Note that this review is for the Blackstone audio book narrated by Geoffrey Howard. I really enjoyed listening to this book, which is told in the first person. The narrator sounded just like I imagined CS Lewis to be. Initially his tone sounded to me like a stern professor, but it grew on me and ended up being perfect for this book.
I have always been fascinated with CS Lewis; initially as a child I read the Screwtape Letters and much later read the Chronicles of Narnia and then some of his Christian apologetic work. I love his style and I've always thought he had a brilliant mind. I wanted to learn more about his conversion to Christianity and bought this book to find out.
The story is sort of an autobiography, but focuses on his intellectual development as it relates to his becoming an atheist, then a theist, and finally a Christian. This all took place during his childhood through young adulthood. He lost his mother when he was young and never had a good relationship with his father. He didn't develop any true friends until later in his youth, so it was a difficult childhood. He would be termed a geek today; he hated sports and was a bookworm. His recounting of boarding school sounded horrifying. In fact, he describes fighting in World War I as less stressful.
The one thing that I found most interesting was his describing the affect various authors had on him and he found to his disappointment that the authors that impacted him the most were Christian; and that the atheistic authors didn't seem to have the same depth. The book is full of other remarkable insights and is worth reading. I highly recommend this book in either the audio or written format. |
Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life Books In Print, Audio Books.