Becoming C. S. Lewis

As Harry Lee Poe demonstrates by counting the number of pages devoted to C. S. Lewis's influential and formative adolescent years found in their books, many previous Lewis biographies tend to devote insufficient space in examining this crucial period. This is rather surprising as Lewis himself in his autobiographical work Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life fully acknowledged this period's importance to his later development. This fully researched book drawing on material from the eleven-volume Lewis papers and his lifelong correspondence with his boyhood friend Arthur Greeves demonstrates the importance of how Lewis's voracious early reading of Greek and Norse mythology together with folklore would shape not only his own later writing but would be an important factor in his later conversion (he lost his faith while at school) to Christianity.

We learn of his rather miserable and unhappy time spent after his mother's death at various English private schools before being somewhat rescued and then intellectually flourishing (after leaving Malvern College) by studying privately with William T. Kirkpartrick his father's old tutor at his Surrey home. This book is actually my first introduction to C. S. Lewis and although despite some of the complex themes associated with the acceptance of faith I found in quite accessible. Although the writer and publisher's of this book are avowedly Christian this should not put off the more agnostically or aesthetically inclined reader who seeks a thought provoking and challenging read. I would certainly recommend this to those who seek an understanding of a rather complex and influential character.

I thoroughly enjoyed this charming walk through the early years of the life of C.S. Lewis. My knowledge of him prior to reading this biography was pretty much limited to The Chronicles of Narnia! So I can’t possibly give an opinion on the content being accurate but I very much got the impression that this is a well-researched and honest biography.

It is focused on the education of Lewis and shows us how he began to develop from schoolboy to author, his influences and inspiration, it also covers C.S. Lewis’s religious life and endeavours.

If like me you know almost nothing about this man whose works are legendry – this is a book for you – I am looking forward to the next volume – the author writes in such a way that the information is easy to read, understand, digest and remember.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher Crossway for allowing me to read the Kindle edition in return for my honest opinion and review

I received this book from Netgalley for review and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
After reading this delightful biography on the early years of C. S. Lewis's , I have gained an entirely new perspective on the man, his reading life, his likes and dislikes, and his own works. There are several factors that affected the boy , his education and philosophy that surprised and enlightened me. His path to Christianity was ordained by Almighty God and a fascinating journey. Each of his lectures, stories and tales are referenced quite deeply here and worthy of study.

This was an in depth look at the impact beloved author C.S. Lewis' younger years had on his later writing. I found out so many new facts about this author and enjoyed this immensely!

First sentence: Between the death of his mother in 1908 and his war service in 1918, young Jack Lewis made the transition from childhood to adolescence to young manhood.

I have a complex relationship with the author/theologian C.S. Lewis. I do. On the one hand, we share a birthday, and I adore almost all of the books in the Chronicles of Narnia series. (I LOATHE The Last Battle.) I really like Screwtape Letters. But when it comes to his theology, his theological writing, I have issues--some BIG issue, some tiny issues, but too many to ignore.

Who is the primary audience of this new biography? I would say that it would most appeal to scholars. A strong interest in history, literature, philosophy, the first world war would certainly help. A love of Lewis' writing--his literary essays, his philosophy, his nonfiction, his fiction--would be an absolute must. It isn't enough to merely love and adore the Chronicles of Narnia. One must equally love and adore his other books and articles as well.

The premise of this one is simple, "During his school days, the boy who would grow to become C. S. Lewis formed his most important tastes in music, art, literature, companionship, religion, sports, and almost every other aspect of life. While his ideas and critical thought about what he liked and disliked would change, his basic preferences came together during this period and formed the foundation out of which his later life grew." And..."The questions of C. S. Lewis that began to form in his mind during childhood and adolescence would compel him toward answers that resulted in his conversion to faith in Jesus Christ many years later."

But above all else, this one requires an enormous amount of patience--the patience of a saint, perhaps?! It is tedious, cumbersome work. Unless you are incredibly curious to know about the smallest details of his daily life, year after year after year after year...one could probably sum up everything you really needed to know about this time period in his life in about a hundred pages--maybe 112 pages.

This one is idea-driven. What ideas did C.S. Lewis hold during his childhood and adolescence? When did those ideas form? Did those ideas change throughout these years? Did these ideas change as he became an adult? Did they ever change? To what extent did he stay the same and to what extent did he change? What books did he read? When did he read them? Did he reread them? Did he talk about them with anyone? Did his opinions on those books, on those authors change over time? Are there any parallels between his own books that he would later write and those that he read? Are there any similar themes? What relationships were significant to him when he was eight? when he was nine? when he was ten? when he was eleven? when he was twelve? when he was thirteen? ETC.

So many WORDS. It's not that I didn't care at all. It's that I didn't care all that much. For example, do we really need to know how often a young Jack Lewis thought about sex? which friends he discussed sex with? what his sexual fantasies were? who he fantasized about? how Lewis viewed women at this time in his life? where he got his views of women from? I pick on this one issue--which I consider almost non-relevant to C.S. Lewis the author and theologian revered by Christian masses. Almost. I mean, I suppose it shows his fallenness. But still. And this is just one example.

All that being said...I can't deny the book was well-researched. He obviously spent A LOT of time finding out EVERY LITTLE THING he possibly could about C.S. Lewis. And I do believe there are a handful of readers in the world who will care because they share a similar obsession with anything and everything Lewis related. The details go to the extreme. But it's a solid read

Life is never stagnant. Thus, the quest for something pricked the heart of young Jack Lewis, and he would not know why until he was many years older than where this book ends. The point is that his life story would not have had the same plot had he not fallen in with this story.

A true writer is one that falls in love with the story. That is captured by what makes the heart beat and what a conflicted heart endures. The account does not entail his conversion to Christianity but what may have lead up to it. His friendships in the private schools he attended and his father's drive for his son and brother. The relationship between son and father has its ups and down relating to the first World War has concern is warranted but also a son that wanted to experience life at its fullest.

To me his desire for life may have been found in literature however, it is his conversion to Christianity that may have given the purpose that he was always seeking in the stories that he loved. Christianity gave him the understanding of the deceitfulness of the heart and the drive for man to understand why.

There was some surprises with relationships that had shaped young Jack. However, I think these relationships gave him a "center" that he lacked with the death of his mother at a young age. CS Lewis was a man that desired relationships to learn and grow from. This account may give you more understanding of some of CS Lewis classics as he drew life into his work.

A Special Thank you to Crossway Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review

C.S. Lewis concentrated heavily on his incredibly harrowing school days in his autobiography, yet many biographers think that their effect on him has been exaggerated! Professor Poe noticed this, and decided to restore Lewis's young life back into prominence. This was when his tastes and dislikes were formed - the older C.S. Lewis still liked and disliked the same things. This was also when he read the books which eventually led him to Christianity.



Poe delves deeply into Lewis's dark school days, his relationships with his father and brother, his friendship with Arthur Greeves and his atheism and conversion. He spends much of the book Lewis's reading and how it influenced him to become a Professor of Medieval and Renaissance Literature, and, more importantly, to become a Christian. The conflict between the materialist philosophy and atheism of his teacher and his spiritual leanings is especially interesting, although heavy.



Any fan of C.S. Lewis will enjoy this deeply thought-out and insightful look at the great man. I am sure that Lewis himself would be pleased with this book!



I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This was an interesting biography, it focused on just the early (considered more formative) years of C.S. Lewis's life. It was well researched and I think a good view into those years.

Always Winter, never Christmas: The Hero’s Journey to The Ivory Towers

My Review of #Becoming C.S. Lewis: A Biography of young Jack Lewis (1898-1918) (Crossway)

by Harry Lee Poe

can be found here https://wordpress.com/post/volatilerune.blog/1004

This was a very informative read, but to be honest, it wasnt what I expected. I thought this would be a more "layperson's" look at C.S. Lewis's adolescence, but it was very technical, talked a lot about literature and was all around a little overwhelming. There were a lot of interesting tidbits, but overall I felt it was overshadowed by the technical details and the way the book was written. I may not have been the intended audience for this book, and I'm sure it would have been very enjoyed by more scholars and students of Lewis.

Volume 1 of a proposed trilogy concentrates on C S Lewis’s early years and how these early experiences formed and informed his character, work and future life. The author feels that not enough attention has been paid to Lewis’s childhood and youth in other biographies and has done an excellent job in rectifying this. His research has been painstaking and meticulous, although as so often when an author has done vast amounts of research he has been reluctant to leave any scrap out which sometimes makes for some longueurs. He stresses the importance of Lewis’s early reading but also narrates the full plots of many of these early literary influences and I’m not at all sure we needed this retelling. It’s a fairly banal conclusion that the child is father to the man and no doubt this concentration on childhood and youth is important and significant but I felt on occasion that some of the conclusions were pushing things a bit, almost sensationalising them, which makes for good story but perhaps not intellectual rigour. Also I was irritated by the frequent comparisons to Harry Potter – it’s quite possible that not all C S Lewis devotees are also Harry Potter fans. Although the emphasis is on the early years, Poe does jump forward frequently to Lewis’s future life and this made for disconnected reading at times. However, there’s no doubt that this is a worthy addition to Lewis scholarship, whilst at the same time being both accessible and enjoyable.