Bright Shadow of Reality: Spiritual Longing in C. S. Lewis

by Corbin Scott Carnell

The writings of C. S. Lewis often stir in readers a profound sense of spiritual longing, a desire for joy lying beyond the offerings of this world. This special kind of longing, known to the Romantic tradition by the German word Sehnsucht, has been a recurrent theme in some of our most powerful works of literature. Bright Shadow of Reality, first published in 1974, remains the best available study of this idea of spiritual longing, especially as it functions as a key to understanding the writings of C. S. Lewis. Corbin Scott Carnell explores Lewis's life, theology, and literary legacy- looking in particular at Lewis's science fiction trilogy and Till We Have Faces-and evaluates Lewis's own reflection on the concept of Sehnsucht and its relation to the human quest for joy.

Genres: Spirituality

180 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Corbin Scott Carnell, the author of numerous articles and essays on C. S. Lewis and his work, was professor of English at the University of Florida — Gainesville, where he had also received his PhD in 1960. His thesis was later published as Bright Shadow of Reality: C. S. Lewis and the Feeling Intellect (Eerdmans, 1974).

Reviews

[Neil R. Coulter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really good overview of C. S. Lewis’s concept of Sehnsucht, one of the ideas for which he continues to be best known. Some of it is a repetition of Lewis’s biography, especially relying on passages of Surprised by Joy, but through the whole book, Corbin Scott Carnell builds a compelling case for why Sehnsucht is more than simple longing. He connects Lewis’s idea back to Romanticism and forward to Lewis’s contemporaries, including bridging some of Lewis’s thought to phenomenology of the twentieth century.

What makes Bright Shadow of Reality interesting for me is the fact that it was written in 1974, so it indicates just how much scholarship there has been about Lewis (and the other Inklings) in the decades since. This book feels very early and new, and it’s a reminder to me of how much the scholarly perspective on an author can develop and change over time; the canon of which of Lewis’s books would emerge as the classics that everyone would read is still in flux at this early stage. This book benefits in ways that new books can’t—especially because Carnell actually corresponded with Lewis when Lewis was alive, so some of his research comes from letters Lewis wrote to him in response to specific questions.

[Aileen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book pleasantly surprised me. I picked it up specifically because of its focus on the concept of “Sehnsucht”, a word that’s been haunting me ever since someone used it to describe the end of “The Return of the King” where the final ship departs the Gray Havens for the West, and it offered unlooked for understanding and consolation. I read online that the author passed away relatively recently, so I pray that he’s found that end we’re all searching for in the depths of our soul. May God grant him peace.

[Dean Hardy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written book. If you are interested in Lewis' use of Sehnsucht in his works, this is the book for you...

[Jared Abbott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great insights into C.S. Lewis’s concept of sehnsucht.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book that just got better and better. I appreciated all the research in it, and the way in which Carnell seemed to handle the profound sense of Sehnsucht as an actual reality. For some reason he put both Lewis's books and his essays in italics when citing them, but that's a small complaint in the large picture this book presents. I wish it was a bit longer and more detailed, and some places held unnecessary bio or summary information, but I learned a lot from it.

[Josephine Ensign · Rating 2 out of 5]

I understood this book in a much different—if not necessarily better—way than I did when I read it at age nineteen. It does read as if it is a slightly revised doctoral dissertation (because that's what it is). I do find this statement curious: " Novalis once said that philosophy is man's attempt to be at home everywhere. If that is so, perhaps causeless melancholy is the result of his inability to be at home anywhere." p. 21

[Brenton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bright Shadow of Reality: Spiritual Longing in C. S. Lewis is astonishingly good, the key text to begin on Lewis and "Joy"--though David Downing's "Region of Awe" makes a good warm-up book. I don't always agree with his analysis, but it is so concise, clear, well-written, and encompassing so much of Lewis' own work that I am in a bit of awe myself.