C.S. Lewis: A Life

This was a fluently told but rather lightweight biography. It focuses on Lewis's literary life and influence, helpfully placing this in context of outer life events but leaving me feeling as though something was missing. McGrath points out Lewis's strengths, clearly a devoted fan, but is reluctant to dig into his weak points. There is also little real material about many of Lewis's important relationships. It's a short book, so perhaps McGrath felt he didn't have time to go into these details. On the other hand there is a good deal of repetition that could have been pared down, and the Narnia books get two whole chapters without leaving me feeling that much of interest had been said.

The lengthy discussion of the date of Lewis's conversion gives a plausible alternative date, but in the end it does not seem to matter much. It is interesting that Lewis places this event before his father's death, while McGrath asserts it must have been after, but the impact of that can only be speculative because Lewis apparently did not talk or write about it. When biographers get too much into pet theories that are pure speculation (like Lewis's father's death having been a catalyst for his conversion), it greatly weakens their credibility.

Then Warnie just fades out of the narrative, ending up drunk in Ireland while Lewis is dying...surely there must be more evidence of Lewis's feelings about his brother? The more I think about it, the more unsatisfactory this biography is. It's the biography of a bibliography, rather than of a person.

Can I also express here my annoyance with books that incorporate tons of random quotes from irrelevant sources, as if to assert the author's literacy – “As Oscar Wilde said...” Why? Just say it yourself, you don't have to include quotations to back up general statements. Learn how to write beautifully yourself, like C.S. Lewis, rather than depending on writers of the past to do it for you. Meanwhile, much more from the source material would have been welcome, Lewis's own letters and the statements of those who knew him.

Short Review: This is the best bio of Lewis I have read and one that is well worth reading. It is a popular biography and McGrath says he is going to do a more academic biography later, which I look forward to. This one is highly readable and hits all of the right notes. McGrath had access to newly released letters and that seems to have made a big difference. There are some new details that have come out as a result of this biography and some may take issue with them, but McGrath seems to have documented them fairly well. I do wish there was more about Lewis' spiritual development. Other than the Inklings he does not seem to have had a Christian community around him, or at least it was not well discussed. I also wanted more about his interaction with his stepsons before and after their mother's death. And connected with the spiritual development I wish there had been more discussed about this theology.

In spite of the areas that were lacking this is still a 5 star biography.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/cs-lewis-a-life/