On my bookshelf: C.S. Lewis

February 25, 2022

My favorite author is C.S. Lewis, and over time we've managed to add a good number of his books to our library.

You know how it is when you connect with the way an author speaks? There's a spark, a recognition of a like-minded (though much smarter) personality in a way. As C.S. Lewis himself said about friendship:

The typical expression of opening friendship would be something like "What? You too? I thought I was the only one..."

I find myself thinking this often as I read Lewis. 

I spent a good portion of 2021 reading the first two volumes of his letters. Fascinating. Actually, I'm just finishing up Volume 2. If you've never read the collected letters of someone you admire, I highly recommend it. 

Not only is it a wonderful way to get to know more about them, but the experience of reading letters from a time when letters were how people communicated is invaluable. 

I know I've told my husband more than once (kind of like a broken record) how tragic it is that people no longer write letters. We're losing all those future volumes of collected letters that will tell us so much, simply because they are not being written. I think it's fairly tragic.

I digress a bit, but it's still true. Fortunately for our generation though, there are plenty of collected letters for nosy souls like me to read and read and read. Volume 3 of the Lewis letters is on my wish list. But at the moment, it's going for about $400 for a printed copy!  

Next up on my list is 'Til We Have Faces, A Myth Retold. It's one of his less popular books, but those who love it really love it. 

One of the things I like about reading CS Lewis is how much of a workout my dictionary gets. I'm constantly looking up words he uses, and latin phrases! He drops latin into his letters with great regularly. 

I have a feeling my dictionary is about to get a great workout.

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