Synopses & Reviews
Examines the life of the eminent British writer and scholar, and suggests that his extraordinary range and variety of writing was due to his many personal, literary, and intellectual influences
Synopsis
A compulsive writer from childhood, C. S. Lewis saw the world primarily through the medium of books. He read voraciously, and his own writing covers a broad range of genres. This timely study of C. S. Lewis casts a unique light on this beloved figure by tracing his development as a
reader and a
writer of books.
Lionel Adey shows how the two sides of Lewis's personality, for which Adey adopts the motifs of "the Dreamer" and "the Mentor," are key to understanding Lewis's writing in its various modes. Adey describes Lewis's early development and then devotes a chapter to each kind of writing he attempted: literary history, practical and theoretical criticism, novels for adults and for children, poetry, apologetics, essays and addresses, and letters. Throughout, Adey discusses formative biographical events in Lewis's life, such as the death of his mother when he was nine years old. Adey concludes with an estimate of Lewis's achievement and enduring legacy as a writer.
Synopsis
From early childhood, C. S. Lewis engaged the world around him primarily through the medium of books. He read voraciously, and his own writing covers a broad range of genres. This new study by Lionel Adey is unique in its attempt to trace the development of C. S. Lewis as a maker and reader of books. Adey shows how the two sides of Lewis's personality, the "Dreamer" and the "Mentor," affected his writing in its various modes: literary history and criticism, fiction for adults and for children, poetry, essays and addresses, and letters. Adey also discusses the formative biographical events in Lewis's life and offers an estimate of Lewis's achievement and legacy as a writer.