Publisher - HarperOne (1946)ISBN - 9780060652951
Necro Rating - 90%
Before we begin, let us clarify a number of points. Though C. S. Lewis is an exceptionally readable author, we often find his books to be somewhat saccharine. We found Mere Christianity to be somewhat simplistic, though it had a few good points and was, as mentioned, very readable. But the same can be said of Dan Brown.
Nevertheless we feel comfortable in saying that the Great Divorce is an exceptional book. Despite its literary shortcomings (hark at us), Lewis's style of prose flows well, his language conjuring images of those days when men smoked pipes, wore tweed and were thoroughly decent. He is, as we have said, no Tolkien. But nevertheless, one does not always need complex or sophisticated language for complex and sophisticated concepts. There is often merit in the simplistic.
The plot was solid. And extremely thought-provoking. The scene with the lust-lizard - as quoted by Christopher West - was one of the highlights. The whole concept of the book has made us reconsider what the concept of Universalism means, and the struggle that one must go through in Purgatory. Like anything though, it is not perfect. The extended dialogue chapters were important but sometimes became tedious - though the lack of conclusions made them more interesting.
Much of the character development was established through these means - and despite the occasional tediosity, Lewis is most effective. The character of MacDonald was charming, and reminiscent of Dante's Virgil, and the various hard-hearters were also utterly pitiable. Sometimes they may have seemed detestable - but only in that a reader can recognise, in them, aspects of themselves.
All in all, I would definitely recommend this book.
No comments:
Post a Comment