Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis, Volume 3: Narnia, Cambridge, and Joy, 1950-1963 Book

CS Lewis' Letters 1950-1963 serves as an excellent record of Lewis' day to day life during the time the Narnia books were being published, during the time of his romance with Joy Gresham, and through some of the most prolific years of his career, until at last illness got the better of him and he died on November 22, 1963.

It will interest the reader to know that the absolute last letter in the collection, taken from the collection of Oxford's Bodleian Library, and written to young Philip Tompson, was written just the day before Lewis died, on November the 21st.

Obviously, this volume is not for the casual Lewis reader, and it is good to have a Lewis biography or two handy whenever reading a letter. Nor is it a book one would read from cover to cover unless for some special project. But if you're big on CS Lewis quotes and want to see the full context for some of them, or perhaps you'd like the occasional insight into CS Lewis' day to day activities, or you simply can't get enough of Lewis' unique writing style, you can't beat this definitive volume.

One note on "definitive", though. The picture of Lewis that we get from reading his letters and diaries is not complete. For one thing, there's always the possibility of a new letter turning up in someone's attic with a new detail, a new insight, into Lewis. For another, there is the fact that quite a number of Lewis' letters were destroyed before he died, probably in an effort to preserve the privacy both of Lewis and those close to him who might have disclosed sensitive personal information to him. That, and two more things: first, a written record of one's life is not necessarily a definitive record of what actually happened, as the task of writing definitively skews one's perspective; and second, this is only one half of the record - letters FROM Lewis, not TO him.

In spite of all those caveats, I suppose these volumes are necessary parts of any collector's library. If only for bragging rights. Although I'm quite certain Lewis would have adamantly objected to that idea.

,b>RE de Leon
8:55 PM January 1, 2011
Agoo, La Union