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The Great Divorce (Audio CD)
by C. S. Lewis
| Category:
Heaven and Hell, Fable |
| Market price: ¥ 238.00
MSL price:
¥ 228.00
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Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
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MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
This amazing little book explores the difficult subjects of heaven and hell and salvation and damnation with a depth that will enlarge your vision, shrink your ego, and strip away all your excuses for living lives of pretense. |
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AllReviews |
  1 2 Total 2 pages 16 items |
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D. Keating (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-25 00:00>
First I have to admit that I have not read much CS Lewis. Given his reputation as one of the premiere Christian writers of the last century I recently purchased a small stack of his signature series books. The Great Divorce is the first one I have read, and I was truly amazed by its simple, yet complex message.
This book is powerful fiction with enough theology to put the gears of your mind into overdrive. In my opinion Lewis addresses two key questions in The Great Divorce - Is there a difference between heaven and hell? And, does God truly give us the freewill to decide our own eternal destination? Lewis really makes the reader ponder these two "deep" topics, and think about why certain "types" of people may have more difficulty choosing heaven over hell.
I won't give away Lewis' conclusions, but instead I will highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a short, but powerful book. If you are a Christian you should definitely add this to your reading list. Lastly, if you are not a Christian, don't be afraid to read it. Lewis was a great writer by anyone's standards, and his "theology" is subtle enough to be enjoyed by anyone.
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Robert Aarhus (MSL quote), Alexandria VA
<2007-01-25 00:00>
"The Great Divorce" is C.S. Lewis' allegory of our lifelong struggle with our fallen nature in search of faith in God and Christ.
Lewis uses the image of a bus trip taken by a few hardy souls - some of whom have an agenda, others who have nothing better to do - to a familiar yet fantastic place where they discover themselves to be ghosts in a realm of "solid people". Through a series of vignettes, the narrator describes the travails of other ghosts who contend with the roadblocks to salvation - pride, jealousy, vengeance, lust, and the love of earthly life itself.
Lewis' theology owes much to the character "My Teacher", George MacDonald. A universalist, MacDonald echoes the sentiment that would dominate Lewis' other writings: that those who are condemned to Hell are there because they chose to be there over Heaven. Another readily apparent Lewis theme is that human emotions or feelings are two-edged: they can be used for purposes noble or evil. "Love begins to be a demon when he begins to be a god", lower case "g" in god emphasized, Lewis would later write in "The Four Loves". In The Great Divorce he shows that concept in action.
If you are a fundamentalist or conservative protestant, you may not like some of the suggested implications, like Lewis leaving open the possibility of a purgatory, or the concept of people making salvation choices in the afterlife. Remember, it is an allegory, and as Lewis points out, we humans see things through the lens of time that appear differently in timeless Heaven.
For those willing to relax their dogma a little, The Great Divorce is a thought-provoking insight into Lewis' theology and, better yet, a good catalyst for self-examination.
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Jim (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-25 00:00>
The theologian who would rather lead a theological discussion in hell than experience heaven?
The poet who is always slighted, never appreciated?
The man who is too proud to accept any "bleeding charity" and must have his "rights"?
The artist who would rather fight for his style of art than stay and take in true beauty?
The materialist (entrepeneur?) who would rather try to take a bit of heaven back to hell for a proffit than enjoy the real thing?
The cynic who believes everything is a sham?
The grumbler who has finally become a grumble? (What other petty sins fit in this same category?)
The mother who "loves" her son so much she would rather have him in hell than desire God, and be with her son in heaven?
The man who struggles with lust but doesn't want to let it go?
The tragedian who would rather blackmail the joyful than give in and experience joy himself?
Or are are you simply onne of the malcontents who can't even get along well enough to get on the bus and see what heaven has to offer?
Truth be told, I have parts of many of these people and need to learn from them all.
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-25 00:00>
If you don't care for C.S. Lewis, you will not care for this book. On the other hand, if you like C.S. Lewis (and appreciate what he was up to) you may thoroughly enjoy, even love, this book. I say "may" because an honest reading of this short allegory can reveal a great deal about the author's soul and view of the moral universe and something about the reader's own soul and views as well. In other words, it can entertain or disturb or both. It will, in any case, provoke a great deal of thought for any reader who bothers to think at all.
I read The Great Divorce many, many years ago and could never forget it; some of its images and episodes were and remain indelible. By some quirk or inspiration, I recently suggested using it for an adult Sunday School class of folks who love good, mental exercise, good literature, etc. and thus got back into it - big time. In preparing ten lessons on the book, I rediscovered why I loved it in the first place but then I also discovered a myriad of rich nuggets and not a few whole veins that I had completely blitzed by in the earlier reading. This second time I found it to be absolutely magnificent and have gone from being a CS Lewis fan to a serious and devoted student of the whole "mythopoeic" approach that he (along with many others, including now, most famously, JK Rowling) have championed.
You don't have to be well read or a Christian or an intellectual or a theologian or a Bible scholar or even a full grown adult to truly enjoy - or be really bothered by - this book. The premise, after all, is that not everyone would enjoy a holiday in the Valley of the Shadow of Life (post-mortem or otherwise), much less a few hours with C.S. Lewis himself. (It does help things, however, to have a good imagination and sense of humor.)
Like scripture, like great poetry, like any of those guys in my title (all of whom are embedded in the text and context of this book), this book and everything else I've read by Lewis is worth reading ...and worth reading (including reeading) carefully and soulfully.
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Michael J. Mazza (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-25 00:00>
"The Great Divorce," by C.S. Lewis, tells the story of a bus ride from hell to heaven. The title is a riff on William Blake's "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell," which Lewis cites in his preface.
Although Christian theology is briefly cited in the book, it seems that Lewis' overall point--to promote belief in and adoration of a supreme being-is as applicable to Jews, Muslims, and many others as it would be to Christians. To quote the book directly: "There is but one good; that is God."
The story is full of wonderful visual images and imaginative flourishes that give the book the flavor of classic fantasy literature. And although at times the book has a certain smug quality, it is entertaining and thought-provoking. Lewis' prose style is consistently engaging.
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Andy Williamson (MSL quote), Chicago, IL
<2007-01-25 00:00>
Lewis' "The Great Divorce" is a book that I have owned for years but only recently read. I don't know why it took me so long, but now that I have read it I want to read it again all the more. I guess that is a sign of a good book. Many of you reading this review are no doubt familiar with Lewis the philosopher, theologian, writer, and speaker. Suffice to say he remains one of the most esteemed and brilliant thinkers and writers of the last century.
This book easily compares to the best of his work. The idea of using a fantasy-land constructed around a bus trip to try to give us some look into the unknown is pure Lewis. A dark, desolate, rainy bus stop gives us a mental picture of hell that reminds me of the films "Blade Runner" and "Dark City". The descriptions of a heaven-like place given in the book remind me of the house of Elrond and the elvish city in the recent "Lord of the Rings". The book essentially follows the author as he tours both of these worlds-seemingly seperated by a million miles. With George MacDonald as his guide, the author witnesses many interactions between those in the 'heavenly' world and those arriving from hell on a bus. The heavenly beings-who are solid-attempt to convince the spirits aboard the tour to remain with them and allow themselves to be made whole by the overseer of the heavenly realm.
Unfortunately, most of the spirits prefer to deal with their various troubles 'some other time' or not at all. Wishing to remain as they are, they refuse the help of the heavenly beings. We witness spirits literally and figuratively in chains of pity, anger, pride, arrogance, and fear. The answer to all of these maladies is offered to them with outstretched arms, they need only accept the gift.
The most powerful exchange in the book comes between a spirit who arrives with a little red lizard on his shoulder. (Readers of Lewis will recognize this from his earlier essay 'Horrid Red Things' in "God in the Dock"). The lizard embodies the spirit's struggles with lust; it continuously goads him on. As the spirit comes into contact with one of the heavenly angels, the angel states that if the man will only ask him to, he will kill the lizard. The lizard immediately warns the spirit that the angel is capable of this and reminds the spirit that if this is allowed, he-the spirit-will never enjoy the pleasures of lust and sin again. The spirit hems and haws, asking the angel many questions. Each time the angel responds "...MAY I KILL IT?"
It is heartbreaking to read as the spirit decides to allow the angel-hands hovering just around the neck of the lizard-to kill it, only to relent when he realizes that he himself will be hurt in the process of obtaining freedom. The angel responds: "I never said it would not hurt you, only that it would not kill you." This seems eerily similar to so many of us in the 'real' world who, when offered freedom thru Christ and the solutions to our myriad of social, emotional, spiritual, and physical struggles, raise an angry hand to God and reject His offer. How many of us want our problems to be fixed, our wounds healed and our pain dealt with-without any pain!? How many of us prefer to hold onto the very things that are destroying us? Keeping us from God?
A brilliant treatise on the ability of the human-in this case the spirit of departed humans-to rationalize and justify our behavior, whether it be an overbearing, controlling mother, a frightened woman, a man diseased with lust, those consumed by career, or any of the other characters in the book. Look deeper because there is a message for everyone in this book. A powerful allegory of the struggle to make the Gospel known to others.
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