The Comic World of
C.live S.taples Lewis
Book Description
Surprised by Laughter looks at the career and writings of C. S. Lewis and discovers a man whose life and beliefs were sustained by joy and humor.
All of his life, C. S. Lewis possessed a spirit of individuality. An atheist from childhood, he became a Christian as an adult and eventually knew international acclaim as a respected theologian. He was known worldwide for his works of fiction, especially the Chronicles of Narnia; and for his books on life and faith, including Mere Christianity, A Grief Observed, and Surprised by Joy. But perhaps the most visible difference in his life was his abiding sense of humor. It was through this humor that he often reached his readers and listeners, allowing him to effectively touch so many lives.
Terry Lindvall takes an in-depth look at Lewis’s joyful approach toward living, dividing his study of C. S. Lewis’s wit into the four origins of laughter in Uncle Screwtape’s eleventh letter to a junior devil in Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters: joy, fun, the joke proper, and flippancy. Lindvall writes, “One bright and compelling feature we can see, sparking in his sunlight and dancing in his moonlight, is laughter. Yet it is not too large to see at once because it inhabited all Lewis was and did.”
Surprised by Laughter reveals a Lewis who enjoyed the gift of laughter, and who willingly shared that gift with others in order to spread his faith.
So, if not surprised enough to find out after reading and greatly enjoying so many of his books through these years, that his middle name was (Staples), was just the start of everything I must have "thought" a different "he". (who is this Terry Lindvall PH.D. anyway?). This is a big, fat book (with all respect) that I did not get through. My eight year old picked it up out of the stack of mail and started reading it to us in the car on the way to Walmart. She enjoyed the mention that C.S. Lewis used the "joke proper" as she is in the beginning stages of being quite a "knock"-"knock"-"who's there" comedian herself. How accurate or pleased would Lewis be with this "work"? We will never know. Interesting facts throughout, but at the point I started to feel more "dis" than my previous respect I stopped. More than I need to know, possibly more of a "man" conversation I will keep my 'little old gentleman and a scholar" image of Lewis, thank you very much ☺. edited * to communicate a bit clearer, I greatly appreciate C.S. Lewis, his writing + his humor...however, I did not necessarily think that this author's portrayal was completely accurate or beneficial.All of his life, C. S. Lewis possessed a spirit of individuality. An atheist from childhood, he became a Christian as an adult and eventually knew international acclaim as a respected theologian. He was known worldwide for his works of fiction, especially the Chronicles of Narnia; and for his books on life and faith, including Mere Christianity, A Grief Observed, and Surprised by Joy. But perhaps the most visible difference in his life was his abiding sense of humor. It was through this humor that he often reached his readers and listeners, allowing him to effectively touch so many lives.
Terry Lindvall takes an in-depth look at Lewis’s joyful approach toward living, dividing his study of C. S. Lewis’s wit into the four origins of laughter in Uncle Screwtape’s eleventh letter to a junior devil in Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters: joy, fun, the joke proper, and flippancy. Lindvall writes, “One bright and compelling feature we can see, sparking in his sunlight and dancing in his moonlight, is laughter. Yet it is not too large to see at once because it inhabited all Lewis was and did.”
Surprised by Laughter reveals a Lewis who enjoyed the gift of laughter, and who willingly shared that gift with others in order to spread his faith.
:) I felt horrible giving this book a not-so-flattering review as well--I had high hopes for it, but. . .
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