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An Experiment in Criticism

4.09 of 5 stars 4.09 · rating details · 691 ratings · 89 reviews

Why do we read literature and how do we judge it? C.S. Lewis's classic analysis springs from the conviction that literature exists for the joy of the reader and that books should be judged by the kind of reading they invite.

Paperback, 152 pages

Published January 31st 1992 by Cambridge University Press (first published 1961)

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Apr 21, 2009 Jesse rated it 3 of 5 stars

Another good example as to why it's a shame C.S. Lewis has been largely abandoned to the realm of religious studies--I can't imagine many non-religious literary critics would bother touching this now. In a lot of ways this is a proto-text for Reader Response theory, with Lewis exploring why making a distinction between what is "good" literature and what is "bad" literature is less important than analyzing the person reading it (which he breaks into the "literary" and "unliterary"). Of course the...more Another good example as to why it's a shame C.S. Lewis has been largely abandoned to the realm of religious studies--I can't imagine many non-religious literary critics would bother touching this now. In a lot of ways this is a proto-text for Reader Response theory, with Lewis exploring why making a distinction between what is "good" literature and what is "bad" literature is less important than analyzing the person reading it (which he breaks into the "literary" and "unliterary"). Of course the whole thing comes off now as inescapably antiquated (particularly in the way he has no problems making clean-cut categorizations), but around every corner he comes up with unexpected surprises, often laced with a devilishly dry British wit--a spirited defense of Modernist poetry for instance, or perhaps a shrewd dissection of literary fashions ("dethronments and restorations" of literary reputations are "almost monthly events").

But the penultimate chapter ("The Experiment") is the most striking of all, particularly in his cautioning against "Vigilant criticism"--which I take as being social theory which was just beginnings its rise to ascendency around the time this was published. Frankly, it reminded me a lot of what Camille Paglia had to say in her infamous "Junk Bonds and Corporate Raiders: Academe in the Hour of the Wolf" (what an interesting pair those two make!). Not that I agree wholeheartedly with Lewis (or Paglia) on this topic, though I do find it intriguing, and on many levels, valuable as well. Unfortunately, Lewis self-consciously refuses to carry his point to the logical extreme (and that's I suppose where Paglia went, for better or worse), instead choosing to conclude his "experiment" in a swirl of invoked transcendence. But lest we be quick to write Lewis off as too esoteric for these postmodern times: not even a day after remarking to a friend I was finding this book "rather old fashioned," Lewis administered a potent bitchslap, writing "all you can really say about my taste is that it is old-fashioned; yours will soon be the same." Touché!

"We can only find a book bad by reading it as if it might, after all, be very good. We must empty our lives and lay ourselves open. There is no work in which holes can't be picked; no work that can succeed without a preliminary act of good will on the part of the reader."(less)

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Feb 02, 2012 Brenden Link rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Donna Link

Recommended to Brenden by: T. David Gordon

Shelves: literary-criticism

If you haven't read anything on literary criticism, this little book by C.S. Lewis will open your mind to a whole new world -- the world of the text, and it well-read.

Lewis suggests that rather than judging the quality of books by their mere nature and/or content, one should judge them by the nature in which they are read. For example, some people read books only once to gratify some curiosity or lust, only to abandon the books forever afterwards. Contrarily, those who truly love their books wi...more If you haven't read anything on literary criticism, this little book by C.S. Lewis will open your mind to a whole new world -- the world of the text, and it well-read.

Lewis suggests that rather than judging the quality of books by their mere nature and/or content, one should judge them by the nature in which they are read. For example, some people read books only once to gratify some curiosity or lust, only to abandon the books forever afterwards. Contrarily, those who truly love their books will read them countless times and cherish them as favored possessions. In other words, some people read books seeking only to find a world they already are comfortable with and understand; a world they already have categories for and can explain. A world that "makes sense" in their system of thought. By reading books in such a way, such readers are not challenged by what they read. And yet in the end, they sadly meet only themselves in each book. For Lewis, this explains the vast hoard of trashy novels which all basically follow the same principle. In these cases, the reader is never brought to a higher level of knowledge. There is no additive transfer. People get out only what they already knew. This all takes very little effort on the part of the reader.

Contrarily, good readers begin by getting themselves "out of the way." Good readers will first surrender their own preconceived notions and biases. They open themselves up to receive "instructions" (as it were) from the text itself. In effect, they surrender to the text. And now the text can actually begin to work on the reader. This is an entirely different kind of reading and leads to an additive gain in knowledge on the part of the reader. It allows their minds to open in order to receive whole worlds they didn't realize before. In this way new knowledge is truly transferred in an additive way. Rather than meeting only themselves in a text, and learning only what they already knew (and had categories for), this way of "receiving" a text allows the reader to meet 'someone else' (as it were) and actually grow in the process.

All of this is written in Lewis' classic, and beloved, easy style, taking things ordinarily complex and confusing and then simplifying them in his characteristic combination of wit, brevity, and clarity. This books is both considerably simple while surprisingly profound. I couldn't recommend it more highly! (less)

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Apr 03, 2008 Tawny rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Tawny by: Professor Elizabeth Wahlquist

Shelves: literacy

Much to my surprise, I enjoyed reading An Experiment in Criticism. Then again, I am a humanities minor, so anything dealing with art in general is of interest to me. I really appreciated how C.S. Lewis wrote about reading, music, myths, poetry, and paintings. I think he covered his bases well and did not favor any art form. Unlike many other literary critics, Lewis made his points logical and easy to understand. The terminology he used to argue his position was also decipherable. It was a great...more Much to my surprise, I enjoyed reading An Experiment in Criticism. Then again, I am a humanities minor, so anything dealing with art in general is of interest to me. I really appreciated how C.S. Lewis wrote about reading, music, myths, poetry, and paintings. I think he covered his bases well and did not favor any art form. Unlike many other literary critics, Lewis made his points logical and easy to understand. The terminology he used to argue his position was also decipherable. It was a great help to have so many examples of his theories, such as the teddy bear existing so children could imagine it being alive with a personality.

While reading this book I frequently found myself comparing it to Aristotle’s Poetics. The main difference I observed was that Aristotle wrote about which elements needed to be in place to achieve a good poem or tragedy. Lewis, on the other hand, wrote about how we must approach and read a book or any piece of art to “receive” its meaning rather than “use” it. Aristotle believed that the fall a main character experiences in every Greek tragedy is a result of his own hubris, or some other major character flaw. Lewis did not seem to think this mattered very much. He argued that there are a lot of other things in life that cause suffering, so tragedies do not really offer us a broad, accurate understanding of life.

I appreciate how Lewis mentioned so many authors and their works. There were some with which I was not familiar, but for the most part, I enjoyed thinking about all those stories and poems I had read. I have always felt that application, or the connecting of a book one has read to other works, is important in truly coming to appreciate it. The manner in which Lewis referred to authors and their works makes me think he would support that belief.

Lewis opened my eyes to see what type of reader I am. After reading his criticism, I realize now that I tend to read a book once and feel like I should never read it again (except for scriptures). I am not certain if it is because I want to move on to other things I have not yet read, or if I feel that I have somehow graduated from that novel. Lewis’ stance makes me want to go back and reread some “potential” books just sitting in my bookcase. Lewis categorized other types of readers as status-seekers, devotees of culture, English literature students, and nonliterary. While at college I have come to believe that each time I read something by every great author, I believe I have accomplished something “meritorious.” I see now that I should be reading that stuff anyway for enjoyment and appreciation.

I liked how Lewis pointed out that the only way we can see if a book is worthwhile or good is by reading it as such. Then, when we have finished reading we can say that it really was good, or that we overestimated it. It does not make sense to approach a book thinking it will be bad. I noticed that Lewis repeated himself toward the end of the book several times. At first I thought I had read that part before, or that he had made a mistake by stating things over again. Thinking back, I realize he (like the prophets) knew the only way people really take things in and learn is by repetition. I now have a greater appreciation for Lewis and have the desire to read, again, each of his works.
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Aug 04, 2011 Jacob Aitken added it

Lewis submits the basic idea that a good book demands good reading. In a round-about way he shows how different books and genres reflect this criticism. He warns us of the "reading of the unliterary" (think of the average American). This chap will avoid non-narrative material, ignore the style and rhythm, and generally prefer fast-paced novels. Lewis gives us other examples of "misreading." There is a failure between "realism of presentation" and "realism of content" (80).

The above example is w...more

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May 07, 2013 Angela rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

C. S. Lewis and E. B. White remind me of each other, and not just because they both go by their initials and wrote for children. Lewis exemplifies "omit needless words," and the succinctness and clarity of his prose embody the logic and clarity of his thought. Reading him is a series of both "of course!" and "aha!" moments: he makes so much intelligent sense, but you feel you needed him to draw out his conclusions in order for you to see them - yet you don't feel pandered to at all.

Literary theo...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Bill Hammack rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have read this book many, many times. It enriched my reading of other books. Lewis, more famous for his apologetics, spent a lifetime as a reader - perhaps the greatest reader ever! All of his writing on literature repasy the time invested, but I found the return on this book the greatest - it is empowering. His enthusiasm and love of reading comes through on every page: "The first reading," he writes, "of some literary work is often, to the literary, an experience so momentous that only exper...more

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Feb 10, 2011 Douglas Dalrymple rated it 3 of 5 stars

Rather than judge a reader’s taste in books by what he or she reads, Lewis would have us judge books by the sort of reading they “permit, invite or compel.” That’s the experiment. I’m going to be a stinker and suggest that what Lewis really wants is a roundabout way to be a snob without feeling bad about it, because it seems to come to the same thing in the end. He wants to understand his own judgments and predilections as much as he wants to understand what makes a good book good and a bad book...more Rather than judge a reader’s taste in books by what he or she reads, Lewis would have us judge books by the sort of reading they “permit, invite or compel.” That’s the experiment. I’m going to be a stinker and suggest that what Lewis really wants is a roundabout way to be a snob without feeling bad about it, because it seems to come to the same thing in the end. He wants to understand his own judgments and predilections as much as he wants to understand what makes a good book good and a bad book bad.

Which is not to say that I didn’t enjoy An Experiment in Criticism. I did enjoy it. I’m a book snob too, and Lewis makes some lovely sentences. But I have a couple complaints.

First, it seems that the sort of person commonly given to poor reading is, in Lewis’s mind, notoriously female. Throughout the book he employs male-generic pronouns (which is fine by me – I’m old-school that way) except when he’s talking about poor readers. In one passage he nominates as representatives of the benighted class those dowdy women “we have all known” who moon over a genre paperback in a bookshop for a half hour before realizing they’ve read it before, God bless ‘em. By comparison, a male who happens to be an amateur reader may nevertheless be “a serious man.” Lewis does this sort of thing more than once. It’s not a total mood-killer for me; I expect it from Lewis. But I’m not old-school that way.

Moving on, there’s another problem: the fact that it is perfectly possible to read bad books well and to read good books poorly. Take a look around you, man. Spend some time in the living-rooms of the masses. Look over their bookshelves (assuming they have any). Ask them: “What’s the best book you ever read, and why?” Listen to how they answer. You’ll find, I’m afraid, that the world is chock full of connoisseurs of bad books who not only read them but read them carefully and seem to derive as much pleasure and transcendence from their reading as we (the snobs) do from ours.

To his credit, Lewis practically admits as much and in the final couple chapters throws caveat after caveat at his model until it’s whittled down to little more than the idea that we should be charitable towards books and not too quick to judge them – especially not based on the evidence of a mere one or two or three or four apparent bad readings (that is, bad readers). We should presume well of a book until we’ve been able to discover the history of its various readings over time.

But that introduces a third problem: Where should we turn for that kind of historical perspective? Not, apparently, to criticism, since Lewis claims that probably no piece of criticism he’s ever read has changed his mind or added anything to his own enjoyment of a book. This leaves us with our own impression of a book and the recommendations that we may stumble across from people whose taste in books we already admire. In other words, it’s still a pretty subjective affair.

This is where I toss up my hands in exasperation. But then I’m consoled somewhat because Lewis’s final chapter – the epilogue – does have some lovely purple passages on how reading lots and lots of books makes us superior, after all, to those poor saps that don’t.(less)

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Sep 25, 2010 Courtney Johnston rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-about-books, borrowed

I think this may be the first book of literary criticism I've read, and I only picked it up because I'm at the beginning of what feels like a bit of a C.S. Lewis binge (his biography 'Surprised by Joy' is by my elbow as I write this).

'An Experiment in Criticism' is just that - a lengthy essay in which Lewis tests out a different way of writing about books, and in particular, distinguishing good books from bad. It opens:

"In this essay. I propose to try an experiment. Literary criticism is traditi...more

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Aug 14, 2009 Bruce rated it 4 of 5 stars

In this book Lewis proposes to critique readers and types of reading, leaving the distinction between books themselves as a corollary to the primary experiment. Here are a couple of quotations that struck me: “The first demand any work of any art makes upon us is surrender. Look. Listen. Receive. Get yourself out of the way….The distinction can hardly be better expressed than by saying that the many use art and the few receive it.” After describing the reading habits of the “unliterary” (primari...more In this book Lewis proposes to critique readers and types of reading, leaving the distinction between books themselves as a corollary to the primary experiment. Here are a couple of quotations that struck me: “The first demand any work of any art makes upon us is surrender. Look. Listen. Receive. Get yourself out of the way….The distinction can hardly be better expressed than by saying that the many use art and the few receive it.” After describing the reading habits of the “unliterary” (primarily and almost exclusively for narrative and “events”), Lewis discusses myth and fantasy (both literary and psychological) as well as realism. He distinguishes between realism of presentation and realism of content; both are important, and each or both can be present in good and bad literature. Works of literature “are complex and carefully made objects. Attention to the very objects they are is our first step. To value them chiefly for reflections which they may suggest to us or morals we may draw from them, is a flagrant instance of ‘using’ instead of ‘receiving.’” “As little as possible [in a work of literature:] must exist solely for the sake of other things. Every episode, explanation, description, dialogue - ideally every sentence - must be pleasurable and interesting for its own sake.”

“A true lover of literature should be in one way like an honest examiner, who is prepared to give the highest marks to the telling, felicitous and well-documented exposition of views he dissents from or even abominates.” Literature fundamentally uses words, and we must receive, appreciate, and come to terms with the words before we can, or dare, go beyond them in our (often misbegotten) attempts to force “meaning,” “philosophy,” “social commentary,” etc, onto the text. A literary work must be received in its entirety before it can be judged, for before we complete it we have no solid basis on which to make a judgment.

Lewis’ short chapter on poetry is marvelous, worth the price of the whole book if one were to focus on only a portion, although, to be sure, it makes sense only in its larger context. For, as Lewis admits, there are no non-literary poetry readers at all, the number of poetry readers in contemporary society having been reduced to only a very few. But his characterizations and cautions are most apt and helpful.

In his penultimate chapter, “The Experiment,” Lewis proceeds to complete his argument, first recapitulating: “Normally we judge men’s literary taste by the things they read. The question was whether there might be some advantage in reversing the process and judging literature by the way men read it.…Observation of how men read is a strong basis for judgements on what they read; but judgements on what they read is a flimsy, even a momentary, basis for judgements on their way of reading.” Lewis goes on to assert that the ideal critic describes books rather than judges them. Yet, in fact, “the truth is not that we need the critics in order to enjoy the authors, but that we need the authors in order to enjoy the critics.” He is quite skeptical about the utility of evaluative literary criticism.

Finally, in a brief epilogue, Lewis addressed the question, “Why read?” And his answer is in order to extend ourselves, to experience what others experience: “Literary experience heals the wound, without undermining the privilege, of individuality.”
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May 02, 2009 Kristen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Lewis certainly has some compelling arguments for how literature should be read and how this method of criticism would be much more stable then the one currently in use. Overall I felt that the book had some important implications for teaching adolescents.

Lewis makes the fascinating point that in today’s educational system we are teaching students to read so critically, that many approach every work with a distrust and suspicion, immediately looking out for ways that the author might deceive th...more

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Apr 12, 2013 Trelesa rated it 3 of 5 stars

An expounding of Lewis' thoughts on good vs bad books, good vs bad readers and theories on how to determine which is which. As one of my favorite authors, it hurts me to say at times his position had an arrogant feel. But as always, thought-provoking and sincere.

I especially appreciated his ideas that we are failing to teach children how to enjoy books by making them dissect them for the author's supposed intent, meaning, feeling, message, ad nauseam... Teaching them to be critics rather than t...more An expounding of Lewis' thoughts on good vs bad books, good vs bad readers and theories on how to determine which is which. As one of my favorite authors, it hurts me to say at times his position had an arrogant feel. But as always, thought-provoking and sincere.

I especially appreciated his ideas that we are failing to teach children how to enjoy books by making them dissect them for the author's supposed intent, meaning, feeling, message, ad nauseam... Teaching them to be critics rather than to truly love reading. It made me review how I read. Granted it is great fun to break down our own experience of reading a book, but that is different than trying to "interpret" the author. (See the following quote.)

"Hence, it is irrelevant whether the mood expressed in a poem was truly and historically the poet's own or one that he also had imagined. What matters is his power to make us live it. I doubt whether Donne the man gave more than playful and dramatic harbourage to the mood expressed in The Apparition. I doubt still more whether the real Pope, save while he wrote it, or even them more than dramatically, felt what he expresses in the passage beginning 'Yes, I am proud'. What does it matter?"

On reasons we read - "...we seek an enlargement of our being. We want to be more than ourselves... We want to see with other eyes, to imagine with other imaginations, to feel with other hearts, as well as with our own."

We "seldom fully realise the enormous extension of our being which we owe to authors.... in reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself."

Additional quotes:

"The truth is not that we need the critics in order to enjoy the authors, but that we need the authors in order to enjoy the critics."

"In political language it (realism) has a ... somewhat debased meaning; the attitudes we should call 'cynical' in our opponents are called 'realistic' when our own side adopts them. "

"The real danger lurks in sober-faced novels where all appears to be very probable but all is in fact contrived to put across some social or ethical or religious or anti-religious 'comment on life'."
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Mar 01, 2009 Brent Jones rated it 4 of 5 stars

Why read? C.S. Lewis says because it is a hedonistic pleasure and it is "good". "Good" for Lewis does not mean the subject matter is true or even logical but dependent on individual need.

In the first chapter he compares buying a book to someone who buys a picture. The need can be very different from one person to the next. One might buy the picture to cover a bare spot on the wall and then after a week or two the pictures become mostly invisible to them. The good news is that the bare spot is n...more

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May 21, 2012 Becky Pliego rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: literary, aesthetics, read-in-2012

Very good.

Some of my favorite quotes:

"The first demand any work of art makes upon us is surrender. look. Listen. Receive. Get yourself out of the way." (p.19)

"Those who seek only vicarious happiness in their reading are unliterary; but those who pretend that it can never be an ingredient in good reading are wrong." (p. 39)

"{W}ho in his senses would not keep, if he could, that tireless curiosity, that intensity of imagination, that facility of suspending disbelief, that unspoiled appetite, that r...more

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Nov 22, 2009 Cheri rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: literary-criticism, read-in-2009

I realize this book was written 50 years ago, but I still find passages like these simply unforgivable:

"We have all known women who remembered a novel so dimly that they had to stand for half an hour in the library skimming through it before they were certain they had once read it. But the moment they became certain, they rejected it immediately. . . . Those who read great works, on the other hand, will read the same work ten, twenty or thirty times during the course o their life."

"And unhappily...more

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Oct 02, 2012 Jean rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

I read this several years ago for a class I was taking. Interestingly,although I came across my scribbled notes in the margin, I had no memory of reading it before. Ah, this is a wonderful age--everything old is new again. So it was a good reminder to me of what myself and others mean when they say a book is "good." (It is not necessarily the same thing. And my particular clientele are more interested in "the event" than the experience.)
Favorite quotes:
"Those who seek only vicarious happiness in...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Jeremy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: on-reading

Lewis' experiment as he explains it: "Normally we judge men's literary taste by the things they read. The question was whether there might be some advantage in reversing the process and judging literature by the way men read it. If all went ideally well we should end by defining good literature as that which permits, invites, or even compels good reading; and bad, as that which does the same for bad reading" (p. 104).

Very intriguing thought experiment. He builds a good case. I'd be curious what...more

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Aug 25, 2010 graham rated it 3 of 5 stars

A summary quote:

"Ideally, we must receive [the work:] first and then evaluate it. Otherwise, we have nothing to evaluate. Unfortunately this ideal is progressively less and less realised the longer we live in a literary profession or in literary circles. It occurs, magnificently, in young readers. At a first reading of some great work, they are 'knocked flat'. Criticise it? No, by God, but read it again. The judgement 'This must be a great work' may be long delayed. But in later life we can har...more

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Sep 22, 2009 Carl rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

"Smiles from reason flow."

Expressing his distaste for much of contemporary Literary Criticim, Lewis attempts an exploration of what reading is, what it does, and why literature should be given back to the readers.

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Apr 20, 2013 Jennifer rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-reads

It is a true pity that George Orwell and C.S. Lewis never happened to get drunk at the same bar and enter into a violent, gin-fueled debate over literary criticism, because that might have changed the course of the development of literature in the 20th century. Or perhaps it would only have made the bartender rich selling tickets to the show. Sadly, we'll never know.

Lewis' radical proposition here is that it is as much the reader as the text which determines whether a book is "good" or "bad" lit...more

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May 26, 2011 Danna rated it 4 of 5 stars

At the outset, and at many points along the way, I was convinced that Lewis was simply on a rant against literary scholars and critics who dismissed his Narnia Tales as being only a fairy tale for children.
Ultimately I adapted to his style, arguments, and penchant for debating from all sides of an issue. One happy surprise was the two or three belly laughs I enjoyed, and the discovery of great soundbites, as well as a much-loved quote at the end:
"But in reading great literature I become a thousa...more

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Jul 02, 2012 Caleb rated it 4 of 5 stars

What begins as Lewis's literary criticism experiment ends as an instructional essay on how and why to read literature. The experiement consists in defining "good literature" as that which welcomes the best kind of reading. In the process of this experiment, Lewis manages to explain (1) how one should approach any of the arts, (2) what are the merits of a good story, (3) what kinds of reading are the "wrong" kind, and (4) what kind of reading is the best kind. For any reader, I would consider Lew...more

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Aug 23, 2007 Carl rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of Lewis and those interested in something different in lit-crit

Shelves: literarytheory

As far as literary criticism goes, this is a bit old and out of date, but I think I remember being impressed with many bits of this when I read it-- which was a while back, so I don't remember it all that well. I think there might have been a stronger focus on the reader, rather than the author's biography, etc, which was impressive to me at the time as it was coming so long before the heyday of reception theory and reader-response theory. In any case, it was pleasant to read something by Lewis...more

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Jan 23, 2009 Denae rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, classics

Iteresting and gets me to thinking. According to the way he wants to look at books and readers, which is something I'll have to think about a little longer, his would get a 5 for being so deep, but CSL seemed to do a lot of repeating. Long after I'd gotten his concept, he's still explaining it.
I also couldn't connect with a lot of the references because I didn't live in the 1950's. I don't know half the writer's he talks about, so some is just outdated.

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Dec 17, 2012 Amy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literary-criticism, nonfiction, read-in-2012

When I read books like this I realize how long I've been out of school, and how long since I've had to write papers and critically analyze anything. So I don't feel intelligent enough to really comment much on this work of Lewis's literary criticism. Overall I felt that he came across quite snobbish sounding - as he talked about "literary" people and "unliterary" people. It did feel pretty out of date, with some old fashioned sexist attitudes toward female readers (although he was writing this a...more

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Jan 18, 2013 Vivian Wong rated it 4 of 5 stars

Thought provoking and insightful. Lewis sets up his initial thesis, then examines it in the following chapters from different angles. Finally the Epilogue rewards all your effort in following him on the detours along the way. While Lewis' argument is clearly presented, a reader who is well acquainted with the "big names" in literature would better appreciate his illustrations.

Definitely needs a second reading, once I increase my literary vocab.

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Jun 06, 2012 Ryan Handermann rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: literature

Thought provoking. I really liked his insight into receiving first, then judging when we read. Many a high school student needs to accept this, "At least read it and understand it before you tell me it is stupid." However, I am actually be a little more critical in my reception of books. I didn't actually read the whole thing, it was good for a discussion because a lot of it was confusing and unclear.

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Jul 30, 2010 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars

I love the way C.S. Lewis writes. In this book he talks about the right way to read books, where we really take what an author is saying and let it change us. His experiment is that instead of defining someone's "taste" in literature by what he read's, Lewis tries to define how good a book is by the way it is read. He says if a book is really worth reading, then it is worth re-reading and savoring.

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Sep 27, 2012 James rated it 3 of 5 stars

Says "See if the people who read some book really read it or are they careless with it, and if nobody will care about a book, maybe it's bad but don't be too sure." Also makes the point that criticism requires fiction, but fiction doesn't require criticism. I realize (and have realized before) that I'm not the best reader.

In some way this was unsatisfying, maybe it took too long to say a relatively simple point, so I gave it three stars.

Oh yeah, it's also kind of elitist.

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Oct 05, 2012 Lynn Weber rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction

You will never waste your time with C. S. Lewis. This relatively short book gave me more to think about and admire than many a lengthier tome. His basic thesis is that it's better to judge books by the way they are read than by formal qualities. But this makes the book sound more narrow in topic than it really is. A great book for anyone who just likes thinking about literature.

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May 16, 2012 Sara rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction, read-and-repeat

I read this book during a C. S. Lewis class taught by Jerry Root. This is one of my two favourite Lewis works -- the other being "The Four Loves." Those who love words and reading and music and the arts should absolutely read this book. My copy is full of underlined phrases, and it is something I revisit every year or two to refresh myself after a long spell of dogged study.

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About C.S. Lewis

CLIVE STAPLES LEWIS (1898–1963) was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably one of the most influential writers of his day. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English Literature at Oxford University until 1954, when he was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement. He wrote more th...more

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Books by C.S. Lewis

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #1)

The Chronicles of Narnia (Chronicles of Narnia #1-7)

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Chronicles of Narnia, #3)

The Magician's Nephew (Chronicles of Narnia, #1)

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Quotes from An Experiment in Criti...

“In reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself...I see with a myriad of eyes,but it is still I who see.” — 21 people liked it

“The true reader reads every work seriously in the sense that he reads it whole-heartedly, makes himself as receptive as he can. But for that very reason he cannot possibly read every work solemly or gravely. For he will read 'in the same spirit that the author writ.'... He will never commit the error of trying to munch whipped cream as if it were venison.” — 11 people liked it

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An Experiment in Criticism

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