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The Great Divorce

by C.S. Lewis

4.28 · Rating details · 80,970 Ratings · 3,861 Reviews

In "The Great Divorce, " C.S. Lewis's classic vision of the Afterworld, the narrator boards a bus on a drizzly English afternoon and embarks on an incredible voyage through Heaven and Hell. He meets a host of supernatural beings far removed from his expectations, and comes to some significant realizations about the nature of good and evil.

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Paperback, 146 pages

Published February 1st 2002 by HarperCollins (first published 1945)

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Books (Besides the Bible) Recommended for Christian Readers

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The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

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Oct 30, 2009 Mike (the Paladin) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, classics

One of my favorite (if not my favorite) C. S. Lewis works (and I am a C. S. Lewis fan). The insight in this book about God and man's relationship with Him is wonderful.

I suppose that many who read this will already know that I'm a Christian. I won't belabor it, if you're interested I'm happy to discuss if you don't want to I won't push my thoughts on you.

This is a very readable book and while I suppose the Christian aspects will be obvious it is also possible to simply read the book as a novel. One of my favorite (if not my favorite) C. S. Lewis works (and I am a C. S. Lewis fan). The insight in this book about God and man's relationship with Him is wonderful.

I suppose that many who read this will already know that I'm a Christian. I won't belabor it, if you're interested I'm happy to discuss if you don't want to I won't push my thoughts on you.

This is a very readable book and while I suppose the Christian aspects will be obvious it is also possible to simply read the book as a novel. There are some overt "teaching sections" but the book is constructed as a fantasy story told from a narrator's point of view. I've read novels from the point of view of other religions and didn't suffer or find myself suborned into some belief against my will, so I don't think non-Christians would necessarily have a problem with the book. As to Christians I believe most will enjoy this book and find an (strangely when some of it is considered) uplifting story that is also thought provoking, enlightening and even instructional. If you are a non-Christian or even irreligious you might try it and see if you can approach it as a fantasy...that is up to each reader of course.

On the religious and philosophical front, the title is a response to Blake's, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell and though the book isn't a direct answer to this work it provides a contrasting and opposed view. Blake's work was written long before this one (1793) and is not as well know as this book. It's not at all necessary to have read it to enjoy this work. I only include this piece of information because I know some will be curious about the title.

Finally (and again), yes this is a Christian book and if you are a Christian and approach it so I believe it's possible to get much from this short read. In studying the Triune-God and wanting, hoping for even a little more understanding about His plan for us and the provision He has made this book was/is (for me) amazing. C.S. Lewis was a wise man and close to God, and he left us an abundance of that wisdom (from God)in his writings.

Highest recommendation.

...more

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Jul 12, 2008 Anne rated it it was amazing

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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Jun 06, 2008 John rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: religion

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 a bus ride from a ghostly, ...more

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Sep 04, 2013 Werner rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Serious Christian readers

Shelves: christian-life-and-thought, books-i-own

I've classified this book on my "Christian life and thought" shelf, which is one of my nonfiction shelves. Technically, one might argue that this is a work of fiction, a made-up narrative that uses the device of a dream vision to supposedly describe places to which no earth-bound human has ever been. But here, as with some of Hawthorne's short stories/essays, the fiction is so message-driven that any dividing line separating it from an essay is thin indeed. It's very much a narrative about ideas I've classified this book on my "Christian life and thought" shelf, which is one of my nonfiction shelves. Technically, one might argue that this is a work of fiction, a made-up narrative that uses the device of a dream vision to supposedly describe places to which no earth-bound human has ever been. But here, as with some of Hawthorne's short stories/essays, the fiction is so message-driven that any dividing line separating it from an essay is thin indeed. It's very much a narrative about ideas, and the fictional framework is just a vivid stage for these, with a few props, and the use of dramatic dialogue; here (unlike in his Chronicles of Narnia series or the Space Trilogy) Lewis' didactic purpose so overwhelms the story that it's not fair to evaluate it as fiction.

A professor of medieval literature, Lewis was quite familiar with Dante's The Divine Comedy. I am not; but I can recognize the conceptual similarity from general descriptions of the latter. Here too, we have a journey that encompasses Heaven and Hell (which, Lewis suggests, also serves as Purgatory for those who don't choose to stay there); and here, too, the narrator is furnished with a guide in the person of a famous author. (One of my Goodreads friends calls this work a "rip-off" of Dante's classic; perhaps we could more accurately call it a sort of homage, or an extended literary allusion.)

Whatever Dante's purpose was, however, Lewis clearly states in the short Preface to this work that it's not intended as a literal speculation as to what the real Heaven and Hell may be like. Rather, he uses his narrator's fictional journey as a literary conceit to make a series of major and minor points about how God relates to human beings, and how we relate to God and each other. A key message here is that God doesn't will any humans to be damned. (This would exclude the idea of Calvinist predestinarianism, despite Lewis' suggestion that the eternal perspective obviates some earthly theological distinctions such as this.) Rather, there are those who exclude themselves from Heaven, because their attitude won't let them embrace it. As the book suggests (and the Goodreads description quotes), there are two kinds of people, those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God ultimately says, in sorrow, "Thy will be done." (We could also characterize them, based on the portrayals here, as those willing to recognize a God outside themselves, and those determined to be the god and center of their own universe.) The author holds up a kind of moral mirror in which readers can see how their own attitudes and actions reflect --and it's one that reveals a lot of human self-centeredness, blaming of others for everything we refuse to take responsibility for, self-deceit and hypocrisy. The type of fictional framework, ostensibly a description of unseen realities but not intended to be taken as literally so, and the quality of the rigorous, uncompromising, spiritually-grounded ethical thought, is reminiscent of the author's (also excellent) The Screwtape Letters.

Unlike some Christian works, this one doesn't come across with the "all Christians are moral exemplars, and non-Christians are scumbags" vibe that non-Christians understandably tend to find offensive. Both God's judgment and grace, Lewis suggests, probe much more deeply into the heart and soul than surface religious affiliation; there are professed Christians (even an Anglican bishop!) in his Hell, and we hear of at least one pagan who's found his way to Heaven. However, I'd recommend this more to Christian than to non-Christian readers. That's not to say that some open-minded non-Christians wouldn't be interested in reading it, or couldn't profit from doing so. But I think Lewis presupposes some basic Christian concepts about God and the afterlife that, probably, most non-Christians would find hard to take as starting points. It's more suited, I think, as a stimulus for Christian moral and theological reflection about how we live, think, and relate to God and others. (Nonfiction Lewis works that I'd more readily recommend for non-Christian readers would include Mere Christianity, Miracles, and God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics.) ...more

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Jul 14, 2008 Nikki rated it it was amazing

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" last year. I'm eage ...more

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Dec 05, 2010 booklady rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: EVERYONE!

Recommended to booklady by: Lucy

Shelves: 2006, classic, literature, spiritual, religion, prayer, sci-fi, philosophy, 2002, fantasy, 1990s, psychology, fiction, worth-reading-over-and-over, 2010, favorites, 2012

Lewis wrote The Great Divorce in response to William Blake’s famous poem, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. Lewis didn't believe such a marriage of good and evil was possible on any level. He wrote, ‘...life is not like a pool but like a tree. It does not move towards unity but away from it and the creatures grow further apart as they increase in perfection. Good as it ripens, becomes continually more different not only from evil but also from other good. I do not think that all who choose wrong ...more

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Dec 21, 2016 Nostalgebraist rated it did not like it

I find myself in a strange place. Everything is unutterably beautiful, unusually large, and disproportionately heavy and rigid. My weight cannot bend the grass, and I cannot lift an apple. Also, I'm semi-transparent now. A blindingly luminescent human figure approaches me.

C. S. LEWIS: Hello there. I'm C. S. Lewis.

ROB: What is this place?

C. S. LEWIS: Why, this is heaven, of course. You can tell because everything here is so Real, and so joyous. The earth you knew was but a collection of dim shado ...more

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May 29, 2008 Rachel rated it it was amazing

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 narrator asks how ...more

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Sep 12, 2007 Gabriel rated it liked 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 reject Go 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!
...more

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Feb 13, 2009 Laurel Hicks rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-read-in-2009, audible, 0-kindle, books-read-in-2010, books-read-in-2013

2016: I always love meeting George Macdonald again. This serious fantasy abounds in humor and understanding of human nature.

2014: In this brief and beautiful allegory, Lewis takes us on a tour of heaven and hell, where we learn about our powers to choose between self and salvation.

This was a great book to read in conjunction with Milton's Paradise Lost.

2013: also a great book to lay alongside Dante's Divine Comedy.

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Dec 27, 2016 Kelly's ( Next Best Read ) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audio-book, classics, c-s-lewis, christianity, faith

I've finally decided to read through as much C.S. Lewis works as I can and decided to start with The Great Divorce. I was by no means disappointed, in fact my appetite has been aroused and I'm hungry to devour more of this authors works.

Actual ratings 4.25

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Mar 30, 2009 Liz rated it it was amazing

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 answers for the ...more

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Aug 14, 2016 Scarlett rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favourites, 20th-century-literature, on-display, philosophy

[I strongly suggest to the emotionally more sensitive to skip my opening paragraphs, which may seem a bit morbid, gloomy and unsettling.]

I had a very strange encounter with death last December under circumstances which, let’s say, ‘professional secrecy’ forbids me to put in greater details, but I’m sure they’re not what anyone would particularly enjoy reading about. In short, I saw a man who was killed that same morning by a car as he was crossing a highway at 5 a. m., returning from a concert, ...more

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Nov 02, 2011 Jacob J. rated it did not like it

Shelves: chloroform-in-print, pub-1940s, fiction

If heaven and hell are this boring, we're doomed either way.

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Sep 13, 2010 Mark rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: anyone who wonders

Recommended to Mark by: My parish priest

Shelves: theology, comic-work, favorites

This is one of the cleverest and yet simplest explorations of Heaven, Hell and Purgatory that I have ever read. There is a day trip up from hell, the travellers get off and meet people who have come to talk to them, to help them on their journey. This journey is expressed in all sorts of ways, with one it might be the need to step out into the public gaze when they feel unattractive or unprepared and so to move on from fear and the need for acclaim , for another the need to accept that your unde This is one of the cleverest and yet simplest explorations of Heaven, Hell and Purgatory that I have ever read. There is a day trip up from hell, the travellers get off and meet people who have come to talk to them, to help them on their journey. This journey is expressed in all sorts of ways, with one it might be the need to step out into the public gaze when they feel unattractive or unprepared and so to move on from fear and the need for acclaim , for another the need to accept that your understanding has been flawed and incomplete, for another the image of having to step onto the grass of heaven which is so much more real than previously experienced and therefore it, initially at least, hurts and stings. This pain is short lived but, Lewis intimates, it is necessary. Those that can accept and step out into the new situation stay and for them their stay in hell was temporary, it was a purging, a preparation for their entry into Heaven; for those that cannot accept or will not accept, well they get joyously back on to the bus and go back to hell; their choice, their decision. Therefore what I love about the Great Divorce vision is it offers an inkling of an answer to a couple of, for me, difficult theological sticking points. The people in hell can come up on the bus as often as they choose, hell thus is not eternal in the sense that ' inmates' can be continually challenged by the Grace of God, their decision is never irrevocable, the residents of hell make their own choice to go back, to stay. Continually, in Lewis' parable, they have the opportunity to make a different decision. He cleverly shows Hell as a place of argument and unrest but one from which all can freely move if they are prepared to accept and face up to their previous errors or mistakes. Now of course this exposition only makes sense to one who believes in an afterlfe in which resides a loving God. As i do on both counts this book is hugely significant to me. I do not mean Lewis has sorted out the question of the afterlife, he never claimed to, he is simply putting forward an extended image and inviting his readers to contemplate it. I think it is well worth the effort. ...more

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Aug 04, 2011 Jacob Aitken added it · review of another edition

(or how to obtain infinite joy by abandoning your-self)

This book is truly one of Lewis’ masterpieces. Lewis tells a parable of a bus ride from heaven to hell in order to show us why people choose hell. Lewis is not saying that somebody, once in hell, have a chance for “do-overs.” Lewis is showing us why some people, even suffering in hell, when (hypothetically) offered a chance to get out, would still choose hell over heaven.

In this book Lewis comes very close to the ancient Eastern view of the
(or how to obtain infinite joy by abandoning your-self)

This book is truly one of Lewis’ masterpieces. Lewis tells a parable of a bus ride from heaven to hell in order to show us why people choose hell. Lewis is not saying that somebody, once in hell, have a chance for “do-overs.” Lewis is showing us why some people, even suffering in hell, when (hypothetically) offered a chance to get out, would still choose hell over heaven.

In this book Lewis comes very close to the ancient Eastern view of the eschaton suggested by St. Gregory of Nyssa. All men are raised up on the last day (1 Corinthians 15), and all men will experience God: some will experience his divine energies as light and life; others as fire and loss. Of course, Lewis doesn’t explicitly say that, but he does note, quite rightly I think, that hell is God saying to us, “Thy will be done,” and heaven is our saying to God, “Thy will be done.”

Lewis lists a number of scenarios where men and women are offered eternal joy but refuse it because they cannot let go of their-selfves. The self has become an idol, but it is a subtle idol. It can be self-respect, our understandings of the world, love, and the market.

There is a particularly interesting scene where a man meets up with his wife and through his refusal to accept God’s love, he becomes smaller and smaller, until he is unable to be seen. This fits in with the ancient view of sin and evil as a privation of being. Hell is not a real fire pit that God dug with a real metal shovel. Hell is a shadow of reality (which implies eternal loss; Lewis is not a universalist).

Lewis offers a disturbing halt on hyper free-market economic reasoning. An angel tells one ghost that there is no longer a difference between meum and teum. Communion is not the competition of goods and services, but the expression of love for the Other. It is abandoning self for the sake of the Other (be it God or my neighbor).

The book is a masterpiece. It makes one long for heaven and eternal joy.
...more

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Jun 29, 2017 Abigayle Claire rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mademethink-2

I had a misconception about what this book was actually on, and a dream of Heaven and Hell was not it. It was fascinating the way Lewis demonstrated some strong philosophies and thought-provoking points through the medium of allegory yet again. While he intentionally states that he's not trying to provide an accurate picture of the afterlife, this was still very different from anything I've ever dreamed Heaven and Hell to be like. I enjoyed the story all the more for it being a less traditional ...more

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Dec 01, 2011 Cleo rated it it was amazing

Shelves: classics, faith, fantasy, english-literature, religion, 2014-52-books-in-52-weeks, 2014-c-s-lewis-project, 2014-european-reading-challenge, 2014-british-books-challenge, 2014-mount-tbr-challenge, 2014-read-dead-writers

If you found yourself in Hell and then were offered a chance to leave and spend an eternity in Heaven, you'd jump at it, wouldn't you? …….. Or would you …….??

The Great Divorce tells of a journey of souls from the grey town, which we soon see represents Hell, to a wide open space of meadows, rivers and mountains. Yet when the people disembark they are dismayed. They now appears as Ghosts and all the vegetation is dense and tough in a way that makes movement difficult and, at times, dangerous. And If you found yourself in Hell and then were offered a chance to leave and spend an eternity in Heaven, you'd jump at it, wouldn't you? …….. Or would you …….??

The Great Divorce tells of a journey of souls from the grey town, which we soon see represents Hell, to a wide open space of meadows, rivers and mountains. Yet when the people disembark they are dismayed. They now appears as Ghosts and all the vegetation is dense and tough in a way that makes movement difficult and, at times, dangerous. And who are these shining Solid People coming towards them, and what do they want? Full of joy and laughter, it appears that they only wish for the "Ghosts" to shed their prejudices and grudges and self-absorption and "rights", to accept help and rescue from their troubles. 'Come to the mountain', they say, yet most are unable to, so firmly have these detrimental traits taken root within them, to the exclusion of anything good.

The Great Divorce is Lewis' The Divine Comedy. As Dante is the narrator of The Divine Comedy, so too, the narrator in The Great Divorce is Lewis himself. George MacDonald, the well-known author of The Princess and the Goblin, Phantastes, and At The Back of the North Wind, a man whose writings had a profound affect on Lewis, serves as his Virgil, a guide to bring him understanding of Heaven and similarly, the grey town of Hell.

Yet while analogous in structure, the Hell of The Great Divorce is very different than that of Dante's Hell. It is not a world of men trapped in flaming tombs, immersed in rivers of blood and fire, whipped by demons or eaten by foul creatures. In The Great Divorce, Hell looks surprisingly like Earth, but a corruption of earth, holding only the negative components of greed, envy, self-worship, revenge, jealously, grudges, etc. The setting mirrors the emotions, being bleak, desolate and lacking any human goodness. Rain and dingy twilight permeate the town, and a perpetual feeling of hopelessness is ever-present. Yet while the souls of this dreary place, recognize intellectually what they live in, and practically understand their actions, they have become drowned in them through excuses, trends, weakness of character, reliance on intellect only, and have become blind to their effects. In life, they allowed their choices and actions to carry them in the wrong direction and now have little desire to escape. They have chosen Hell and are unable to conceive of anything outside of it. Similar to the dwarves in the The Last Battle, ignorance has overcome them and they cannot escape it.

Lewis' presentation of Hell is not only easily understandable, it is quite fascinating. Lewis' Hell is not a Hell for people. Each "person" there, is there of their own choice, and their descent into it has been a gradual process, and not because of one big sin. Each of their choices has progressively dehumanized them; it is not that they are beyond salvation, rather that there is no shred of humanness left to save. Lewis also emphasizes the smallness of Hell by having the bus, not actually travel but grow, sprouting from a small crack in the soil to emerge in Heaven. Hell, to Lewis is a tiny place and anything that lives there is already withered away.

On the other hand, the Bright or Solid People of Heaven did not get there through moral perfection. One had been a murderer and confessed to doing worse than that, while another was hardly known on Earth but the people and animals that came into her presence were enriched by her love and charity. And again, we have another echo from The Last Battle, that Heaven is much more real than earth, exemplified by the tough grass, the hard rivers and terrain that the Ghosts experience and would only have a change of perception if they chose to accept the invitation to become more real.

While Lewis states in his preface that this book is an answer to William Blakes' The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, he makes it very clear that it is not a story that is meant to be taken in a literal sense; like his Narnia Chronicles, it is a supposition. More, it is a work that explores human biases, perceptions and attitudes that either allow us to or prevent us from getting closer to God. ...more

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Jan 19, 2016 Demetrius Rogers rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: bible-theology

My word. This was amazing. How come I haven't read this before now? When you think of Lewis you think of the Chronicles of Narnia, probably Mere Christianity, and The Screwtape Letters. But, over the years I've been trying to delve into some of his other works. And after reading this, I'll have to say Lewis might be my favorite author. The guy's imagination was just simply off-the-hook good. And he used such artistry to cloak his presentations. And I love that they don't need to be these big fat ...more

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Aug 11, 2011 Clare Cannon rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Young Adults & Adults

Shelves: young-adult, adults

This little book is too powerful to read only once. It is important to note that it has nothing to do with the impression given by its title - it is not about divorce. It is an allegory about the choices we make during life and where they will take us afterwards, though it is not strictly a 'religious' book. It offers a most startling contrast between the consequences of living for oneself or living for others, of trying to 'look out for number one', or emptying oneself in order to be able to re ...more

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Jul 23, 2011 David Sarkies rated it really liked it

Shelves: christian

Lewis on Hell
13 November 2011

Even though he does have some strange ideas, I always enjoy reading a book by C.S. Lewis, and this book is no exception. The Great Divorce is actually an excellent exploration of the nature of heaven and hell and is about a man who finds himself in 'hell'. The this work hell is a huge city that appears empty, and that is because nobody can stand living with anybody else so they constantly move out to the fringes of the city. As such the idea of meeting up with famou Lewis on Hell
13 November 2011

Even though he does have some strange ideas, I always enjoy reading a book by C.S. Lewis, and this book is no exception. The Great Divorce is actually an excellent exploration of the nature of heaven and hell and is about a man who finds himself in 'hell'. The this work hell is a huge city that appears empty, and that is because nobody can stand living with anybody else so they constantly move out to the fringes of the city. As such the idea of meeting up with famous people turns out to be impossible as these famous people, who have been living in this dystopian reality for so long, don't actually want to meet anybody, and as such make sure that they can't be found.

The bulk of this book consists of discussions between spirits and ghosts. The spirits are solid people and inhabitants of heaven while the ghosts are the inhabitants of hell. Ghosts and spirits can interact, but for a ghost it is incredibly painful as they cannot stand the solid nature of the realm that exists between heaven and hell. What is interesting is that the spirits are focused on the joy of their life, and as such this joy overwhelms them, while the ghosts are focused on the pain from their life, and thus shame and hatred overwhelm them. While they are all invited to enter to heaven, none of the ghosts want to because the hatred and the shame that overwhelms them means that they simply cannot bare to give up what holds them down.

To put it blunt this book is a game changer and it demonstrates Lewis' extraordinary ability to write an allegorical work. This book is designed to make people think twice about hell, and for anybody who actually thinks hell will be a good place to spend eternity because it will basically be one endless party, should be given this book to consider a possible alternative (not that it is likely to change anybody's opinion). Hell, in the Great Divorce, is not portrayed as being a place of camaraderie and enjoyment, but a place of loneliness, solitude, and an existence where you simply cannot stand another person's company – in a sense Satre was right when he said that 'hell is other people'. Hell in this book is an empty and lonely place, and the people who end up here simply cannot stand living with anybody here. Hell is described as a place where we can create what we want, but these creations are not real, and while we can create our own realms, it is a realm of ephemeral loneliness. We do not meet any famous people here because these famous people will reject out advances and constantly move out to the fringes to avoid contact with anybody else. This is simply because if they were to meet anybody else they will quickly begin to argue, and when they argue, they want want to be alone because they can no longer stand this person's company.

However Lewis also takes us to heaven, and it is in heaven where we discover the true nature of people in hell: they are shades, ghosts of their former self, while heaven is reality, and the contact between the shades and the reality of heaven is incredibly painful for the shades. It is interesting that the shades and the people of heaven can communicate, and are even able invite them into heaven, but the shades simply do not want to go. After reading this book it stunned me, and forced me to rethink the direction of my life and whether hell was even worth it.

It is clear, very clear, that Lewis was inspired by Dante, who also wrote an allegorical text where he traveled through hell and into heaven, however I suspect that Dante and Lewis had two different purposes for writing their books. Lewis is much easier to read than Dante, and Lewis is more likely to have written his book to challenge us with our thoughts of what hell is really all about. Dante is instead going on a dream journey to get to heaven, and visiting the various personalities of the past, and his present, on his trek. While in both Lewis and Dante the inhabitants of hell are shades, the shades in Dante are trapped in their respective circles, while Lewis' shades are not.

In the end Hell is actually one of those really controversial topics. Honestly, nobody wants to hear that they are jerks and are damned to an eternity of punishment. This is probably why the modern world has transformed hell from the eternal pits of damnation that appeared in Dante to the modern realm of endless fun, parties, and gratuitous sex. In fact the modern concept of hell is set apart from the modern concept of heaven where we sit on clouds playing harps and basically being incredibly bored. In a way this demonstrates the modern view of Christianity as basically a bunch of people that really have no idea of what it means to have fun, whereas those of us who have rejected Christianity are basically living a life of endless fun. In the end though, as somebody what has experienced the university lifestyle of the big sexualised parties where everybody is off their face on drugs, sitting on a cloud playing a harp actually seems quite pleasant. ...more

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Aug 02, 2015 Jeremy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: religion, fiction, fantasy, favorites, inklings, milton, 5-stars, classics

I do believe that artists have a responsibility to get theology as right as they can, even in their fiction, but I think that there is a significant difference between The Shack and Lewis's The Great Divorce. Whereas Young's novel really seemed to be promoting the theology behind it, The Great Divorce should not be read as proposing the way that Heaven and Hell really are. (Lewis himself says this in the preface.) It's an artist's impressionistic collection of snapshots of human character, and L ...more

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Jul 19, 2011 Kailey (BooksforMKs) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, owned-books

Oh my goodness, I'm in shock! I feel like I have been hit with a ton of spiritual bricks; not an uncommon feeling after reading any of Lewis' books. How wonderful! The best part is that no matter what the subject or plot, Lewis always turns the focus back to Christ.

This book reminds me a bit of his book, "Pilgrim's Regress", and John Bunyan's book too. It follows that sort of pattern- wandering in a strange land, meeting allegorical people, having philosophical conversations with angels and men Oh my goodness, I'm in shock! I feel like I have been hit with a ton of spiritual bricks; not an uncommon feeling after reading any of Lewis' books. How wonderful! The best part is that no matter what the subject or plot, Lewis always turns the focus back to Christ.

This book reminds me a bit of his book, "Pilgrim's Regress", and John Bunyan's book too. It follows that sort of pattern- wandering in a strange land, meeting allegorical people, having philosophical conversations with angels and men that illustrate great truths in an easily digestible way.

This is a fantasy story of a man who is confronted with the choice between Heaven and Hell, as we all are, and as he watches others make the choice, he realizes that people who go to Hell WANT to be there. They chose it. "Hell is locked from the inside." He also quotes one of my favorite passages from Milton's Paradise Lost; that some think it is "better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven." People choose to endure misery rather than submit to Joy. People choose to be proud and suffering rather than admit they were wrong and accept forgiveness.

The reason for the title is that the book proves there is no middle ground. You must choose one or the other. There is a complete and total division between Heaven and Hell. Sound theology, beautifully expressed!

When George MacDonald showed up as a character, I gave a little holler of happiness! And his dialogue is so delightfully Scotch. Just lovely writing!
There are some enchanting descriptions of Heaven, and imaginings of what it could be like there, that brought me some joyful thoughts and a holy longing to be in my True Home. It really lifts the focus onto the things of God!

As all of Lewis' writing does, this book gives me the uncomfortable feeling that I'm dealing with concepts way too deep and unknowable for me to even begin to think about; but as I read, I find that I understand his points very well. I can't always hold them in my mind later, but at the moment that I am reading, I can follow his logic perfectly. That is his genius! He speaks to the common man in common language, and unfolds eternity as something we can know because it lives inside us.

Maybe the thing I like best about Lewis' writings is that he doesn't let anybody hide behind their intellectualism or false humility or assumed religiosity. He demands complete honesty from the soul, because that is what God demands.

There is some shady theology with some stuff about purgatory that I'm not sure I understood, but hey, it's a dream fantasy. I'm not taking it too literally here! haha!

I really loved what he wrote near the end about seeing everything through a lens of Time. We can't truly understand the mysteries of God or of our own eternal souls, until we are taken outside of Time. Right now Time is distorting our understanding, although it is certainly useful to protect us for now. Eventually, we won't need it, because we will "see Him as He is." Wonderful thoughts!

...more

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Aug 30, 2010 Stephen rated it liked it

Shelves: classics, fantasy, religion-spirituality, angels-demons-heaven-hell, classics-european

3.0 stars. A well written, interesting story by C.S. Lewis who takes a very original approach to laying out his take on the classic story of the nature of sin and unhappiness and the path to redemption and true happiness. You can really feel Lewis' passion for his subject matter in this story which makes the narrative even more compelling.

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Feb 26, 2013 Mike rated it really liked it

Shelves: christianity, fiction

This is an excellent (and fascinating) book written by C.S. Lewis. It is written in such a way as to make the reader reflect on beliefs regarding good and evil, heaven and hell and some of life's other great mysteries.

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Jun 12, 2013 Genni rated it really liked it

Shelves: re-read, religion, classic-literature

--2017 Update--
After reading this a couple of years ago, I could not get Lewis's pictures out of my head. Below I said that if someone were to take the Bible as absolute truth then his implications would be unacceptable because the Bible "consistently" speaks of hell as a place of eternal fire and brimstone. I have read the Bible through every year for at least ten years now and still, my grandfather's old preaching colored my reading of it. I have since seen that it does not "consistently" spea --2017 Update--
After reading this a couple of years ago, I could not get Lewis's pictures out of my head. Below I said that if someone were to take the Bible as absolute truth then his implications would be unacceptable because the Bible "consistently" speaks of hell as a place of eternal fire and brimstone. I have read the Bible through every year for at least ten years now and still, my grandfather's old preaching colored my reading of it. I have since seen that it does not "consistently" speak of hell that way and would like to change my absolute truth to "literal reading".

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In the introduction, Lewis writes that partial inspiration for his "Divorce" comes from William Blake's _The Marriage of Heaven and Hell_. I am not familiar with this work, but Lewis includes an aside explaining his response. "The attempt (to marry heaven and hell) is based on the belief that reality never presents us with an absolutely unavoidable "either-or"; that, granted skill and patience and (above all) time enough, some way of embracing both alternatives can always be found; that mere development or adjustment or refinement will somehow turn evil into good without our being called on for a final and total rejection of anything we should like to retain. This belief I take to be a disastrous error." Following this is not so much a story or novel as it is interesting allegorical vignettes of heaven and how different individuals come to make the choices they do. Notable is Lewis's images of heaven as rather a more substantial and beautiful earth in contrast to visions of angels and harps far away in some sky.

An interesting quote: "I think earth, if chosen instead of Heaven, will turn out to have been, all along, only a region of Hell: and earth, if put second to Heaven, to have been from the beginning a part of Heaven itself." This is one reason I find his imagery of Heaven so fascinating. And it reminds me of how things on earth are but a shadow of things to come.
If the good on earth is but a shadow of how wonderful things will be in Heaven, then the horrible things of this world must only be a shadow of what will come in Hell. And this is a fault in the book. I cannot find the quote now, but somewhere, Lewis says that of an individual he is going back to Hell and implies that this is the "gray town". If someone were to take the Bible as absolute truth, this implication would be unacceptable since the Bible consistently speaks of Hell as a place of eternal fire and brimstone. OTOH, Lewis also writes in his preface that "the transmortal conditions are solely an imaginative supposal: they are not even a guess or a speculation at what may actually await us. The last thing I wish is to arouse is factual curiosity about the details of the after-world".

Overall, a very good read. ...more

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Feb 29, 2008 Ben De Bono rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: theology, philosophy, read-in-2016

Having recently read The Space Trilogy and now The Great Divorce, I think I appreciate C.S. Lewis' theology more in narrative format. While I love his nonfiction theology, I found myself somewhat frustrated the last time I read Mere Christianity by its lack of precision in many places. In his non fiction Lewis' lack of training and weaknesses as a theologian can be easily detected. In his fiction, they're absorbed into the narrative.

Part of the reason why is that Lewis' theological ideas are on Having recently read The Space Trilogy and now The Great Divorce, I think I appreciate C.S. Lewis' theology more in narrative format. While I love his nonfiction theology, I found myself somewhat frustrated the last time I read Mere Christianity by its lack of precision in many places. In his non fiction Lewis' lack of training and weaknesses as a theologian can be easily detected. In his fiction, they're absorbed into the narrative.

Part of the reason why is that Lewis' theological ideas are ones more suited to artistic depiction than the careful parsing of academic writing. His expressions of the afterlife - here, but also in other novels such as The Last Battle - rest uncomfortably in nonfiction, but feel fully realized when placed in narrative.

A significant motivation throughout the story seems to be Lewis' desire to recontextualize George MacDonald's universalism and bring it closer into harmony with Christian orthodoxy. To that end, he's mostly successful. The part of MacDonald's universalism that conflicts most with orthodoxy is his belief in the ability of the damned to leave hell behind. Lewis attempts to harmonize this using the concept of refrigerium - a time when the damned are allowed to temporarily leave hell. While this doesn't quite make the cut of being a part of Christian teaching, it does have some basis at least in popular Christian thought over the centuries.

What's most fascinating about this take is that while it appears to be a more optimistic view of damnation - hell has the potential to be only temporary - it's also far more frightening. Hell as punishment is one thing, but hell as a destiny explicitly chosen even when Heaven is freely offered is something altogether more terrifying. What's more, Lewis makes an entirely plausible case as to why anyone might make that choice. It's impossible not to see yourself in the myriad of characters who ultimately refuse Heaven.

The Great Divorce never reaches anywhere near the heights of Dante, but that's entirely excusable since it never attempts to. The brevity of the novel seems to, in part, indicate Lewis' acknowledgment that the tour of the afterlife genre has already been done as well as it ever will be. His own excursion isn't an attempt to match Dante's masterpiece or even lesser works in that vein, but simply to explore his own ideas while acknowledging the greatness of his predecessors. To that end, the novel couldn't be a greater success ...more

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Jan 17, 2011 Jake rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, philosophy, novella, book-club, religious

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. BOOK CLUB SELECTION.

I read this book as a non-religious and non-spiritual person and it lead to me to a three-hour conversation about religion with my friend Dave. Dave's a faithful Christian and we had some time to kill in Mexico. He was reading a Stephen Hawking book and I was finishing The Great Divorce. Somehow, we got into our afternoon-long conversation, discussing all that encompassed western religion and I must have quoted The Great Divorce at least a dozen times. Seriously, by the end, ...more

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Nov 04, 2007 Lucy rated it really liked it

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 eithe 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. ...more

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Apr 27, 2010 Hannah rated it it was ok

Shelves: holy-moly

I thought this book was intriguing in its concept, but it felt a little under-developed to me. It seems more like an engaging thought-experiment that never really hatched into a full-fledged Lewis novel (or maybe it's more just like the Perelandra novels, which just never drew me in and seemed out of Lewis' element). Basically, the narrator is in a Purgatory/Hell situation (but for the purposes of conveying the concept, it seems more like what we would traditionally think of as Purgatory--people I thought this book was intriguing in its concept, but it felt a little under-developed to me. It seems more like an engaging thought-experiment that never really hatched into a full-fledged Lewis novel (or maybe it's more just like the Perelandra novels, which just never drew me in and seemed out of Lewis' element). Basically, the narrator is in a Purgatory/Hell situation (but for the purposes of conveying the concept, it seems more like what we would traditionally think of as Purgatory--people endlessly squabbling with one another selfishly in a ever-twilight town that infinitely expands as its denizens get sick of one another and perform universes of suburban sprawl). He makes the decision to board a bus that goes to the very outer limits of heaven, and then records his impressions of seeing the interactions of other purgatory residents with the heavenly residents, whose world is so much bigger and more substantial than that of the purgatory residents that they are like ghosts there.

I thought the different character-types that Lewis explored were interesting, but felt like they were definitely limited by being kept so non-specific seeming, and never receiving real identities and full back stories. The heavenly beings could also be verging on downright creepy in their reactions to the purgatory residents; although trying to help and convince the purgatory-like beings of the situation that they are now actually "living", the heavenly beings can also seem very inhuman in their aloofness and inability to be "hurt" by those who were dear to them on Earth. Although this is due to their state in heaven of not being able to be guilted and manipulated anymore by those who may have done so to them during their lives, it doesn't seem natural that they should smile and laugh about things that should concern them deeply.

I thought the ending was disappointing (although Lewis seemed a little boxed in there; I'm not sure I would have liked other alternatives), but I think it was also, in a way, an extra safety measure of for goodness' sake, don't canonize a fictional story I wrote about what the afterlife may be like, which seems to be reasonable precaution considering how some people have come to treat his work as if it's an addendum to the Bible. ^^'''

The highlights for me were the idea of Napoleon's fate, the idea of (small spoiler) purgatory also being hell and that those who go to heaven will have always found themselves to have been there no matter what happened in their lives, and the same with those who go to hell. I'm wondering if that's where Dallas Willard got some of the things that he says in Renovation of the Heart, because it seems along similar lines thought-wise. (/spoiler) I also liked the idea of heaven as being like a truer, more real and fuller fulfillment of Earth. ...more

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About C.S. Lewis

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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. He was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature ...more

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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, #6)

Prince Caspian (Chronicles of Narnia, #2)

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“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. Those who knock it is opened.” — 1352 likes

“There is but one good; that is God. Everything else is good when it looks to Him and bad when it turns from Him.” — 575 likes

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