by Larry W. » May 18th, 2006, 12:13 pm
I have always liked The Great Divorce. The idea of lost souls taken to heaven on a bus trip and given a chance to alter their lifestyle has always intrigued me. For better or worse, human beings always get what they want. I would rate it as one of Lewis' best books. Interestingly enough, I read somewhere that Lewis began to believe in Jesus as the son of God while he was travelling on a bus. I don't know if that setting helped him in his clarity of thinking, but one wonders if reflecting on the experience may have suggested some ideas for The Great Divorce. Of course, unlike Lewis the people in that rejected the call to be saved on their journey.
My least favorite is The Pilgrim's Regress. I liked some of the ideas in that book (especially a person on a journey searching for God), but the references in the book are tedious, and as a whole the story is not so well planned as his other books. It is kind of an imitation of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress (athough his faith goes in reverse as he searches), but it doesn't work very well because much of the story is groping instead of maturing as a Christian-- not overcoming the odds with God's help as Bunyan did. But at that time Lewis was younger and a less experienced Christian author.
Larry W.