Screwtape Letters

( 350 )

Overview

The Deluxe Illustrated Edition of a Timeless Classic

First published in 1942, The Screwtape Letters has sold millions of copies world-wide and is recognized as a milestone in the history of popular theology. A masterpiece of satire, it entertains readers with its sly and ironic portrayal of human life and foibles from the vantage point of Screwtape, a highly placed assistant to "Our Father Below." At once wildly comic, deadly serious, and strikingly original, The Screwtape ...

See more details below
Hardcover (Special Illustrated Edition)
$20.56
BN.com price
(Save 31%)$29.99 List Price
Pick Up In Store

Pick Up In Store

Reserve and pick up in 60 minutes at your local store

Other sellers (Hardcover)
  • All (34) from $7.99   
  • New (16) from $18.71   
  • Used (18) from $7.99   
The Screwtape Letters

Available on NOOK devices and apps  
  • Nook Devices
  • NOOK HD/HD+ Tablet
  • NOOK
  • NOOK Color
  • NOOK Tablet
  • Tablet/Phone
  • NOOK for Windows 8 Tablet
  • NOOK for iOS
  • NOOK for Android
  • NOOK Kids for iPad
  • PC/Mac
  • NOOK for Windows 8
  • NOOK for PC
  • NOOK for Mac
  • NOOK Study
  • NOOK for Web

Want a NOOK? Explore Now

NOOK Book (eBook)
$9.78
BN.com price
(Save 11%)$10.99 List Price
Marketplace
BN.com

All Available Formats & Editions

More About This Book

Overview

The Deluxe Illustrated Edition of a Timeless Classic

First published in 1942, The Screwtape Letters has sold millions of copies world-wide and is recognized as a milestone in the history of popular theology. A masterpiece of satire, it entertains readers with its sly and ironic portrayal of human life and foibles from the vantage point of Screwtape, a highly placed assistant to "Our Father Below." At once wildly comic, deadly serious, and strikingly original, The Screwtape Letters is the most engaging account of temptation—and triumph over it—ever written. With beautiful color illustrations by the artist Papas throughout, this new edition also includes C. S. Lewis's own drawing of Screwtape, as well as a retrospective essay written twenty years after the original publication.

Read More Show Less

Editorial Reviews

The New Yorker
"If wit and wisdom, style and scholarship are requisites to passage through the pearly gates, Mr. Lewis will be among the angels."
Stephen Fry
"A mixture of wit, insight and brilliance of the kind you rarely meet."
John Updike
"I read Lewis for comfort and pleasure many years ago, and a glance into the books revives my old admiration."
The New Yorker
“If wit and wisdom, style and scholarship are requisites to passage through the pearly gates, Mr. Lewis will be among the angels.”
John Updike
I read Lewis for comfort and pleasure many years ago, and a glance into the books revives my old admiration.
New Yorker
If wit and wisdom, style and scholarship are requisites to passage through the pearly gates, Mr. Lewis will be among the angels.
Los Angeles Times
Lewis, perhaps more than any other twentieth-century writer, forced those who listened to him and read his works to come to terms with their own philosophical presuppositions.
New Yorker
If wit and wisdom, style and scholarship are requisites to passage through the pearly gates, Mr. Lewis will be among the angels.
Los Angeles Times
Lewis, perhaps more than any other twentieth-century writer, forced those who listened to him and read his works to come to terms with their own philosophical presuppositions.
Library Journal
Lewis's satire is a Christian classic. Screwtape is a veteran demon in the service of "Our Father Below" whose letters to his nephew and prot g , Wormwood, instruct the demon-in-training in the fine points of leading a new Christian astray. Lewis's take on human nature is as on-target as it was when the letters were first published in 1941. John Cleese's narration is perfect as he takes Screwtape from emotional height to valley, from tight control to near apoplexy. This will be a popular in most libraries.--Nann Blaine Hilyard, Lake Villa Dist. Lib., IL Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
New York Times Book Review
“C.S. Lewis is the ideal persuader for the half-convinced, for the good man who would like to be a Christian but finds his intellect getting in the way.”
The Washington Post Book World
“Apparently this Oxford don and Cambridge professor is going to be around for a long time; he calls himself a dinosaur but he seems to speak to people where they are.”
Guardian
“This book is sparkling yet truly reverent, in fact a perfect joy, and should become a classic.”
Observer
“Excellent, hard-hitting, challenging, provoking.”
Read More Show Less

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780061708183
  • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
  • Publication date: 10/6/2009
  • Edition description: Special Illustrated Edition
  • Pages: 239
  • Sales rank: 338,384
  • Product dimensions: 5.70 (w) x 8.30 (h) x 0.80 (d)

Meet the Author

C. S. Lewis

Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably the most influential Christian writer of his day. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English literature at Oxford University until 1954 when he was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance English at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement. His major contributions in literary criticism, children's literature, fantasy literature, and popular theology brought him international renown and acclaim. He wrote more than thirty books, allowing him to reach a vast audience, and his works continue to attract thousands of new readers every year. His most distinguished and popular accomplishments include The Chronicles of Narnia, Out of the Silent Planet, The Four Loves, The Screwtape Letters, and Mere Christianity.

Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) fue uno de los intelectuales más importantes del siglo veinte y podría decirse que fue el escritor cristiano más influyente de su tiempo. Fue profesor particular de literatura inglesa y miembro de la junta de gobierno en la Universidad Oxford hasta 1954, cuando fue nombrado profesor de literatura medieval y renacentista en la Universidad Cambridge, cargo que desempeñó hasta que se jubiló. Sus contribuciones a la crítica literaria, literatura infantil, literatura fantástica y teología popular le trajeron fama y aclamación a nivel internacional. C. S. Lewis escribió más de treinta libros, lo cual le permitió alcanzar una enorme audiencia, y sus obras aún atraen a miles de nuevos lectores cada año. Sus más distinguidas y populares obras incluyen Las Crónicas de Narnia, Los Cuatro Amores, Cartas del Diablo a Su Sobrino y Mero Cristianismo.

Biography

C. S. Lewis was famous both as a fiction writer and as a Christian thinker, and his biographers and critics sometimes divide his personality in two: the storyteller and the moral educator, the "dreamer" and the "mentor." Yet a large part of Lewis's appeal, for both his audiences, lay in his ability to fuse imagination with instruction. "Let the pictures tell you their own moral," he once advised writers of children's stories. "But if they don't show you any moral, don't put one in. ... The only moral that is of any value is that which arises inevitably from the whole cast of the author's mind."

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."

Good To Know

The imposing wardrobe Lewis and his brother played in as children is now in Wheaton, Illinois, at the Wade Center of Wheaton College, which also houses the world's largest collection of Lewis-related documents, according to The Christian Science Monitor.

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.

Read More Show Less
    1. Also Known As:
      Clive Staples Lewis (real name); Clive Hamilton, N.W. Clerk, Nat Whilk; called "Jack" by his friends
    1. Date of Birth:
      November 29, 1898
    2. Place of Birth:
      Belfast, Nothern Ireland
    1. Date of Death:
      November 22, 1963
    2. Place of Death:
      Headington, England

Read an Excerpt

The Screwtape Letters

Chapter One

My dear Wormwood,

I note what you say about guiding your patient's reading and taking care that he sees a good deal of his materialist friend. But are you not being a trifle naïve? It sounds as if you supposed that argument was the way to keep him out of the Enemy's clutches. That might have been so if he had lived a few centuries earlier. At that time the humans still knew pretty well when a thing was proved and when it was not; and if it was proved they really believed it. They still connected thinking with doing and were prepared to alter their way of life as the result of a chain of reasoning. But what with the weekly press and other such weapons we have largely altered that. Your man has been accustomed, ever since he was a boy, to have a dozen incompatible philosophies dancing about together inside his head. He doesn't think of doctrines as primarily 'true' or 'false', but as 'academic' or 'practical', 'outworn' or 'contemporary', 'conventional' or 'ruthless'. Jargon, not argument, is your best ally in keeping him from the Church. Don't waste time trying to make him think that materialism is true! Make him think it is strong, or stark, or courageous — that it is the philosophy of the future. That's the sort of thing he cares about.

The trouble about argument is that it moves the whole struggle on to the Enemy's own ground. He can argue too; whereas in really practical propaganda of the kind I am suggesting He has been shown for centuries to be greatly the inferior of Our Father Below. By the very act of arguing, you awake the patient's reason; and once it is awake, who canforesee the result? Even if a particular train of thought can be twisted so as to end in our favour, you will find that you have been strengthening in your patient the fatal habit of attending to universal issues and withdrawing his attention from the stream of immediate sense experiences. Your business is to fix his attention on the stream. Teach him to call it 'real life' and don't let him ask what he means by 'real'.

Remember, he is not, like you, a pure spirit. Never having been a human (Oh that abominable advantage of the Enemy's!) you don't realise how enslaved they are to the pressure of the ordinary. I once had a patient, a sound atheist, who used to read in the British Museum. One day, as he sat reading, I saw a train of thought in his mind beginning to go the wrong way. The Enemy, of course, was at his elbow in a moment. Before I knew where I was I saw my twenty years' work beginning to totter. If I had lost my head and begun to attempt a defence by argument I should have been undone. But I was not such a fool. I struck instantly at the part of the man which I had best under my control and suggested that it was just about time he had some lunch. The Enemy presumably made the counter-suggestion (you know how one can never quite overhear what He says to them?) that this was more important than lunch. At least I think that must have been His line for when I said 'Quite. In fact much too important to tackle at the end of a morning,' the patient brightened up considerably; and by the time I had added 'Much better come back after lunch and go into it with a fresh mind,' he was already half way to the door. Once he was in the street the battle was won. I showed him a newsboy shouting the midday paper, and a No. 73 bus going past, and before he reached the bottom of the steps I had got into him an unalterable conviction that, whatever odd ideas might come into a man's head when he was shut up alone with his books, a healthy dose of 'real life' (by which he meant the bus and the newsboy) was enough to show him that all 'that sort of thing' just couldn't be true. He knew he'd had a narrow escape and in later years was fond of talking about 'that inarticulate sense for actuality which is our ultimate safeguard against the aberrations of mere logic'. He is now safe in Our Father's house.

You begin to see the point? Thanks to processes which we set at work in them centuries ago, they find it all but impossible to believe in the unfamiliar while the familiar is before their eyes. Keep pressing home on him the ordinariness of things. Above all, do not attempt to use science (I mean, the real sciences) as a defence against Christianity. They will positively encourage him to think about realities he can't touch and see. There have been sad cases among the modern physicists. If he must dabble in science, keep him on economics and sociology; don't let him get away from that invaluable 'real life'. But the best of all is to let him read no science but to give him a grand general idea that he knows it all and that everything he happens to have picked up in casual talk and reading is 'the results of modern investigation'. Do remember you are there to fuddle him. From the way some of you young fiends talk, anyone would suppose it was our job to teach!

Your affectionate uncle

Screwtape

The Screwtape Letters. Copyright (c) by C. Lewis . Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.
Read More Show Less

Reading Group Guide

Introduction
Originally published in The Guardian from May 2 to November 28, 1941, Lewis conceived of The Screwtape Letters in the summer of 1940. On the evening of July 20th, he heard a broadcast speech by Hitler and later wrote to his brother, Warnie: "I don't know if I am weaker than other people, but it is a positive revelation to me that while the speech lasts it is impossible not to waver just a little." Lewis went on to explain that he was "struck by an idea for a book which I think would be both useful and entertaining. It would be called As One Devil to Another and would consist of letters from an elderly retired devil to a young devil who has just started work on his first 'patient.' The idea would be to give all the psychology of temptation from the other point of view." This reversal, whereby God becomes "The Enemy" and "Our Father's House" is not heaven but hell, is crucial to understanding The Screwtape Letters and also accounts for much of its power. All questions of Christian faith are approached from the perspective of a devil who wants to undermine that faith and capture the soul of "the patient." This radical shift allows Lewis to reveal, as the patient moves precariously through one temptation after another, both what is required to maintain one's virtue and the precise nature of the forces of darkness deployed to destroy it. The Screwtape Letters was greeted with great critical and popular enthusiasm when it first appeared. The book was reprinted eight times in 1942 alone. Contemporary reviewers wrote that "Lewis is in earnest with his belief in devils, and as anxious to unmask their strategyagainst souls as our intelligence department to detect the designs of Hitler" (The Guardian, 13 March 1942) and that "Mr. Lewis possesses the rare gift of being able to make righteousness readable" (New Statesman and Nation, 16 May 1942). The Saturday Review (17 April 1943) called it an "admirable, diverting, and remarkably original work… a spectacular and satisfactory nova in the bleak sky of satire." The Screwtape Letters continues to be admired both as a brilliant literary work and a powerful exploration of Christian faith. Questions for Discussion
  • Much of the appeal The Screwtape Letters derives from Lewis's startlingly original reversal: telling a story about Christian faith not from a Christian point-of-view but from the perspective of a devil trying to secure the damnation of one's man's soul. Why is this strategy so effective? What does it allow Lewis to accomplish that would have been impossible in a more straightforward approach?
  • In the first of Screwtape's letters, he instructs Wormwood not to attempt to win the patient's soul through argument, but rather by fixing his attention on "the stream of immediate sense experiences" (p. 2). Why is immersion in the particulars of "real life" fertile ground for temptation? Why is argument a risky strategy for devils to employ? Where else do you find this opposition between the particular and the universal-between materialism and spiritual faith-in The Screwtape Letters?
  • While Screwtape allows that war is "entertaining" and provides "legitimate and pleasing refreshment for our myriads of toiling workers," (p. 18) he fears that "if we are not careful, we shall see thousands turning in this tribulation to the Enemy, while tens of thousands who do not go so far will nevertheless have their attentions diverted from themselves to causes which they believe to be higher than the self" (p. 19). Why would war have this effect? How does war alter human consciousness in a way unfavorable to temptation? How would you relate Lewis's own experience in WWI, which apparently confirmed his youthful atheism, to his position in The Screwtape Letters?
  • In describing the differences in how God and the Devil view men, Screwtape says: "We want cattle who can finally become food; He wants servants who can finally become sons" (p. 30). What is it about God's relationship to man that Screwtape finds so unfathomable?
  • Why is Screwtape so pleased when the patient becomes friends with a group of people who are "rich, smart, superficially intellectual, and brightly skeptical about everything in the world"? (p. 37). What influence does Screwtape hope they will have on him? Why should their "flippancy" build up an "armor-plating" against God? In what ways does Lewis merge theology and social satire in this and other passages throughout The Screwtape Letters?
  • Screwtape assures Wormwood that although some ancient writers, such as Boethius, might reveal powerful secrets to humans, they have been rendered powerless by "the Historical Point of View," which regards such writers not as sources of truth but merely as objects of scholarly speculation. "To regard the ancient writer as a possible source of knowledge-to anticipate that what he said could possibly modify your thoughts or your behavior-this would be regarded as unutterably simple-minded" (p. 108). Why would Screwtape delight in this situation? How would he turn it to his advantage? How does this view of reading parallel post-modern approaches to literature? Where else does Screwtape encourage Wormwood to persuade humans that truth is irrelevant?
  • Lewis exhibits throughout his writings an uncanny sense of human nature and a style capable of brilliant aphorism: "Men are not angered by mere misfortune but by misfortune conceived as injury" (p. 81); "Gratitude looks toward the past and love to the present; fear, avarice, lust, and ambition look ahead" (p. 58), to cite just two examples. Where else in The Screwtape Letters do you find universal statements about human nature? Do these statements accurately reflect not just a Christian ethos but the workings of human psychology more generally?
  • The sub-plot of The Screwtape Letters turns on Screwtape's relationship with his nephew Wormwood, the apprentice tempter and demonic understudy in charge of carrying out Screwtape's instructions. How do Screwtape and Wormwood regard each other? How does their relationship change over the course of the book? In what ways does their relationship offer an inverted reflection of God's relationship to man? What is Lewis suggesting by having the story end with Screwtape preparing to devour a member of his own family?
  • In discussing time, change, and pleasure, Screwtape asserts that "just as we pick out and exaggerate the pleasure of eating to produce gluttony, so we pick out this natural pleasantness of change and twist it into a demand for absolute novelty" (p. 98). Why is the demand for novelty necessarily destructive? What natural balance does such a demand disrupt? In what areas do you find this insistence on change, or overvaluation of the new, operating today?
  • Love is an important theme in The Screwtape Letters. Describing the human idea of love and marriage, Screwtape tells Wormwood: "They regard the intention of loyalty to a partnership for mutual help, for the preservation of chastity, and for the transmission of life as something lower than a storm of emotion" (p. 72). Screwtape is also confounded by God's love for man, which he grants as real but irrational. What is Lewis saying, in the book as a whole, about human and divine love?
  • Over the course of The Screwtape Letters, the state of the patient's soul fluctuates as he experiences a conversion, doubt, dangerous friendships, war, love, and finally, in death, oneness with God. What major strategies does Screwtape use to tempt the patient into the Devil's camp? Why do these temptations fail? In what ways can the patient be seen as an everyman?
  • In spite the patient's triumph over temptation, his glorious entrance to Heaven-"the degradation of it!-that this thing of earth and slime could stand upright and converse with spirits" (p.122)-Screwtape does not lose faith in his own cause. Why do you think Lewis chose to end the book in this ambiguous light? Why is Screwtape sustained by "the conviction that our Realism, our rejection (in the face of all temptations) of all silly nonsense and claptrap, must win in the end"? (p. 124). What warning is implied in the book's ending? In what ways does The Screwtape Letters speak to contemporary moral and spiritual issues both within and outside of the Christian Church?
About the Author: Clive Staples Lewis was born in 1898 in a suburb of Belfast. An extraordinarily precocious child, at the age of eight he was writing and illustrating "Animal-Land" stories with his brother Warren, at ten was reading Paradise Lost, and at nineteen was described by one of his teachers as "the most brilliant translator of Greek plays that I have ever met." By the time Lewis entered Oxford in 1917, he had long considered himself an atheist, a position that his experiences on the front lines of World War I only confirmed. But in 1925 he was elected to a fellowship at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he taught for twenty-five years and where his intellectual, creative, and religious development underwent a remarkable flowering. Shortly after a late night talk with J.R.R. Tolkien and Hugo Dyson in 1931, Lewis had a conversion experience, beautifully described in his autobiography Surprised by Joy (1955), and regained his faith in Christianity. There followed an astonishing succession of fiction, criticism, and religious books, including The Problem of Pain (1940), The Screwtape Letters (1942), The Abolition of Man (1943), The Great Divorce (1946), Miracles (1947), George MacDonald (1947), and Mere Christianity (1952), and the seven children's books comprising The Chronicles of Narnia, completed in 1954. Greatly admired for his teaching, Lewis was offered the chair of Medieval and Renaissance English at Cambridge in 1954, a position he held until his death. In 1956 he married Joy Davidman Gresham, the American poet and novelist, who was diagnosed with cancer later that year. Despite his wife's illness, Lewis achieved in his final years the happiness and contentment he had searched for all his life. His relationship with Joy, who died in 1960, is the subject of Richard Attenborough's film Shadowlands, and Lewis's own A Grief Observed, published under a pseudonym in 1961, is a deeply moving account of his struggle to come to terms with her loss. C.S. Lewis died on November 22, 1963, at his home in Oxford.
Read More Show Less

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4.5
( 350 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(213)

4 Star

(68)

3 Star

(40)

2 Star

(19)

1 Star

(10)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines
Add Recommendations
Your Name: Create a Pen Name or

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

  • - HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
  • - Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
  • - Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
  • - Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
  • - Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
  • - Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
  • - Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

  • - By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
  • - Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
  • - See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.
Search for Products You'd Like to Recommend

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!

Create a Pen Name

Your Pen Name is your unique identity on BN.com. It will appear on the reviews you write and other website activities. Your Pen Name cannot be edited, changed or deleted once submitted.

 
Your Pen Name can be any combination of alphanumeric characters (plus - and _), and must be at least two characters long.

Continue Anonymously
See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 351 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted January 25, 2008

    Amazing

    This is not a moralizing book trying to convert people to Christianity. Even as a Jew, I found Lewis's writing and religious beliefs to change my perspective on many things in life. It is a well-written book that can be enjoyed by anyone.

    16 out of 16 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 30, 2009

    I Also Recommend:

    A Chase After Wind
    Bread Upon The Water

    Lewis at his best!

    The Screwtape Letters is more relevant today than ever. CS Lewis describes the temptations of today's times as well as yesterdays, validating the point that evil is consistant and hardworking, if nothing else. Masterfully done!

    11 out of 11 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted September 22, 2009

    Timelessly True...

    I have to be honest. When I come across something that takes me by surprise, I don't think I can do it justice. That is the case with Focus on the Family's Radio Theater version of The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. The Screwtape Letters were a series of letters that C.S. Lewis wrote about Screwtape to his nephew Wormwood--both workers for the Devil about how to effectively lead people to Hell and away from God. They were originally published separately in a magazine and then compiled as a book.

    I think the release of this audiodrama is very timely in our culture today. It brings to life C.S. Lewis' book from 60+ years ago. What amazes me so much about it is how true it remains today--even about our culture! I thought beforehand that there would be some very insightful comments made in it, but I had no idea how many!

    I have not read the actual book, but it is on our bookshelf so I picked it up after listening to the audiodrama. It is amazingly true to the book. It is not a drastic abridgement as I had expected. The language they use is true to the book and the way Wormwood and Screwtape talk is also true to the book.

    There is one particular point that struck me today that I didn't want to forget to mention. It was when Screwtape tells Wormwood that the best road to (Hell) is a very gradual one--not one marked by huge sins. Huge sins make people aware of their need for God. The gradual road (in my words) is like the frog in a pot that comes to a boil gradually--so he doesn't know he's dying.

    What most struck me as I listened was that what Screwtape was really talking about is Cynicism. Cynicism is the Devil's best way to turn us away from the Lord. C.S. Lewis used other words, but essentially, that is what he was talking about.

    As far as the dramatization goes, it is best to listen to it in daylight--although at night, it might have more of an impact on you. The actors were excellent! I wasn't concerned about the Behind the Scenes DVD because that has never been something I've really watched on movies. On the packaging, there is a warning that it is for ages 12 and up. I would agree with that and I'm glad they placed that age recommendation on the back. I was careful not to play it around my little ones or within their earshot.

    9 out of 10 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted September 14, 2003

    Devilishly Clever...

    The Screwtape Letters remains one of the most powerful satires of recent times; not only because it can be interpreted on so many different levels. It's without parallel insofar as demands on the reader go- it forces you to reassess your views of religion and God, and although you always know 'the Enemy will win the day', you find yourself mesmerised, and keen to know the next installment. What struck me, especially in light of all the government scandals lately, is how much like a spin doctor Screwtape is. His insights into human behaviour are sharp and shrewd- he knows how to 'play the violin prettily', but his championing of obviously hideous things (the delight of Noise, for instance)and debasement of the Enemy (his belittlement of God betrays his fear of him)expose him for the fraud he is. It's scary, though. In 'Screwtape Makes a Toast', the appendix to this volume, Screwtape speaks at lenght about how it is not fabulously wicked people but small-minded, everyday evil that will eventually win the fight against God, and the country, under the guise of 'Democracy', will be one of apathy and mediocrity... and it's true!!!! Devilishly clever, but very scary. It demands a second, third... countless rereads.

    7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted April 2, 2012

    Love it!

    I definatly recomend it ! The book is in a demons perspective of how to control mortals. Its written by one of my favorite authors......C.S.Lewis

    5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 14, 2005

    insightful

    set up in the form of letters from an upper-level demon (screwtape) to a newbie tempter (wormwood), c.s. lewis describes the strengths and weaknesses of human nature. there were times when i laughed out loud while reading this, because i felt like screwtape and wormwood had been inside of my head my whole life. this book gives hope to struggling souls and inspires everyone to work harder, because, as the book points out, when we are trying to do good, God is 'pleased even with [our] stumbles.'

    5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted May 23, 2010

    Brillant.

    The Screwtape Letters makes you think in a fashion that is unexpected. C.S. Lewis puts into words the unnoticed ideas and processes that go on everyday. The indirect (everything in the Screwtape Letters is indirect) messages concerning morality and faith are still valid today. It is eerie to realize that the same battles over worldliness have gone on since time began.

    4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted May 29, 2008

    An Excellent Study in 'What Not To Do'

    In The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis has presented with one side of a correspondence between two fictitious demons. Screwtape, a demon with a high position and good standing with the one they name as their 'Father below', writes to his younger nephew, teaching him in the methods of temptation. In this unique way, Lewis reveals not only temptations themselves, but also the way to overcome them through Jesus Christ. In addition, it is a highly entertaining read, sometimes depressing, at many times humorous, and always insightful, as we follow two demons' plot to ensnare the soul of a new Christian. ---Ryan Robledo Author of the Aelnathan

    4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted September 5, 2007

    One of the best

    I read this book many years ago and I just got another copy to give to someone who is dealing with evil forces at work in their life. ' The fool says in his heart, there is no God.' The screwtape letters shows how satan and his demons try to discourage a person of faith. It is a very good read indeed, and just like the sacred Scriptures, it has to be read and understood spiritually. It appears that those who excoriate this beneficial book are still in slippery places. In this book one can see that satan is a liar and the father of lies. 5 stars plus one.

    4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted May 17, 2010

    Captivating and original

    The Screwtape Letters is by far one of the best books I have read lately. I had heard about the concept of the story from a friend and was intrigued by the idea of demons surrounding us in our daily lives, tempting and manipulating us in various ways. The book certainly lived up to the hopes I had for it. I was delighted with the advice and guidance that Screwtape offers to his dear "nephew"/trainee, Wormwood, in setting the human he has been assigned to towards the path of damnation. It all seemed more than conceivable that such a thing could truly be occuring everyday around all around us.....a constant battle between good and evil for the souls of mankind. This book gives a revealing and insightful sneak peek into what such a struggle may in fact look like. Being privy to such a scene is not only fun...but immensely satisfying. :)

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted April 9, 2010

    I Also Recommend:

    Breaking Free Day by Day: A Year of Walking in Liberty
    Mere Christianity
    The Chronicles of Narnia (Boxed Set)

    To know our adversary...

    I highly recommend this book. With our lives moving faster and faster and there being in general less quiet and down time, its obvious why "the father of lies" would like us not to encounter this book. Lewis gives us a "grain of understanding" as to the real battle we are facing as human beings, God's children. "The battle is not against flesh and blood"...in this book we see the battle between good and evil, and how the battle is not fought only in the physical realm, but in our mind and heart as well. Lewis gives us a glimpse of how we are distracted, lied to, and generally kept captive, if we are not listening to our Father...

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted September 15, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    I Also Recommend:

    Mere Christianity
    The Chronicles of Narnia (Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classics)

    Fantastic

    A creative and thought provoking take on the reality of spiritual warfare.

    3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted March 16, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    Essential

    The Screwtape Letters, by C.S. Lewis, consists of a series of correspondence between Screwtape, an administrator of relatively high (or, from his point of view, low) position in Satan's bureaucracy; and his nephew Wormwood, a junior tempter just graduated from "temptation college," as it were. These letters -or at least those of Screwtape to Wormwood, we never read the actual replies- concern Wormwood's attempts to secure an ordinary man's soul for hell. This demonic point of view makes for an interesting read.

    One note about the book is how, due to the viewpoint, there is a complete reversal of good and bad. Screwtape regards human "virtues" as exceedingly detrimental to the cause, and vices just their opposite. Satan becomes "our father below," and God as we know him is "the Enemy." If Screwtape recommends that Wormwood ought to encourage something in his Patient's (the person he is assigned to, and the human focus of the book) life, then we, as people, ought to discourage it. (Hence, Screwtape's being "low" in his master's service, mentioned earlier.) At first, this can be rather confusing; "Screwtape's black is our white." (Lewis, the forward.) It takes a moment to change back, transforming "good" back into bad, so that his "advice" can become helpful to the reader. However, after becoming used to the style, one can easily execute this reversal without much thought.

    I found the book to be just fantastic. It is chock full of advice to aid the common Christian on their way, and I for one believe it is one book besides the Bible itself that every Christian should read. Of course, this overwhelmingly positive perception might not prove true for all. Lewis' very 20th century-British style might prove less accessible for some; and what seems to be of infinite importance to one might appear rather insignificant to someone else. Others still might think it just plain weird. But that does not change it for me; after initially picking up the book I have read it through three times and promptly proceeded to order a C.S. Lewis 'essentials' paperback box-set.

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted August 15, 2009

    C.S. Lewis Shines as Always

    C.S. Lewis nails human nature in this fascinating little novel. I found myself reevaluating myself and my actions in the light of the wisdom he shares. An excellent choice for anyone wishing to read something uplifting and well-written.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted June 28, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    I Also Recommend:

    The Dialogues Of Adolph And Mavelia And Other Sketches

    REMINDS ME OF ANOTHER TITLE

    I recently purchased another book entitled, "The Dialogues Of Adolph And Mavelia And Other Sketches" by E. A. Merodach, which followed the same concept as "The Screwtape Letters", only much more technically informative. Both were no less really great reads. Enjoy.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted September 10, 2012

    1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted June 14, 2012

    Good book...

    Love C. S. Lewis! It was a little hard for me to read & follow, but worth the time.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted February 20, 2012

    Timeless Classic

    In the reading of the book one is whisked away as if he was Uncle Screwtape's pupil himself. Wonderful book to wake you up to how the other side thinks.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted January 30, 2012

    INCREDIBLE!

    I have read most of C.S. Lewis's books, but this is by-far the best one. Lewis uses his wisdom and intellect to write a very realistic book on Spiritual warfare that captivates the reader. I definitely recommend this book to all.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted February 16, 2011

    Awesome book!!

    The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis is a book written from the perspective of a demon. Each chapter is a letter written from a senior demon to a junior demon that is trying to earn his "stripes." Throughout the book you will find yourself chuckling at what is being said but at the same time you will stop and think about how true it actually is.
    Not only is this a humorous book to read but it also is one that should be meditated. The introduction to this book explains how it should be read very clearly; Lewis says, "Readers are advised to remember that the devil is a liar. Not everything Screwtape says should be assumed to be true even from his own angle." As you read the book you would find yourself asking questions such as "Do I believe what Screwtape is saying to be true? Or is he lying?" "What weaknesses of mine are being attacked?" "What can I do to improve myself as a person?" This work of art is one to be devoured not just by the eyes but by the mind as well.
    I recommend this book to anyone; it's a great read with short chapters which makes it easier to study. The language in this book is a little different than what we are used to, but at the same time it makes you read slower so that you understand it better. This is a very cleverly written book; to be able to write a book from the perspective of the other side is just unheard of.
    Overall, I would give this book a 5/5; it was one of the most enjoyable books that I have read as of late and would read it over and over again. I believe that each time one reads The Screwtape Letters they will learn something new-something that they can improve in their lives. As you read this book you will find out more about your human nature than from any other book and you will recognize the temptations that you are subject to. This book contains a lot of truth, but you are the one that is the judge of it.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 351 Customer Reviews
If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble
Why is this product inappropriate?
Comments (optional)