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They stand together: The letters of C S Lewis to Arthur Greeves 1914-1963
They Stand The Letters of C. S. Lewis to Arthur Greeves (1914-1963)
592 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 1979
11 people are currently reading
337 people want to read
About the author
C.S. Lewis
1,030 books47.8k 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]
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
February 24, 2009
I went into this book expecting a fine book of letters, interesting correspondence... what I got was so much more. I'm not even sure what I can say about this collection to properly convey how much I liked it, esteem it. To be on the receiving end of such fine letters! And Lewis has become one of my new passions, at least his letters and a diary. I don't even have any quibble about his coming to religion after years of rather steadfast atheism (although I'll admit his "coming to Jesus" isn't wearing off on me in the least). The transformation was curious, learned, questing and questioning... a slow journey to god, and something I am unprepared (and unwilling) to scoff at.
A delight.
A delight.
July 21, 2016
Loved this. Witnessing through his letters - growing in maturity from an arrogant, brilliant young man to a wise old man. Enjoyed his love of nature - changes of season, the sky, animals. His exhaustion at times, the drudgery of everyday life, the times of flu and sickness. Made him more real, not just this iconic Christian figure.
May 16, 2018
Wonderful letters that document an inspiring friendship.
April 12, 2022
This is a collection of letters from Lewis to his friend Arthur Greeves. It was a tad boring at times, but is a monument to what real friendship is. It leaves one wondering if such friendship could be found today?
December 5, 2016
I started this book years ago and while very good and progressively so, I set it down and only read it in bits and pieces. Early this morning I read the last 10 pages, concluding the longest "read"(in reference to time) I've done. So my thoughts are not necessarily fresh.
The letters are of course primarily from CSL to Arthur Greeves so it is one sided. Near the end are several letters from Arthur to CSL and a few from Warren Lewis to Arthur.
The strongest thing I gained is the importance of being honest in friendship. While evident at the beginning of the book it was clear in the end. Lewis and Greeves shared their feelings on numerous books, music, lodging places, historical events (limited) and people. They didn't always agree, and that is refreshing. They were committed to each other and also to others they had made promises to directly or indirectly. And they fulfilled them. Faithful seems to be appropriate.
Both mention writings they were doing so if you are looking for hints at Narnia, Screwtape Letters, The Space Trilogy, Mere Christianity, etc... you will find a few words and conversations about how reviewers received them. However, it would be best to pick those up and dig deep. That is what CSL might say.
Do I recommend reading this book in a time span shorter than 22 years? Perhaps, but if you are curious about CSL, this book gives a pointed look at one relationship whereas the numerous volumes of collected letters has to be sifted through with care before coming to some limited understanding of the man.
The letters are of course primarily from CSL to Arthur Greeves so it is one sided. Near the end are several letters from Arthur to CSL and a few from Warren Lewis to Arthur.
The strongest thing I gained is the importance of being honest in friendship. While evident at the beginning of the book it was clear in the end. Lewis and Greeves shared their feelings on numerous books, music, lodging places, historical events (limited) and people. They didn't always agree, and that is refreshing. They were committed to each other and also to others they had made promises to directly or indirectly. And they fulfilled them. Faithful seems to be appropriate.
Both mention writings they were doing so if you are looking for hints at Narnia, Screwtape Letters, The Space Trilogy, Mere Christianity, etc... you will find a few words and conversations about how reviewers received them. However, it would be best to pick those up and dig deep. That is what CSL might say.
Do I recommend reading this book in a time span shorter than 22 years? Perhaps, but if you are curious about CSL, this book gives a pointed look at one relationship whereas the numerous volumes of collected letters has to be sifted through with care before coming to some limited understanding of the man.
September 14, 2021
I always try to be honest in admitting my high admiration for C.S. Lewis makes me biased towards books which are written by or about him. The reality is, for anyone to read a book of letters he wrote to his friend Arthur Greeves, they are likely to be a major fan of Lewis as well. The two had a fantastic friendship. Different in many ways, yet the two genuinely loved each other as the friends they were. When Lewis was dying, you could feel his sadness at the prospect of not seeing his friend again on this side of eternity. Many of the letters aren't terribly interesting. Even if you are a Lewis fan, the reality is, some of them can be dry or a little repetitive. To be fair, Lewis did not write these letters with the intention they would be placed in a volume one day. He was writing to his friend as life was going on. It is interesting to see what Lewis was writing at the various stages of his life. I do wish we had more letters from Arthur which survived. I am glad I found a copy for my Lewis collection. I am not sure if it is one I will reread or not. Perhaps down the road, however I am glad I have read it as it is a great treasure of their friendship.
June 16, 2014
A remarkable collection of letters: part biography, part literary critiques, part theological musings. A depth of emotion throughout. Superb read.
September 1, 2024
I’d previously read a published set of Lewis’ letters of his many various correspondences—including letters to Arthur but not featuring him—but this set of 296 letters to just the one man takes on a different flavor. Lewis’ friendship with Arthur (A.K.A. “My dear Galahad”, in their shared love for Arthurian legend) is evident in every letter, as is their common love for literature, for mythology, and eventually for Jesus. It is inspiring to see such lasting friendship between men throughout their entire lives.
From Letter #195 (Dec. 1935): “After all – tho' our novels now ignore it - friendship is the greatest of worldly goods. Certainly to me it is the chief happiness of life. If I had to give a piece of advice to a young man about a place to live, I think I shd. say, 'sacrifice almost everything to live where you can be near your friends.' I know I am v. fortunate in that respect, and you much less so. But even for me, it wd. make a great difference if you (and one or two others) lived in Oxford.”
I do have a couple misgivings about Hooper’s approach to editing these letters:
1) Occasionally Hooper inserts contextual commentary (sometimes even pages long) to shed light on events surrounding the letters that aren’t evident within them. At times, I felt like this commentary moved more into biography and didn’t do much for the letters themselves. But these portions are easy enough to skip as needed.
2) My greater concern is the ethics of using infrared and ultraviolet photography on the letters to uncover (and print!) private sections that Arthur had blacked out from Lewis’ letters. While Hooper clearly marks these sections with brackets, I felt sometimes like an unwilling voyeur, reading things that weren’t meant for my eyes—or for any eyes other than Arthur’s. This includes Lewis’ own private sexual confessions (I’ll only mention Lewis’ coined word Philomastix, with which he signs off a few letters) as well as some details about the private sexual life of Arthur as well. Just because we can recover information doesn’t mean we should. These bracketed sections are short and infrequent, but they do not seem right to print—or to read—without express permission of the author.
Overall, however, this collection of letters is a treat to any committed reader of Lewis. His lifelong friendship with Arthur is a large part of what formed the man we all know and appreciate.
From Letter #195 (Dec. 1935): “After all – tho' our novels now ignore it - friendship is the greatest of worldly goods. Certainly to me it is the chief happiness of life. If I had to give a piece of advice to a young man about a place to live, I think I shd. say, 'sacrifice almost everything to live where you can be near your friends.' I know I am v. fortunate in that respect, and you much less so. But even for me, it wd. make a great difference if you (and one or two others) lived in Oxford.”
I do have a couple misgivings about Hooper’s approach to editing these letters:
1) Occasionally Hooper inserts contextual commentary (sometimes even pages long) to shed light on events surrounding the letters that aren’t evident within them. At times, I felt like this commentary moved more into biography and didn’t do much for the letters themselves. But these portions are easy enough to skip as needed.
2) My greater concern is the ethics of using infrared and ultraviolet photography on the letters to uncover (and print!) private sections that Arthur had blacked out from Lewis’ letters. While Hooper clearly marks these sections with brackets, I felt sometimes like an unwilling voyeur, reading things that weren’t meant for my eyes—or for any eyes other than Arthur’s. This includes Lewis’ own private sexual confessions (I’ll only mention Lewis’ coined word Philomastix, with which he signs off a few letters) as well as some details about the private sexual life of Arthur as well. Just because we can recover information doesn’t mean we should. These bracketed sections are short and infrequent, but they do not seem right to print—or to read—without express permission of the author.
Overall, however, this collection of letters is a treat to any committed reader of Lewis. His lifelong friendship with Arthur is a large part of what formed the man we all know and appreciate.
April 8, 2023
We have lost a lot of wisdom, practice, and habits in recent years on the art of friendship. This book is a collection of almost fifty years of letters from Lewis to his childhood friend, Arthur Greaves. they begin when Lewis is 16; the last letter was written two months before Lewis' death (with Lewis' dual lament of waking up from his coma and that he would never see Arthur again in this life). A beautiful trip through Lewis' life as shared with his friend as well as a record of a friendship through life's ups and downs, victories and defeats, pleasures and pains.
Recommended for any avid Lewis fan - probably not interesting to others.
Recommended for any avid Lewis fan - probably not interesting to others.
July 31, 2021
Some insight into Lewis and his friendship with Greeves. Would like to have read Arthur's letters more!
January 5, 2014
This collection of letters from Lewis to his boyhood friend, Arthur, is one-sided and you must imply what the letters from Arthur said. The early years were fairly boring, improving as the men matured. They are of interest to me due to Lewis conversion to Christianity and also due to mention of his friendship with Tolkien. Also interest in his Irish heritage and love of nature, as well as his interest in Norse literature. It is a difficult way to learn about someone if you have never read their bio or autobiography. I don't regret the time spent, however I'd prefer to have read a biography of Lewis first to give more meat to the crumbs of background you get thru a one sided view of his correspondence.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews