The Great Divorce

by C.S. Lewis

book data

6,989 ratings, 4.22 average rating, 880 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		45%
4		34%
3		15%
2		3%
1		0%

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published

February 4th 2002 (first published 1945) by Fount

binding

Paperback, 160 pages

isbn

0006280560 (isbn13: 9780006280569)

description

The Great Divorce is C.S. Lewis's Divine Comedy: the narrator bears strong resemblance to Lewis (by way of Dante); his Virgil is the fantasy writer Ge...more

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07/14/08

Nikki Faith rated it:

Read in July, 2008

recommends it for: everyone!!!!

I just listened to the audio of "The Great Divorce." It was my first reading of this book, and I know there will be many re-readings in my future. I feel a first reading was really just a glimpse of what it will be like to delve into it again and again. First of all, I must say that I adore Lewis's writing style and that his stories really resonate with me. And I know I'm just beginning to touch the surface. I have read Narnia a couple times and I read "The Problem with Pain"...more

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07/12/08

Anne Malmborg rated it:

I LOVE reading everything C.S. Lewis. I read this book a few years ago and I couldn't put it down. The section of the book that stands out most to me is when the main character observes a conversation between two people (one who lives in heaven and one who is just visiting to see what it is like). The one who lives in heaven had killed someone while he was living on earth and the person visiting could not believe that the murderer had actually made it to heaven-The visiting man basically decided...more

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05/29/08

Rachel rated it:

Once again C.S. Lewis shows us how deft he is at cracking open the mysteries of human spirituality and motivation. This book is an allegory for heaven and hell and as he describes each of the characters and how they ultimately choose their eternal reward, we can glimpse a bit of ourselves.

My favorite part is when he describes a woman who has chosen heaven but whose husband refuses to give up the little devil sitting on his shoulder and ultimately chooses to return to hell. The n...more

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09/12/07

Gabriel rated it:

As a story, this isn’t that amazing, as very little “happens.” As a collection of images about theology, and especially about sin and how it can keep one away from union with God, it is very insightful. Lewis, in my view, provides the best explanations of how heaven works, or more specifically how it can be that a loving God and hell can coexist. The “dwarves in the stable” from The Last Battle are the best depiction of this; reading them I first understood how one could ever choose to...more As a story, this isn’t that amazing, as very little “happens.” As a collection of images about theology, and especially about sin and how it can keep one away from union with God, it is very insightful. Lewis, in my view, provides the best explanations of how heaven works, or more specifically how it can be that a loving God and hell can coexist. The “dwarves in the stable” from The Last Battle are the best depiction of this; reading them I first understood how one could ever choose to reject God, even when honestly given a choice in light of the possibility of truly seeing God as God is. What happens is that when one is presented with God, one says: “That’s not God! I know what God looks like, and that’s not it! No thanks.” In any case, in the Great Divorce the various encounters illustrate ways people can put other things in the way of God, ways to deceive oneself or preoccupy oneself away from God, away from what is most important. True idolatry, and quite real even today.

There is a definite clarity to Lewis’s vision of things; the truth is to be had by anyone who will listen, yet the problem is that folks over- or under-think it, and manage to miss out. I wonder if it really is that simple. Lewis writes at a time when the certainly of the Enlightenment framework has fallen apart, and Lewis fits into the group which insists that the correct response is to move back, to return to what theology had already figured out, to shake off the “gains” of the “enlightened mind.” This position remains very attractive today: that all the fancy theories and of course chaos of recent years are simply a symptom of abandoning the truth that has always been securely held by faith; the only thing novel these days are new ways to avoid that truth and to seem very smart yet smarmy in doing so.

But there is another alternative, one that is truly on the other side of modernity, that isn’t so quick to throw away the penetrating gains of the modern mindset, only its onetime certainty. And it is from this perspective that I suspect Lewis makes it too simple, that Lewis calls us back to a universe that never really did hold it all together, even if it did once exist.

But yes, the Lizard image is quite wonderful. And apt. What I would give for a nice stallion!
(less)

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03/30/09

Liz rated it:

Almost without exception, whatever CS Lewis writes is fine with me. The Great Divorce is my 2nd favorite CS Lewis book (I am not counting the Narnia series), and what I thought was most interesting about it was the people who were in hell did not know they were in hell. This is a familiar concept to me, I remember my dad and his minister friends discussing it. It was also interesting that people didn't get to heaven in the way they thought they would.

Obviously, no one has actual ans...more

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06/06/08

John rated it:

(review of isbn 0060652950)

bookshelves: religion

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in January, 1976

This is my favorite work by C.S. Lewis. I’d give it 8 stars, . . if ‘twer possible.

In it, Lewis reacts to moral relativism (the Marriage of Heaven and Hell) by suggesting that “you cannot take all luggage with you on all journeys; on one journey even your right hand and your right eye may be among the things you have to leave behind.” He astutely notes that the “great divorce” of good and evil is utterly voluntarily. And he does so by conjuring up this simple tale of...more

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03/01/08

Derek rated it:

bookshelves: apologetics, theology

Read in January, 1998

Summary:
This book is a fictional account about a journey taken by a bunch of people separated from God (in Hell) who take a journey to Heaven to see if they will be able to stay there. Some of them do choose to stay but some of them choose to return to Hell because they do not like God's character of his expectations about how they will act towards him.

Why I read this book:
I read lots of C.S. Lewis as a teen - (NO FICTION!) - and his popular apologetics books are so...more

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01/13/08

Zachary rated it:

I'm not quite sure what I had in mind when I picked this book up, but a full length analogical story definitely was not in my mind when I started. But that really didn't matter, because that's exactly what Lewis wrote in "The Great Divorce".

In it, Lewis used a rather interesting vision of what heaven and hell are (not) like. I say "(not) like" because Lewis admits in his introduction that this was intended from the first to be a moral story, not an exploration of ...more

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11/04/07

Lucy rated it:

Read in July, 2006

Not my usual read. In fact, this is the first C.S. Lewis book I have ever read other than "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe." Of course, being LDS, I have read and heard innumerable quotes of his from articles and talks. We are a C.S. Lewis loving society. I read this because this book was chosen for the bookgroup I belong to this month. Dread is much too strong of a word but I admit that I wasn't really looking forward to reading this book. And it isn't because I choose to read f...more Not my usual read. In fact, this is the first C.S. Lewis book I have ever read other than "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe." Of course, being LDS, I have read and heard innumerable quotes of his from articles and talks. We are a C.S. Lewis loving society. I read this because this book was chosen for the bookgroup I belong to this month. Dread is much too strong of a word but I admit that I wasn't really looking forward to reading this book. And it isn't because I choose to read fluff either. I like a deep novel. Perhaps intimidated is the closet description of what I felt. After all, if general authorities quote him, how readable could it be?

Overall, I really liked this book. The text was easy to read and the story flowed. That surprised me. Not that I wasn't expecting Lewis to be a great author but this book is definitely not limited to advanced readers. It begins with an unnamed man in line for a bus ride to somewhere unmentioned. His fellow passengers don't seem to be the kind of people anyone would enjoy being seated next too -- each with an obvious character flaw. The bus takes them to what is described at first as obviously Heaven but we later learn is just the "Valley in the Shadow of Life" or kind of the intro to Heaven. The grass is too hard to walk on for the newbie feet and each who has arrived is greeted by an angel who pretty much tries to convince them to follow them into the mountains where the real Heaven lies. In Lewis's afterworld, there are many who see what Heaven is like and decide not to be there. It is too hard or too different than what they want it to be like. They don't want to be different from who there were on earth and can't understand why they must let go of certain characteristics.

I think my favorite paragraph in this book is when this unnamed man's angel tells him, "...There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "thy will be done." All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened."

Isn't that great? There were many moments in this story that I wanted to get out my highlighter pen and get busy. It was a very quick read: it only took a little over 2 hours to read. Of course, if you want to get serious and really ponder it would take much longer. But I read it like a novel...wanting to get a sense of the whole story. In that way, it was a bit disappointing. He doesn't do much creating a whole story as he does put a narrator in to eavesdrop on different peoples' first experiences with Heaven. When that person was clearly past convincing he moved on to the next "ghost" struggling. In the end, the book floundered a bit (I can't believe I am actually using that word in critiquing the great C.S. Lewis but then again....it is my blog!). His angel leads him on and eventually he sees a big chess table and suddenly real experience, time, space and all that is into question. Just for the last chapter, mind you. I found myself being a bit Sethesque and thinking, "what the..." something about lenses and visions and dreams and eventually he woke up. So we never were able to see what Lewis's deeper Heaven was like. And he scolded him to not report this experience as anything more than a dream. His angel says, "....see ye make it very plain. Give no poor fool the pretext to think ye are claiming knowledge of what no mortal knows. I'll have no Swedenborgs and no Vale Owens among my children....He has forbidden it" I guess in Christian theology, there have been experiences where visions were to go untold. It just didn't sit well with me. And that was the end. He woke up. To what end for this man? Did it make him better? More ready for the glory of God? I don't feel that unanswered question was necessary for the story.(less)

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03/08/07

Elaine rated it:

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in January, 2007

Some concepts:
- leaning on a teacher to grow till we can be on our own.
- defective love

Quotes & Excerpts from C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce:

You cannot take all luggage with you on all journeys; on one journey, even your right hand or right eye may be among the things you have to leave behind.

We are not living in a world where all roads are radii of a circle and where all, if followed long enough, will therefore gradually draw nearer and finally...more

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06/25/08

Jon rated it:

Read in June, 2008

The Great Divorce follows the journey of the narrator (Lewis himself?) as he travels from Hell to Heaven. Guided by his Teacher, the narrator witnesses conversations between spirits, ghosts, and angels he meets along the way; conversations that reveal Lewis' insights into various aspects of Christian theology. Like The Screwtape Letters, Lewis' most famous contemplation on Christianity, it's simply a creative means of philosophizing religiously, and also, like that classic work, it requires you ...more

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01/02/08

Alice rated it:

Read in January, 2008

"The last thing I wish is to arouse factual curiousity about the details of the after-world," says C.S. Lewis in the preface to this book. So I will skip over the plotline of the bus trip taken by departed spirits to Heaven. This is not science fiction. It is rather a parable.

The heavenly country itself, in its beautiful weighty brilliance, reveals that the spiritual world is actually more real than the temporal world.

And the choices made by the different ghost...more

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08/12/08

Kenneth rated it:

(review of isbn 0060652950)

Read in December, 2008

A great story and a powerful allegory, The Great Divorce serves as both. Lewis, in his characteristically sharp and pointed prose, writes about many pitfalls in Christian living which can lead to the choice of ultimate isolation, Hell.

His voice is hopeful, yet realistic, daring yet reverent. There are problems with the story, but there are bound to be when speaking of things beyond time and understanding. It is easy to see the wisdom developing which would shine through in his lat...more

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07/15/08

Matt rated it:

This is story is about a bus trip from hell to heaven. The passengers are allowed to stay, and all but one of them chooses to go home. I'd never before thought that people might choose to leave heaven, but Lewis depicts very well the types of pride that might lure one into preferring a reign in hell over servitude in heaven. Hell is depicted here as a very lonely place, a haven of solipsists. People who wouldn't want to be in heaven if it's a place where God forgives people like [insert here som...more

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04/03/09

Cora rated it:

Read in March, 2009

This short book by one of the finest minds of the twentieth century is a thought provoking look at the distance between heaven and hell; moreover, it demands personal introspection on the part of the serious reader in looking at the truly evil acts that people perform while believing that they are quite good. Just on of the ideas that will stir a fire in many is the idea of freedom. Especially in America, freedom has increasingly been thought of as an absolute. When confronted with the idea of...more

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02/25/09

Jessica rated it:

bookshelves: mbasa-book-club-reads

this was a really interesting read for me. i probably would never have picked this up on my own to read, but it was for a book club, so i'm glad i expanded beyond my usual sphere.

a lot of interesting concepts and thoughts about the after life and heaven and hell were brought up in the book. it was interesting to see all the different dialogues presented between the ghosts and spirits and to see how often human limitations in understanding and love resulted in selfishness and pride ...more

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04/28/09

Dawn rated it:

Read in April, 2009

This is easily one of the best books I've ever read in my life.

If you don't believe in heaven or hell you might not want to read this book. But if you do ..or think you do..this book will take vague, cloudy ideas and turn them into tangible concepts that will excite you.

"For a moment I could make out nothing distinctly. Then I saw, between me and the nearest bush, unmistakably solid but growing every moment solider, the upper arm and the shoulder of a man. Then, brighte...more

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03/23/09

Diane rated it:

Read in June, 2008

In this book C.S. Lewis sets out to present a picture of the nature of heaven and hell through the device of an allegorical journey - by bus! - from hell to a place called the valley of the shadow of heaven. This book reads more like an expose than a traditionally plotted novel. Nevertheless, it's one of the most memorable books I've read. Among the most memorable notions of this book: the dense and material nature of heaven, as contrasted with the ghostly and insubstantial nature of hell; the i...more

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05/26/09

Michael McCloskey rated it:

I read The Great Divorce about once a year. It is a kind of return home to me and my gut. Lewis does so many wonderful things here, it is difficult to tell. From one end to the other. From the detail and choice of his words which make me want to weep (I don't even know why), to the overall story and creation of characters which I wan to meet. For example, Lewis describes the ghosts visit to the foothills of Heaven as not being able to push down the blades of grass because, in that world, they ha...more

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09/19/07

Elisa Garcia rated it:

Read in June, 2003

I'll never forget something I read in the Great Divorce....

The protagonist of the book has an opportunity to visit heaven and while he is there he sees sights that he compares to some of the glorious art he has seen in his lifetime.
It is said that a true artist is one who sees Heaven and has the ability to recreate it for the viewer so that he might experience it for a time.

This is a beautiful book.

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polls

Which is your favorite fictional work by C. S. Lewis?

Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold

19 votes, 10.9%

Space Trilogy

8 votes, 4.6%

The Great Divorce

9 votes, 5.2%

The Screwtape Letters

18 votes, 10.3%

The Chronicles of Narnia

120 votes, 69.0%

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quotes from this book

"And yet all loneliness, angers, hatreds, envies, and itchings that it contains, if rolled into one single experience and put into the scale against the least moment of the joy that is felt by the least in Heaven, would have no weight that could be registered at all. Bad cannot succeed even in being bad as truly as good is good." More quotes...