracy on those grounds is that they’re not true. (Equality)

3. There is in all men a tendency... to resent the existence of what is stronger, subtle or better than themselves. In uncorrected and brutal men this hardens into an implacable and disinterested hatred for every kind of excellence... The kind of “democratic” education which is already looming ahead is bad because it endeavours... to appease envy. There are two reasons for not attempting this. In the first place, you will not succeed. Envy is insatiable. The more you concede to it the more it will demand... In the second place, you are toying to introduce equality where equality is fatal. (Democratic education)

4. To abstain from reading—and a fortiori from buying—a paper which you have once caught telling lies seems a very moderate form of asceticism. Yet how few practise it!... “[O]ne must keep up with the times, must know what is being said”... It is a fallacy. If we must find out what bad men are writing, and must therefore buy their papers, and therefore enable their papers to exist, who does not see that this supposed necessity of observing the evil is just what maintains the evil? It may in general be dangerous to ignore an evil; but not if the evil is one that perishes by being ignored. (After priggery -what?)

5. [A] society which becomes democratic in ethos as well as in constitution is doomed. And not much loss either. (Talking about bicycles)

Plus the excellent article titled "On living in an atomic age", where he presents the case against materialism in a short compelling way.

ESPAÑOL: Selección de 19 artículos cortos publicados por Lewis en periódicos y revistas. Algunos están desactualizados, pues se escribieron durante o justo después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, pero algunos son ahora preocupaciones tan presentes como lo fueron entonces.

Veamos algunas citas interesantes:

1. El ideal representado por Launcelot... ofrece la única escapatoria posible en un mundo dividido entre lobos que no comprenden, y ovejas que no pueden defender, las cosas que hacen que la vida sea deseable. (The Necessity of Chivalry)

2. Soy demócrata porque creo en la Caída del Hombre. Creo que la mayoría de las personas son demócratas por la razón opuesta. Gran parte del entusiasmo por la democracia desciende de las ideas de personas como Rousseau, que creían en la democracia porque pensaban que la humanidad es tan sabia y buena que todos merecen participar en el gobierno. Es peligroso defender la democracia por ese motivo, porque no es verdad. (Equality)

3. En todos los hombres existe la tendencia... a molestarse porque exista algo más fuerte, sutil o mejor que ellos. En hombres brutales que no corrigen esta tendencia, se convierte en un odio implacable y desinteresado por todo tipo de excelencia... El tipo de educación "democrática" que se avecina es malo, porque trata de... apaciguar la envidia. Hay dos razones para no intentarlo. En primer lugar, porque es inútil. La envidia es insaciable. Cuanto más se le concede, más exige... En segundo lugar, se está intentando introducir la igualdad donde la igualdad es fatal. (Democratic education)

4. Abstenerse de leer, y a fortiori de comprar, un periódico al que alguna vez has pillado mintiendo, parece una forma moderada de ascetismo. Sin embargo, ¡cuán pocos lo practican!... "Hay que estar al día, hay que saber lo que se está diciendo"... Es una falacia. Si para descubrir lo que escribe la gente mala hay que comprar sus escritos, lo que permite su existencia, ¿es que no ven que la supuesta necesidad de observar el mal es lo que mantiene el mal? En general puede ser peligroso ignorar un mal; pero no, si el mal perece cuando se le ignora. (After priggery -what?)

5. Una sociedad que se vuelve democrática tanto en espíritu como en su constitución, está condenada. Y tampoco es mucha pérdida. (Talking about bicycles)

A lo que hay que añadir el excelente artículo titulado "On living in an atomic age", en el que ataca el materialismo de manera breve y convincente.

[Nathan B. Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite CS Lewis genre is consistently the one I have most recently read. But, no matter what, the genre of Lewis’ essays is always there at number two at least.

This collection of essays - in contrast to a great majority of collections like God in the Dock - are concerned principally with matters tied to Lewis' time and situation. There are some essays in that vein - like dried limes - which yield only a few drops of juice, yet still, because it is Lewis, those drops taste more like concentrate. However, in the majority of the essays - though the topic might seem to be irrelevant or obscure - the approach and conclusions presented provide striking parallels to modern-day issues of ethics, politics, and spirituality.

In particular, the essay "Talking About Bicycles" came at me sideways and took me by surprise. From the title I expected a discussion about gears and handlebars, but instead I received a framework for re-enchantment which re-routed my whole sabbatical. By angling at the topic from the innocent - and universal - experience of kids with bikes, Lewis was able to say something that made a b-line for the heart.

For the fan of Lewis, this is required reading - not only for the enjoyment of Jack's unique illustrative superpower - but for an insight into his eclectic interests and insights. So, at least until the next time I pick up some Lewis fiction, this collection of essays will reign supreme in my love of Lewis.

[Justin Wiggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of essays was edited by C.S.Lewis’s secretary Walter Hooper(it was such an honor to meet Mr. Hooper in Oxford), and published in 1986. This collection of essays was a fascinating, powerful, funny, and deeply moving read. Lewis wrote poignantly( as always with his unique prose) about the virtue of courage, the importance and power of words, democracy, politics, the difference between the naturalistic view of the world and the spiritual view, the reality of fallen humanity and the resistance to the view which is proved by human experience and history; the distinction between history and pseudo-historical drivel, the differences he experienced at Magdalen College Oxford and Magdalene College Cambridge, how amazing the love of Christ is, this mystical experience he had while traveling from Paddington to Harrow, and other interesting subjects. My two favorite essays from this book is Hedonics and Interim Report.

[Winnie Thornton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection's best quality (as with all of Lewis's essays) is that his "present" concerns are classic. They remain forever present concerns. "While some of the outward clothing of the things Lewis wrote about has changed, the essentials in all these essays are as important as they always were," writes Walter Hooper in the intro. Favorite essays were "The Necessity of Chivalry," "Equality," "Democratic Education," "Talking About Bicycles," and "On Living in an Atomic Age."

[Jonathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a fan of St. Clive, but this collection isn't very good. The introduction makes clear that Lewis didn't like newspapers, so I suppose that a collection subtitled "journalistic essays" was doomed from the start. The journalistic impulse that enlivens Chesterton is not a good look on Lewis (Chesterton is enthusiastic; Lewis just looks grouchy), and most of these essays are poor facsimiles of ideas he's enumerated better elsewhere. It's no coincidence that this posthumous collection was published in the mid-1980s, after the best stuff had already been mined. There are some gems here--"On Living in an Atomic Age" is the standout--but I wouldn't recommend this collection to the casual fan. You're better off rereading The Weight of Glory, etc.

[Nick Paine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of essays and letters about a variety of current issues in the life of Lewis. There is not a very cohesive flow to the collection, so each essay is to be enjoyed as a stand alone work. Per usual, I really enjoyed most of them; how am I to not give Lewis another 5 stars?

[London Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4.6/5)
As with all C.S. Lewis, this was phenomenal. So many amazing quotes and so much great insight.

[Garrett Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a treat. I admit, this is my first introduction to C.S. Lewis. This collection of essays ranges from monarchy to the atomic bomb. The topics are so diverse, I can't summarize it into one takeaway. Here are some of my favorite passages to give a flavor:

"Monarchy can easily be 'debunked'; but watch the faces, mark well the accents, of the debunkers. These are men whose tap-root in Eden has been cut: whom no rumour of the polyphony, the dance, can reach--men whom pebbles laid in a row are more beautiful than an arch. Yet even if they desire mere equality they cannot reach it. Where men are forbidden to honour a king they honour millionaires, athletes, or film-stars instead: even famous prostitutes or gangsters. For spiritual nature, like bodily nature, will be served; deny it food and it will gobble poison." - Equality

"The Classics have almost been routed...'History' alone will not do, for it studies the past mainly in secondary authorities...The gold behind the paper currency is to be found, almost exclusively, in literature." - Is English Doomed?

“The kind of “democratic” education which is already looming ahead is bad because it endeavors to propitiate evil passions, to appease envy. There are two reasons for not attempting this. In the first place, you will not succeed. Envy is insatiable. The more you concede to it the more it will demand. No attitude of humility which you can possibly adopt will propitiate a man with an inferiority complex. In the second place, you are toying to introduce equality where equality is fatal.

Equality (outside mathematics) is a purely social conception. It applies to man as a political and economic animal. It has no place in the world of the mind. Beauty is not democratic...Virtue is not democratic; she is achieved by those who pursue her more hotly than most men. Truth is not democratic…Political democracy is doomed if it tries to extend its demand for equality into these higher spheres. Ethical, intellectual, or aesthetic democracy is death.

A truly democratic education…must be, in its own field, ruthlessly aristocratic” - Democratic Education

"Pleasure involves, or need involve, no illusion at all. Distant hills look blue. They still look blue even after you have discovered that this particular beauty disappears when you approach them. The fact that they look blue fifteen miles away is just as much a fact as anything else. If we are to be realists, let us have realism all round. It is a mere brute fact that patches of that boyhood, remembered in one’s forties at the bidding of some sudden smell or sound, give one an almost unbearable pleasure. The one is as good a fact as the other.” - Hedonics

"Education was formerly based throughout Europe on the Ancients…

The effect of removing this education has been to isolate the mind in its own age; to give it, in relation to time, that disease which, in relation to space, we call Provincialism…

The tactics of the enemy in this matter are simple and can be found in any military text book. Before attacking a regiment you try, if you can, to cut it off from the regiments on each side.“- Modern Man and his Categories of Thought

“One of the determining factors in social life is that in general…men like men better than women like women. Hence, the freer women become, the fewer exclusively male assemblies there are. Most men, if free, retire frequently into the society of their own sex: women, if free, do this less often. In modern social life the sexes are more continuously mixed than they were in earlier periods…

Any mixed society thus becomes the scene of wit, banter, persiflage, anecdote—of everything in the world rather than prolonged and rigorous discussion on ultimate issues, or of those serious masculine friendships in which such discussion arises. Hence, in our student population, a lowering of metaphysical energy...

…the proper glory of the masculine mind, its disinterested concern with truth for truth’s own sake, with the cosmic and the metaphysical, is being impaired. Thus again, as the previous change cuts us off from the past, this cuts us off from the eternal. We are being further isolated; forced down to the immediate and the quotidian.” - Modern Man and his Categories of Thought

"If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds." - On Living in an Atomic Age

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite good and eye-opening in bits. Probably Lewis at his most political. His chapter on Chivalry is quite instructive and more than ever here he discusses the dangers of egalitarianism. Given all the discussions of envy lately, it seems the picture is a wee bit more complicated. It's not just envy, although envy is definitely one of the motives behind modern egalitarianism. It is a poisonous idea that allows or excuses envy. The solution methinks is not so much to issue more exhortations as to reveal how gastly this really makes things, both for the envied and the envious. In that respect, the staunchly elitist (in a good way) "Democratic Education" is wonderful. Spot on.

What else? Oh, some fun on Shakespeare in "Private Bates" and some truly fascinating social commentary on how "practical" philosophy and society has become in "Modern Man and His Categories of Thought." In our recent economic downturn (or any anxious situation), I would recommend "On Living in an Atomic Age." Here is also one of Lewis' best little essays (more a dialogue) "Talking about Bicycles."

This is also the last of Lewis' prose that I had not got to: only some poetry left.

[J. Wootton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm due for a re-read of this collection of mostly non-religious editorials. Lewis' reflections on "present concerns," written with characteristic straightforwardness and dry humor, repurposes his day's current events as stepping-stones to cross deeper waters.

I recall the essay On Living in an Atomic Age is a particular standout, and remains a source of comfort; for although the prospect of sudden calamitous death is ever-present, that is no reason to let it paralyze us prematurely!

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short collection of essays assembled by Walter Hooper in 1986. Most are from various literary magazines and newspapers. Worth reading if you are a diehard Lewis fan, but it's not his best work and most of these ideas are repeated in his other nonfiction. They really are just quick and short thoughts jotted down on paper.

Quotes:
"The true aim of literary studies is to lift the student out of his provincialism by making him 'the spectator,' if not of all, yet of much, 'time and existence.' The student, or even the schoolboy, who has been brought by good (and therefore mutually disagreeing) teachers to meet the past where alone the past still lives, is taken out of the narrowness of his own age and class into a more public world."
--From "Is English Doomed?"

"He accuses all myth and fantasy and romance of wishful thinking: the way to silence him is to be more realist than he -- to lay our ears closer to the murmur of life as it actually flows through us at every moment and to discover there all that quivering and wonder and (in a sense) infinity which the literature that he calls realistic omits. For the story which gives the experience most like the experiences of living is not necessarily the story whose events are most like those in a biography or a newspaper."
--From "Hedonics"

"In lecturing to popular audiences I have repeatedly found it almost impossible to make them understand that I recommended Christianity because I thought its affirmations to be objectively true. They are simply not interested in the question of truth or falsehood. They only want to know if it will be comforting, or 'inspiring,' or socially useful."
--From "Modern Man and his Categories of Thought"

[Daryl-Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. I love collections of essays, and this did not disappoint. So many good chapters. From Democratic Education:

“The demand for equality has two sources; one of them is among the noblest, the other is the basest, of human emotions. The noble source is the desire for fair play. But the other source is the hatred of superiority. At the present moment it would be very unrealistic to overlook the importance of the latter. There is in all men a tendency (only corrigible by good training from without and persistent moral effort from within) to resent the existence of what is stronger, subtler, or better than themselves. In uncorrected and brutal men this hardens into an implacable and disinterested hatred for every kind of excellence.”

[Karen (Living Unabridged) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collection of essays on various topics. I wanted a copy of this just for "On Living in an Atomic Age" (which is still my favorite) but I also really enjoyed many of the others. 2nd favorite might have been "Talking About Bicycles." I REALLY wanted to argue with Mr. Lewis in "Modern Man and His Categories of Thought" but I was restricted by the fact that he's no longer living and had to resign myself to writing emphatically disagreeing margin notes.

[Jon Beadle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of essays with have highs and lows. This collection is not my favorite of the Hopper edits, but it’s up there. Lewis’ reflection on education, liberalism, and democracy are all highs. Everything else, including a strange conversation he has with himself, is a bit of a low, but not unlike Lewis to still have gold to pull from the boring fare.

3.5!

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of essays written from the 1940s to the 1960s in a book I bought in the 1980s but which seems to me to grow ever more relevant as time passes. I was struck more by its up to dateness now than in the 1980s.

Once again a collection read in my favourite cafe accompanied by good food and coffee. I find an essay collection ideal for cafe reading. I recommend it to those who have read this far.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s some timeless Lewis wit and wisdom among these essays, but there are also a lot of b-sides and deep cuts in here. Highlights: “On Living in an Atomic Age,” “Talking About Bicycles,” “Democratic Education,” and “Modern Man and his Categories of Thought.”

[Reagan Faith Waggoner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rather than the entire book, I recommend a few of the essays. Some are boring and far from riveting. But a few are very, very well done.

1) The Necessity of Chivalry
2) Is English Doomed?
3) Talking About Bicycles
4) On the Atomic Age (the best)

The others were mediocre.

[Samuel G. Parkison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scary prescient. Like everything Lewis wrote. If Lewis hasn’t become a lifelong literary companion to you, receive this little message as a gentle rebuke. Take up and read.

[Chelsea Lane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book! I think any Lewis fan would enjoy these essays. His insight into the concerns of his time speak to today as well.

[Erik Rostad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how Lewis leads me to see ideas anew. This book contained 19 essays. My favorites were Modern Man and His Categories of Thought and Talking About Bicycles.

[Preston Burns · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars for living in an atomic age

[CJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

If ‘On Living in an Atomic Age’ isn’t a modern classic, I don’t know what is.

[Sarah Cain · Rating 3 out of 5]

C.S. Lewis is such a well-loved figure, and for good reason, but this was not one of his best works. The compilation of essays herein helped me to see his blind spots most clearly, in fact. The gem in the middle was his essay on "Democratic Education", but none of the others were particularly noteworthy.

This collection revealed a distrust of all authority, so strong as to reject notions of morality. He refused obscenity laws, for example, on the basis that people might disagree and he couldn't see a way to sort between them. He likewise argued against laws against fornication, citing Hobbesian thought. The results of rewriting laws to reflect the immorality of the age can be seen in our own time, and they aren't good.

[Michael McGrath · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is a mixed bag, a compilation of shorter essays that range from the moral to the literary. I would say there are parts where I was riveted by the author's arguments (even with those I might hold some level of disagreement).

He discusses the fall of literary studies, and clarifies that "The true aim of literary studies is to lift the student out of his provincialism by making him ‘the spectator’, if not of all, yet of much, ‘time and existence’." Ironic, coming from a man who displayed some noticiable provincialism in his Narnian stories. But he does bring his point home, when I think of the current state of English studies in America, and how far it has strayed from the subject matters such fields purport to teach.

What is amazing, is that some of these essays are just as timely now as they were back then, particularly the one about living in the atomic age. There is some healthy advice about still carrying on nobly with your life, despite fears real and imaginary concerning the end of the world, because in the end nothing does truly last, does it? This may sound like a hopeless surrender to some, but there are certain things that are beyond our control.

"If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs." —C.S. Lewis.