- Shopping Bag ( 0 items )
Other sellers (Hardcover)
-
All (9) from $14.24
-
Used (9) from $14.24
Ships from: Richmond, TX
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from: Oroville, CA
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from: Branchville, NJ
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from: Covina, CA
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from: BURLINGTON, WI
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from: South Burlington, VT
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from: Hamden, CT
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from: Doylestown, PA
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Here is the story of the pilgrim John and his odyssey to an enchanting island which has created in him an intense longing—a mysterious, sweet desire. John’s pursuit of this desire takes him through adventures with such people as Mr. Enlightenment, Media Halfways, Mr. Mammon, Mother Kirk, Mr. Sensible, and Mr. Humanist and through such cities as Thrill and Eschropolis as well as the Valley of Humiliation.
Though the dragons and giants here are different from those in Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Lewis’s allegory performs the same function of enabling the author to say simply and through fantasy what would otherwise have demanded a full-length philosophy of religion.
Storytelling came naturally to Lewis, who spent the rainy days of his childhood in Ireland writing about an imaginary world he called Boxen. His first published novel, Out of the Silent Planet, tells the story of a journey to Mars; its hero was loosely modeled on his friend and fellow Cambridge scholar J.R.R. Tolkien. Lewis enjoyed some popularity for his Space Trilogy (which continues in Perelandra and That Hideous Strength), but nothing compared to that which greeted his next imaginative journey, to an invented world of fauns, dwarfs, and talking animals -- a world now familiar to millions of readers as Narnia.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first book of the seven-volume Chronicles of Narnia, began as "a picture of a Faun carrying an umbrella and parcels in a snowy wood," according to Lewis. Years after that image first formed in his mind, others bubbled up to join it, producing what Kate Jackson, writing in Salon, called "a fascinating attempt to compress an almost druidic reverence for wild nature, Arthurian romance, Germanic folklore, the courtly poetry of Renaissance England and the fantastic beasts of Greek and Norse mythology into an entirely reimagined version of what's tritely called 'the greatest story ever told.'"
The Chronicles of Narnia was for decades the world's bestselling fantasy series for children. Although it was eventually superseded by Harry Potter, the series still holds a firm place in children's literature and the culture at large. (Narnia even crops up as a motif in Jonathan Franzen's 2001 novel The Corrections). Its last volume appeared in 1955; in that same year, Lewis published a personal account of his religious conversion in Surprised by Joy. The autobiography joined his other nonfiction books, including Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, and The Great Divorce, as an exploration of faith, joy and the meaning of human existence.
Lewis's final work of fiction, Till We Have Faces, came out in 1956. Its chilly critical reception and poor early sales disappointed Lewis, but the book's reputation has slowly grown; Lionel Adey called it the "wisest and best" of Lewis's stories for adults. Lewis continued to write about Christianity, as well as literature and literary criticism, for several more years. After his death in 1963, The New Yorker opined, "If wit and wisdom, style and scholarship are requisites to passage through the pearly gates, Mr. Lewis will be among the angels."
The 1994 movie, Shadowlands, based on the play of the same name, cast Anthony Hopkins as Lewis. It tells the story of his friendship with, and then marriage to, an American divorcee named Joy Davidman (played by Debra Winger), who died of cancer four years after their marriage. Lewis's own book about coping with that loss, A Grief Observed, was initially published under the pseudonym N. W. Clerk.
Several poems, stories, and a novel fragment published after Lewis's death have come under scrutiny as possible forgeries. On one side of the controversy is Walter Hooper, a trustee of Lewis's estate and editor of most of his posthumous works; on the other is Kathryn Lindskoog, a Lewis scholar who began publicizing her suspicions in 1988. Scandal or kooky conspiracy theory? The verdict's still out among readers.
BOOK ONE: THE DATA
BOOK TWO: THRILL
BOOK THREE: THROUGH DARKEST ZEITGEISTHEIM
BOOK FOUR: BACK TO THE ROAD
BOOK FIVE: THE GRAND CANYON
BOOK SIX: NORTHWARD ALONG THE CANYON
BOOK SEVEN: SOUTHWARD ALONG THE CANYON
BOOK EIGHT: AT BAY
BOOK NINE: ACROSS THE CANYON
BOOK TEN: THE REGRESS
Anonymous
Posted January 18, 2003
If I had to name one book that changed my life this would be it. An allegory that amounts to a brilliant philosophical treatise so packed it would have taken Aquinas about thirty books to write. You'll find everyone from Paul and Luther to Freud within its insightful pages. In CS Lewis' skillful hands, it takes the form of a simple children's story. The two main characters, Vertue and John, are symbols of CS Lewis' own conflicting ideas and yearnings as he struggled through the philosophical terrain. This book will change your perspective on life.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted December 27, 2001
The Pilgrim's Regress is a fascinating allegory about a boy named Jon. This book is not for the weak-hearted. Packed with more symbolism than one person could digest in a lifetime, The Pilgrim's Regress is not a light read. It would take ten minutes per page to decipher the sometimes hidden yet often clearly evident meanings of names, places, and events of this book. One person might read this book and see merely a quaint story about a boy's journey to enlightenment. The serious reader will find divine truths about life, love, and diety. I highly recommend this book. I gave it four stars only because it lacks the clarity of Lewis's other books. Otherwise, I feel it would have been worthy of five bright stars.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted November 12, 2008
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted April 26, 2010
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted September 14, 2011
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted June 11, 2009
No text was provided for this review.
Overview
Here is the story of the pilgrim John and his odyssey to an enchanting island which has created in him an intense longing—a mysterious, sweet desire. John’s pursuit of this desire takes him ...