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Dec 17, 2009

Joanie rated it:

It's great to read fiction that gives you a punch in a gut! It's not often a book will hold up a mirror to you and show you some things you'd rather not see. The Screwtape Letters was that book for me.

Every Christian needs to get a hold of this book and read it through! It's helped me gain a deep understanding of how the forces of darkness try to undermine joy and truth. I'd especially recommend it to readers new to C.S. Lewis, as this is a good sample of his writing and a good place More...

2 comments like (37 people liked it)

Jan 30, 2012

Cary rated it:

This is my first book of C.S. Lewis outside the Chronicles of Narnia Series. I want to balance my reading list with good, wholesome and inspiring Christian books so I decided to try the works of Lewis and look for an e-book. Fortunately, I was able to find one online so I started with Screwtape Letters.

The Screwtape Letters is a series of letters written by Screwtape, a senior demon, to his nephew and a neophyte tempter, Wormood, about the different ways to tempt a newly converted Ch More...

7 comments like (8 people liked it)

Jan 22, 2008

MelissaS rated it:

I love this book - it really makes you think. For those who have not read it, the book is written as a compilation of letters from a "tempter," Screwtape, to his nephew, a "junior tempter" named Wormwoood. In the letters, Screwtape gives Wormwood adivce and counsel on how to best tempt his "subject" - a young man who converts to Christianity, and then falls in love with a Christian woman. Through the letters, you are constantly reminded and made to think about ho More...

3 comments like (25 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Keely rated it:

If not for the fact that this is a satire in earnest, it would serve as a powerful absurdist invective against humanity. This book improved my view of Christians in general, but only because it points out that all the faults conspicuous in the rabidly faithful are equally well-represented in the uninformed agnostic, if less readily apparent.

The sharp weapon of Lewis's rhetoric tears down humanity through all its self-righteous hubris, denial, misdirected hopes, and easy mistakes. How More...

26 comments like (21 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Stephanie rated it:

Let me preface by saying I do not follow any one religious path. I'm a searcher, and I'm not sure if I'll ever settle on one faith. That said, The Screwtape Letters, an intense rumination on good and evil, as told through the letters of one demon to another, is a work I feel everyone should read, if to do nothing but understand the true nature of evil. I'll admit, I picked up the book because I thought a tale told by a demon would be kind of cool... sexy in a dark fun kind of way. The experience More...

0 comments like (13 people liked it)

Apr 25, 2011

Tina rated it:

Original post at One More Page

Ah Screwtape. I've heard so much about this book but I never got to buy it because the print copy was just too expensive for something so thin. I remember splurging on the ebook instead a couple of months ago, but true to form, it took me a while to read this. I know a Lewis book is never easy reading. What better time to read this one than during the Lenten season, right?

The Screwtape Letters is an epistolary novella that contains the letter More...

3 comments like (9 people liked it)

Sep 12, 2007

Bagger rated it:

I have read this book twice before but after my worship pastor mentioned a quote that I had forgotten in one part of the book Wormwood writes his uncle Screwtape with great fear that his subject has begun going to church, his uncle quite easily assures him that the best thing to do is keep him in church, but keep him proud of the fact that he always attends the services or sits in the same area, as long as Wormwood keeps him in the building and away from God.
I think Lewis is one of those a More...

0 comments like (10 people liked it)

Apr 15, 2009

Natalie rated it:

If I didn't know anything about C.S. Lewis, and if he hadn't written a foreword to this book making his status as a Christian more than clear, I would have thought that this book was a satire.

Screwtape is an epistolary novel, a series of letters written by a senior devil of hell to his younger, more inexperienced nephew. The correspondence deals chiefly with advice to the younger devil, Wormwood, about how best to tempt his "patient" (the human to which he has been assig More...

6 comments like (4 people liked it)

Mar 12, 2011

Jillian -always aspiring- rated it:

But that is the cursed thing; the gods are strange to mortal eyes, and yet they are not strange. [The human] had no faintest conception till that very hour of how they would look, and even doubted their existence. But when he saw them he knew that he had always known them and realised what part each one of them had played at many an hour in his life when he had supposed himself alone, so that now he could say to them, one by one, not 'Who are you?' but 'So it was you all the time.' -from one o More...

14 comments like (8 people liked it)

Sep 21, 2008

Wendy rated it:

I didn't particularly enjoy this book but am glad that I read it. In fact, at times the book made my skin crawl. For those who have not read it, the book is written as a bunch of letters from a tempter, Uncle Screwtape, to his nephew, a tempter in training, named Wormwoood. Screwtape tutors Wormwood on how to tempt the "patient" he is assigned. Through the letters, you are constantly reminded and made to think about how the adversary tempts us. What is poignant is that the cunning an More...

0 comments like (11 people liked it)

Aug 16, 2007

Andrew rated it:

this review first appeared on [http://intraspace.blogspot.com]

cs lewis strikes again! not that i should be surprised, he is widely regarded as one of the best christian writers of the 20th century.

this book is the record of letters sent by senior demon screwtape to his nephew wormwood. wormwood is on assignment trying to turn a new christian away from God. the more experienced screwtape gives advice to the young demon. this in turn gives us an insight into the way humans More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Lisa rated it:

This was my first C.S. Lewis book - I kept meaning to read the Narnia Chronicles, but never got around to it. Now I'm completely addicted to his writing, and plan to read many more of his books.

The Screwtape Letters is written from the perspective of an advanced demon (Screwtape), writing to his nephew, Wormwood. It takes a minute when you start the book to wrap your brain around the point of view - but once you realize what is going on, it really makes you think from different an More...

4 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 18, 2007

Samuel rated it:

This book really opened my eyes to the ways Satan tries to entrap people into sinning. Some sins were rather obscure, but most were very common that I myself am struggling with. I just realized that I do have a choice no matter what happens and that is all that counts. Once you no longer desire to do evil, you win, Satan loses. That is the adventure in this story. Screwtape and Wormwood, the tempters, are finally thwarted when the Christian, their subject, dies in righteousness (from what I More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Elaine rated it:

I drudgingly read more than halfway though this book simply because I LOVE "Mere Christianity," and I was hoping it would get better. After I realized that I wasn't even really reading it anymore (because I was so bored), I decided to quit, at least for the time being.

I like the idea of the book, and there were some good one liners, but for some reason, the actual content and format just didn't do it for me. I was bored and disappointed because I know this is supposed to be More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Feb 03, 2011

Alberto rated it:

El tema es fabuloso, y sobretodo por la forma como Staples Lewis aborda su sensibilidad de escritor y narrador, para lograr sentir lo que su personaje, un demonio, puede estar sintiendo, viendo y aconsejando a su sobrino, otro demonio pero aún inexperto.

El libro se presenta así para abrir boca: “En lo que se refiere a los diablos, la raza humana puede caer en dos errores iguales y de signo opuesto. Uno consiste en no creer en su existencia. El otro, en creer en los diablos y sentir More...

1 comment like

Jan 28, 2011

Ron rated it:

An absolute stitch, but make no mistake it also contains profound insights about our relationship with evil.

In many ways a more accessible statement of Lewis' beliefs than the contemporaneous, but denser Mere Christianity.

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 11, 2009

Benson rated it:

Such an interesting book! I actually listened to this on disc during my daily commute and I will listen to it again to glean more from it. Very thought-provoking approach to understanding how temptation works and what tactics the devil uses to drag mortals down to his misery.

One take-away I valued, even though it has no doctrinal foundation, was the thought of having a specific demon assigned to me by the Father Below to get to know my every flaw and strength and exploit that know More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Sep 01, 2011

Patrick rated it:

Full review at The Bookish Pinoy

I would highly recommend Screwtape Letters to those who are looking for ways to see this world from a new vantage point. I imagine that even non-believers should find the things described here pretty much interesting too. Bottom line is, you don’t need to be a Christian to enjoy reading The Screwtape Letters. If you’re like most people who just wants to live a good and rewarding life, then this book is for you. However, a good life does not necessarily More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 19, 2008

Lauren rated it:

I often say that almost all of my theology comes from reading "The Narnia Suite," which I read for the first time at the age of eight, and more than a dozen times thereafter. I was particularly taken with The Last Battle, in which some people are very surprised indeed to learn that those they thought wouldn't be admitted into Aslan's Land because they fought on "The Wrong Side" of the aforementioned last battle, were in fact instantly admitted because it was their intention More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 10, 2008

Jennelle rated it:

This book is very interesting. Two Devils: Screwtape (a learned Devil) and Wormwood (a devil in training)are writing letters back and forth to each other on the best tactics in capturing a human soul. C.S. Lewis claimed that "the book was distasteful to write, and he vowed never to write a direct sequel" I think it was distasteful for him to write because he must have felt that he was thinking like the adversary. It really makes you stop and think. It's a fairly quick read. I was in More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 28, 2008

matt rated it:

I'm not a big fan of Clive Staples Lewis, either of his writing or his philosophy. I wouldn't even really commend the book's principles....it does quite a bit to make one think that the entire world is a paranoid conspiracy run by ACTUAL satanic beings, trying with their every effort to sabotage one's mind.

Like, there's a part when the senior demon reminds the novice demon that a good place to be able to get a foothold into someone's thoughts is to infiltrate them while they More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 13, 2008

Danielle rated it:

So intelligently written-- C.S. Lewis sees right through you and highlights your every human foible and self-justification through the eyes of a "junior tempter." Such an inspiring book, though. You finish it with the feeling that despite our many weaknesses, good can conquer evil in the most trying battle--that of our countless daily choices between little sins or being a little better.
I love this book for the way it helped me see that even mundane decisions matter. No matter ho More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 05, 2008

Sarah rated it:

Not quite what I was expecting. I've been told many times over the years how funny "Screwtape" is, and while I admit it's got a very humorous side, there's also something very dark and insidious about it (no doubt made more so by Joss Ackland, whose velvety, malevolent voice was reading the audiobook).

As a non-Christian, I find Lewis' take on faith surprisingly hypocritical at times: he criticizes those who have their own take on Christianity as merely taking a long road t More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Apr 01, 2008

Melissa rated it:

My favorite thing about this book is that it is so fun to talk about with others that have read it. It is a book that will be worth reading again and again and learning something new about myself each time I read it. I am coping a review from MelissaS from CT. I just copied it because it is exactly what I'm thinking and I don't see the need to repeat the work.

"I love this book - it really makes you think. For those who have not read it, the book is written as a compilation of More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 06, 2008

Kipi rated it:

I picked up this book because Allan is always referring to it, and I thought it would be easier to have an intelligent conversation about it had I actually read the book. Now I can say that I wish I had read it years ago. It is an easy read on the surface, but there is so much more to it. Lewis was a brilliant writer, and this book, written from the perspective of an "Under Secretary" tormentor, will make the reader view his/her life and Satan's work in the world in a whole new way. Th More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jul 12, 2010

Hope rated it:

This was the sort of book that makes you think very hard while it frightens you a bit, and then you can't help but breathe a sigh of relief when it's finished, acknowledging that it was indeed a great piece of literature, as well as acknowledging the genius that was C. S. Lewis.

I'd have to agree with Lewis, though, that it was a stifling book. There really was a smothering quality to it. Lewis said, "The world into which I had to project myself while I spoke through Screwtap More...

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 18, 2008

Rachel rated it:

(written 11/02)

This was basically a big game of reversing everything around to the perspective of a devil, who delights in our demise. The premise was exciting, even in letter form, but I quickly tired of it. Lewis's staunchly Christian viewpoint is very well-argued (though still not enough to convince me of the actual existence of hell & it's "devils," even metaphorically). I found the following quotes fun to roll around in my brain though.

praying "not to w More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 27, 2008

Megan rated it:

I sometimes got really bogged down in the language (C.S. Lewis is significantly smarter than me, obviously) but really enjoyed it overall. I feel like I learned a lot about myself by reading this book. To me, whether or not there are actual "demons" standing over my shoulder is a little bit irrelevant. The things I do that are un-christian and self-sabotaging could be put there by a devil or they could be my own inventions, but either way they are getting in the way of what I really More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 03, 2008

Clair rated it:

I really liked this book because it gave me an idea of how gulible the human heart can be. We can be turned aside from following Christ sooo easily! C.S.Lewis really captured the sinful nature of man and brought it to light. But, and I like this the most, the man in this story rose above it. We see him being surrounded by the "populars" but he doesn't slip under and become one of them. He is polite but does not conform.That is one of many circumstances that he looks to God and not to m More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Andrew rated it:

A downright chilling book about the evilness of human tendencies. Told through letters to a devil-in-training from its uncle, the book reveals how easily the devil can get his fingerprints on our lives. I wouldn't recommend this book to non-Christians, as it's all about leading a Christian life and how the devil is always nipping at our heels. It is a well-written book, though, and raises some interesting points about how we should live our lives. The main thing I learned from this book is t More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

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