C. S. Lewis: Biographies and Reminiscences

 

C. S. Lewis: At the Breakfast Table and Other Reminiscences, Edited by James T. Como.

“A collection of essays by twenty-two men and women whose reminiscences of Lewis as teacher, colleague, and friend form an intimate, candid, and sometimes surprising community biography.” – Amazon. A Collier book, bought in the mid-80’s, and a horrible shade of pink and purple. A good insight into Lewis’s friends as well as into Lewis.

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Reminisces. Essays. Softcover.

C. S. Lewis Through the Shadowlands: The Story of His Life with Joy Davidman, by Brian Sibley.

This book has been through so many title permutations. It is dedicated to “Roger Lancelyn Green and June”. It is the story of the love of Lewis and Joy that Sibley later adapted into a TV special and then into the Anthony Hopkins movie. Sibley is a superfan of Fantasy and Children’s Books and Disney, and has written many radio adaptations, specials, and movie makings-of books.

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Biography. Hardback.

Jack: C. S. Lewis and His Times, by George Sayer.

Harper & Row, with Photos. “Sayer describes Lewis' early years, hinting at childhood evidence of the brilliance and eccentricity that would later become Lewis' hallmarks. He discusses Lewis' academic career, his life-transforming conversion to Christianity, and the role of religion in his life. With honesty and compassion, he covers Lewis' controversial relationship with Mrs. Moore and his passionate marriage to Joy Davidman. This biography of C.S. Lewis, poet, novelist, literary critic and theologian is written by a lifelong friend who seeks to present a more balanced portrait than has been possible before, by making use of family papers and the million word diary kept by Lewis's brother. He vividly describes the Belfast background, the cruel schooling and sadism, Lewis' terrible experiences in the Great War, the strange promise to a brother officer that led him to live with a woman twice his age for years at the Kilns, Oxford, the young poet, the academic career and his friendship with J.R.R. Tolkien and other Oxford dons who made up The Inklings group. The author goes on to describe Lewis' conversion to Christianity and the run-away success of the wartime Screwtape Lectures on the BBC and the extraordinary marriage to the eccentric American divorcee, Joy Davidman that altered him profoundly in his last years. This book provides a full survey of the whole literary output, academic, fictional, theological and poetic.” – Amazon. It has one of those crumbly paper jackets that never survive for long.

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Biography. Hardback.

C. S. Lewis: A Biography, by A. N. Wilson.

Well, I don’t care what some critics say, I like it. There is very little of the hero-worshipper in Wilson, and if he comes up with psychological theories that others don’t agree with, he always has facts to back them up. Of course, the trouble with facts, as Chesterton said somewhere, is that they don’t point one way like a signpost but every which way, like the branches of a tree. Wilson is a very lively and readable writer, and his is an alternative reading that bears some scrutiny and makes for lively debate. Photos.

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Biography. Softcover.

C. S. Lewis: A Life, by Michael White.

“Clive Staples Lewis’s path to renown not only as a groundbreaking literary critic and novelist but also as a Christian theologian was at times intellectually and emotionally chaotic, as award-winning author Michael White reveals in this probing new biography. He follows the young Lewis, a nervous man profoundly depressed by the death of his mother, in a spiritually tormented course that would take him to the upper ranks of English letters. He deconstructs Lewis’s novels and religious works to reveal the frequently tormented soul and imagination from which they sprung. Most importantly, he delves into the mythos that has long surrounded Lewis and rediscovers the man beneath.” – Amazon. White, a former member of The Thompson Twins, has also written a biography of Tolkien. Photos.

Ranking: Keeper.

File Code: Biography. Hardback.

Lenten Lands: My Childhood with Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis, by Douglas Gresham.

Basically the story of Gresham’s life, up to the death of his mother Joy, who had married Lewis, then Lewis’s death, and then Warnie Lewis’s death, after which he no longer has any connection with the Kilns and moved to Australia for many years. It’s ‘Shadowlands’ from the kids’ point of view, and what happened in the aftermath, and why Gresham, basically Lewis’s heir, was poor.

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Biography. Memoirs. Hardback.

In Search of C. S. Lewis, Edited by Stephen Schofield.

“Contains previously unpublished letters and photographs.” Includes contributions by Kenneth Tynan and Malcolm Muggeridge (they’re famous!) as well as Lewis regulars George Sayer and Kathryn Lindskoog. Produced by the Canadian C. S. Lewis Society.

Ranking: Keeper.

File Code: Memoirs. Essays. Softcover.

We Remember C. S. Lewis: Essays and Memoirs, Edited by David Graham.

Includes work by George Sayer and Dom Bede Griffiths. Photos.

Ranking: Keeper.

File Code: Memoirs. Softcover.

C. S. Lewis: A Biography (Revised Edition), by Roger Lancelyn Green and Walter Hooper.

A Harcourt Brace edition. The classical first biography. “C.S. Lewis, a man of varying talents, is remembered for his radio broadcasts and books reaching millions worldwide. This revised biography, created with full access to family papers and personal documents, is written by two men who knew Lewis well. An immensely readable record of Lewis's personal and intellectual life, it includes new information and photographs.” – Google Books. Photos.

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Biography. Softcover.

Tolkien and C. S. Lewis: The Gift of Friendship, by Colin Duriez.

“Both Tolkien and C.S. Lewis are literary superstars, known around the world as the creators of Middle-earth and Narnia. But few of their readers and fans know about the important and complex friendship between Tolkien and his fellow Oxford academic C.S. Lewis. Without the persistent encouragement of his friend, Tolkien would never have completed The Lord of the Rings. This great tale, along with the connected matter of The Silmarillion, would have remained merely a private hobby. Likewise, all of Lewis' fiction, after the two met at Oxford University in 1926, bears the mark of Tolkien's influence, whether in names he used or in the creation of convincing fantasy worlds. They quickly discovered their affinity--a love of language and the imagination, a wide reading in northern myth and fairy tale, a desire to write stories themselves in both poetry and prose. The quality of their literary friendship invites comparisons with those of William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Cowper and John Newton, and G.K. Chesterton and Hillaire Belloc. Both Tolkien and Lewis were central figures in the informal Oxford literary circle, the Inklings. This book explores their lives, unfolding the extraordinary story of their complex friendship that lasted, with its ups and downs, until Lewis's death in 1963. Despite their differences--differences of temperament, spiritual emphasis, and view of their storytelling art--what united them was much stronger, a shared vision that continues to inspire their millions of readers throughout the world.” – Google Books. Colin Duriez will be mentioned several other times in this list.

Ranking: Keeper.

File Code: Biography. Literary History. Softcover.

The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C. S. Lewis, by Alan Jacobs.

Yet another book on Lewis; I suppose I’ll buy anything about him, if I have enough money. “Few things are more interesting to human beings than trying to figure out how another human being (especially a profoundly gifted one) works. Not just a conventional, straightforward biography of Lewis, Jacobs instead seeks a more elusive quarry: an understanding of the way Lewis's experiences, both direct and literary, formed themselves into patterns–themes that then shaped his thought and writings, especially the stories of Narnia. It is in the Narnia stories that we see the most of Lewis, and this illuminating biography delivers a true picture of the life and imagination of the Narnian.” – Google Books. Photos.

Ranking: Keeper.

File Code: Biography. Imagination. Hardback.

C. S. Lewis: Companion and Guide, by Walter Hooper.

“A delightful compendium of information on the life and writing of the twentieth century’s favorite Christian writer.” – Power of Babel. Hooper does it again with entries on people, books, adaptations, institutions, and concepts relating to Lewis, his life, and his work. The scholarship and organization of this book is breath-taking; the entries are snappy but informative, with little fat.

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Reference. Biography. Hardback.

The C. S. Lewis Encyclopedia, by Colin Duriez.

“A comprehensive guide to his life, thought, and writings.” But only about a third as long as Hooper’s “Companion and Guide”. So – skimpy, or slimmed down, considering which point of view you take.

Ranking: Keeper.

File Code: Literary Guide. Softcover.

The C. S. Lewis Chronicles, by Colin Duriez. Foreword by Brian Sibley.

“The Indispensable Biography of the Creator of Narnia Full of Little-Known Facts, Events, and Miscellany.” Ah, but not so much a biography as a year by year, almost day by day timeline of Lewis’s life. Includes handy charts that pinpoint or collect certain things (like time and subject of radio talks), what important world events were going on at the same time, and other trivia. This time Duriez has done it right and produced a truly useful book for the Lewis scholar.

Ranking: Essential.

Fie Code: Reference. Softcover. Biography.

The Secret Country of C. S. Lewis, by Anne Arnott. Illustrations by Patricia Frost.

There was a copy of this in the High School library; I don’t remember it being very engaging. However, it is Lewis, and cheap, and a memory, so into the hoard it goes. The cover is surprising; it shows an old Boxen drawing inside a wardrobe. The whole biography is aimed at the young reader, I think. An Eerdman book.

Ranking: Keeper.

File Code: Biography. Hardback.

Jack’s Life: The Life Story of C. S. Lewis, by Douglas Gresham.

“Includes Exclusive Author’s Introduction DVD.” And it is signed by Gresham! A fact I don’t think I’d noticed before making this Inventory. So, he held this book, and he was Lewis’s stepson, and now when I hold this book, I’m only a couple of steps away from C. S. Lewis! Photos.

Ranking: Essential.

File Code: Biography. Hardback. DVD.

C. S. Lewis in a Time of War, by Justin Phillips. Foreword by Walter Hooper.

Focuses in on “The World War II Broadcasts that Riveted a Nation and Became the Classic ‘Mere Christianity’.” The whys and wherefores and the effect that Lewis had with his broadcasts while London was under attack.

Ranking: Keeper.

File Code: History. Softcover.

Around the Year with C. S. Lewis and His Friends: A Book of Days, Compiled by Kathryn Lindskoog. Art, calligraphy, and design by Leah Palmer Preiss.

A blank journal book with daily quotes and significant dates from the lives of Lewis and his ‘friends’, which include favorite authors that he never met. Got this in the early 80’s (at least) and it is redolent of the time for me. It’s boxed and has a padded cover, has never been written in and probably never will be. Bought it at Hastings.

Ranking: Keeper.

File Code: Blank Journal. Quote-a-day. Hardback.