Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life
by C.S. Lewis
published
March 23rd 1966
(first published 1955)
by Harvest Books
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binding
Paperback, 252 pages
isbn
0156870118
(isbn13: 9780156870115)
description
In this book Lewis tells of his search for joy, a spiritual journey that led him from the Christianity of his early youth into atheism and then back t...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 2058)
Read in June, 2008
"Surprised by Joy" este autobiografia intelectuala a lui C.S. Lewis si prezinta trecerea lui de la crestinismul din copilarie la ateism, la teism si apoi la un crestinism matur. In prima parte a cartii descrie copilaria in Irlanda, relatia cu tatal si fratele lui, apoi diversele scoli si internate prin care a trecut, anii petrecuti la Oxford si experienta primului razboi mondial. Intors la Oxford dupa citiva ani, intilneste mai multi intelectuali crestini, printre care si J.R.R. Tolkie...more
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Read in August, 2008
"Surprised by Joy" What an awesome title!!! C.S Lewis' passion in life was reading, so this book at times reads as lists of authors and works... it took me a long time to get into the book (not till about 1/2 way through!) because I can't relate to any of that (this book makes me feel how shamefully lacking and shallow my education was!!). Other than that I enjoyed the book a lot. Lewis' writing style is candid and open (it reminds me a lot of my emails- he analyzes everything and...more
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Read in June, 2008
The story of how C.S. Lewis was converted to Christianity. I don't often find biographies gripping, and I won't say this was a page-turner, but I did enjoy it. Most disconcerting for me was possibly the boarding school chapters. The only boarding school stories I'd read previously had been written either by Rowling or by Wodehouse, so I kept expecting some funny plot to take shape, and it never happened. Still, the anecdotes were interesting, and they all came together to show his gradual transf...more
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Read in March, 2008
I haven't finished listening to this book, but I'm once again finding myself profoundly moved by Lewis's very British, very "I was born in the previous century" narrative of losing and finding faith, of chasing his always elusive "Joy" and eventually realizing he could find it in the teachings of the church. When I was in high school, I read this book after seeing the movie about Lewis of the same title, and that was the first time I'd ever known, for sure, that other people...more
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Read in April, 2008
recommends it for:
C.S. Lewis fans
This was a difficult read. There were entire chapters that were enormously boring, mostly because I didn't recognize or relate to any of the references, like mythology, literature and British boarding school references.
Still, I found bits of Lewis's side-splitting humor, insight into his process from atheist to Theist to Christian and quite a few thoughtful passages.
When Lewis finally does describe his conversion he is clear to point out that it was a conversion first to Theism and not to C...more
Still, I found bits of Lewis's side-splitting humor, insight into his process from atheist to Theist to Christian and quite a few thoughtful passages.
When Lewis finally does describe his conversion he is clear to point out that it was a conversion first to Theism and not to C...more
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Read in June, 2006
Another one pulled from my blog's reading list:
So when one of my roommates found out I was reading this, they responded “You’re reading Lewis?” This is explained by my recent sarcasms about my church’s (and evangelicals more generally) “idolatry of C.S. Lewis” and my refusal to do such things as attend the recent series of talks on campus named after this very book. But the deal is that I have a pretty nice edition (from a time when I myself accorded Lewis something like the “p...more
So when one of my roommates found out I was reading this, they responded “You’re reading Lewis?” This is explained by my recent sarcasms about my church’s (and evangelicals more generally) “idolatry of C.S. Lewis” and my refusal to do such things as attend the recent series of talks on campus named after this very book. But the deal is that I have a pretty nice edition (from a time when I myself accorded Lewis something like the “p...more
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Read in April, 2008
I fear I like this book for the wrong reasons. For one, I found it fascinating as an introspective look into a past life and a past world. The shockingly deplorable conditions at Lewis' schools lead one to wonder how it was possible he should emerge to produce such magnificent work. Other such details, of personalities or landscapes, capture the imagination. My own temperament, I think, inclines me more towards the longing chapters of Lewis' youth.
As the work is one of a spiritual progress, ...more
As the work is one of a spiritual progress, ...more
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3 comments
Read in June, 2008
recommends it for:
C.S. Lewis fans
Long before he wrote the Narnia series. C.S. Lewis was a boy from the countryside. He was obsessed with reading and writing stories about a world of talking animals. He was also interested in knights in armour and norsemen. You can see where he got his inspiration for his fictional writing.
Besides the Narnia Chronicles, Lewis wrote many books about Christianity. According to the preface of Surprised by Joy, this book was written to explain his change from Athesim to Christianity. He admits...more
Besides the Narnia Chronicles, Lewis wrote many books about Christianity. According to the preface of Surprised by Joy, this book was written to explain his change from Athesim to Christianity. He admits...more
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Read in August, 2007
I was eager to read this book out of curiosity for what would lead a man like C. S. Lewis from atheism to Christianity. I'm a big fan of Lewis's other writings. He has great style and a gift for using innovative metaphors to communicate deep truths. This book was different, though, in that it was so introspective. It was strange to hear Lewis musing, page after page, on his own thought processes and spiritual development. It was also surprising to discover that Lewis's atheism, like that of...more
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Read in November, 2005
Lewis said himself that the most compelling parts of people's autobiographies are their childhoods. Unfortunately I couldn't quite get into the early-going chapters of this book that were about his upbringing. I wasn't interested in the all-boys boarding school days or some other segments. This book really picked up for me when Lewis began explaining his transition from childhood Christian to atheist to theist and again to Christian. The mental picture of a higher power and a mere man moving the...more
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Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
Those interested in the experience of spirituality and movement between faiths and doubts
While the first half is necessary to the appreciation of the second, it is the second half that is most worthwhile, where Lewis explains most of the values he held at certain times in terms of experiences, and most crucially, what events, sometimes as simple as one spoken sentence, stuck. Especially considering how rigid or unyielding Lewis' other books are about his Christianity, this is very enlightening to the human experience of faith and doubt. You don't have to agree with his beliefs or co...more
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Read in March, 2007
I somehow mixed this book up with the one he wrote about his wife (wasn't her name Joy?), so it took awhile to get into the proper mindset when I discovered it wasn't the book I thought it was. Even so, I wasn't terribly impressed by it. As wonderful a writer as C.S. Lewis usually is, he just couldn't keep me interested in this one. I felt a bit like going "Yes? And?" when I finished it. Somehow the writing style just completely failed to grasp me. Granted, he did write a disclaimer ve...more
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Read in April, 2008
This is an interesting look into the early life and conversion of one of the most brilliant Christians of all time. However, I think it might only be of interest to Lewis fans. There are a few wise observations now and again, but they are few and far between. Mostly he is just recounting the story of his life, and the careful reader can see the process of how some of his more brillaint ideas were formed. To anyone who is not a Lewis fan, I would recommend his other books like Mere Christiani...more
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Read in January, 2006
I would say I was rather "Surprised by Disappointment" when I finished reading this book. A review (in the back cover, perhaps? not quite remember) stated that in the book Lewis recalled his conversion to Christianity, and I was prepared for the hard-core philosophical tone he employed to torture me through "The Problem of Pain".
It turned out that "Surprised by Joy" was autobiographical and not all about his conversion. However, the part where he said he spent mo...more
It turned out that "Surprised by Joy" was autobiographical and not all about his conversion. However, the part where he said he spent mo...more
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It's a great Auto-biography. It's sometimes hard to read because C.S. Lewis is extremely wordy and he uses some not-entirely-common-today-words, but if you want to truly try to understand this man and what made him who he was, then this book is a good start. He is completely subjective in his approach, but that's what is so great about it. He isn't trying to appease the masses, he is retro-spectively experiencing specific memorable moments of his childhood and translating them from a more wise p...more
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Far from being the typical "spiritual journey" book, C.S. Lewis captures, with his customary wit, the essence of his early life through adolescence which helped to shape his faith.
The preface is rather self-effacing, but not without some merit. Toward the end of the book his thoughts seem a bit more stream-of-consciousness and the transition from "a boy's life" to "concerned theologian" is not quite smooth, from a reader's perspective.
However, overall this i...more
The preface is rather self-effacing, but not without some merit. Toward the end of the book his thoughts seem a bit more stream-of-consciousness and the transition from "a boy's life" to "concerned theologian" is not quite smooth, from a reader's perspective.
However, overall this i...more
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Read in January, 2008
I love autobiographies, particularly of people that I admire as much as C.S. Lewis. I have to agree with another review of this book that it was difficult to maintain interest in his childhood stories and thoughts. Once the book progressed into his adult life, I was intrigued and enjoyed reading his transformation from athiesm to Christianity. In my opinion, Lewis has a distinct style of writing that is sometimes hard for me to follow and appreciate. I believe him to be brilliant and well-wr...more
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Read in November, 2002
recommended to Becky by:
Dad
This book came into my life during one of God's "themes" He was working on with me. It contains Lewis' story of grace which was impacted by the stories he read as a child and the feeling that "something wonderful is out there." At the time I read it, God was teaching me about joy and all the misconceptions we lay upon it - like joy is equivalent to happiness. I connected very deeply with Lewis' experience of fairy tale as a means to understand scripture and also with his k...more
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Read in January, 2004
A favorite quote:
"For eating and reading are two pleasures that combine admirably. Of course not all books are suitable for mealtime reading. It would be a kind of blasphemy to read poetry at table. What one wants is a gossipy, formless book which can be opened anywhere. The ones I learned so to use at Bookham were Boswell, and a translation of Herodotus, and Lang's History of English Literature. Tristam Shandy, Elia, and the Anatomy of Melancholy are all good for the same purpose."...more
"For eating and reading are two pleasures that combine admirably. Of course not all books are suitable for mealtime reading. It would be a kind of blasphemy to read poetry at table. What one wants is a gossipy, formless book which can be opened anywhere. The ones I learned so to use at Bookham were Boswell, and a translation of Herodotus, and Lang's History of English Literature. Tristam Shandy, Elia, and the Anatomy of Melancholy are all good for the same purpose."...more
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This is probably a book best suited for Christians rather than non-Christians. It was written, no doubt, as a kind of testimonial apologia for the faith. If it serves less well today than it did 50 years ago, it's because the unbelieving mind is very different in key respects than it was 50 years ago. So, the questions, issues, and objections to Christianity today are different than those overcome in Lewis' heart.
Still, it is a fascinating chronicle of Lewis' journey to the celestial city...more
Still, it is a fascinating chronicle of Lewis' journey to the celestial city...more
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