Continuing with our Top Ten Series featuring my favorite authors:
#4: C. S. Lewis
In 2003, I read all seven books in Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series. What a delight they were to read. The symbolism is powerful. The stories transport the reader to the land of Narnia. And even though they were written for children, I enjoyed them as an adult. Lewis is a marvelous story teller. If you'd like to read the entire series, you can find them all in one hardback volume for just over $20.00. Here's a link.
I read The Screwtape Letters in 2004 and even though it was fiction, I felt like it gave me a better idea about what goes on in the heavenlies as good battles evil. I'd highly recommend this book to people who are struggling to feel like their actions right now don't count for anything.
I've read Lewis' A Grief Observed a couple of times. I wrote a post about it here. I really appreciated Lewis' willingness to not gloss over the pain of losing his wife. He went through a crisis of faith, and he took the time to journal about it. He could have just left such pain in his journals, but he decided later that others might benefit from his journey so he allowed those journals to be published. An excellent book for anybody in the midst of pain.
Lewis wrote in all sorts of different genres and I have enjoyed books in most of the genres he attempted--from fiction, to practical non-fiction, to theological. His theological book, Mere Christianity, is considered a classic. In fact, any time an author is still being read forty or fifty years after he died, you know that most of what he said stands the test of time.
Several years ago, I had an appointment at my doctor's office. I always bring a book with me so I can read while I'm waiting. After I was called into his office, I set my stuff down, and my doctor saw that I was reading The Chronicles of Narnia. It led to a conversation about how he used to be into Lewis during his college years and that he should take the time to go back and reread some of Lewis' stuff. Naturally, I agreed with him.
