The Great Divorce

[Dragonchild]

Does anybody know - and favour - this little jewel in the fields of literature by C.S. Lewis?

[PrinceOfTheWest]

Oh, I'm very familiar with it - it's one of my favorite stories, and an excellent example of how literature can be analogical without being an analogy. The little vignettes provide such a window into all our lives and personalities!

[inkspot]

Is this the one with the man on the bus to heaven? I love that one.
:)

[KathrynJanewayChakotay]

A great book i really enjoyed it really gave you insight into stuff you ddin't realize in your own life

[Benisse]

Lewis was a master at capturing the truth through fantasy, like in the Great Divorce which illuminates human nature through the encounters between lost souls given a 2nd chance with key persons from their past. It was brilliant the way he revealed how the phantom characters' excuses for not responding to God were such at odds with what they said they valued. In addition there were some unforgettable characters, like the Great Lady or the poor phantom who would not give up his pet sin and had such an unfortunate end. I also really love the way he can make an imaginary world seem so real, like the details of the intensely substantive grass, or when the narrator tried to take a shortcut across the stream and it was like trying to walk on moving, bouncing glass! This little book is a gem...
Blessings, Benisse

[lieke]

This is one of my favorite books. I was so happy when one of the 'ghosts' or 'shades' (i don't know how they are called in the English version) let the Angle kill that thing, and he turned into a 'real man', who could walk the grass, and who could go 'further up and further in'. And it shows so many of the mistakes people can make and actually make. And then again, the writing style was great.

[Son of Adam]

This was the first book by C.S. Lewis that I read, and it is still one of my favorites of his. It's one bus ride I will not have to worry about, praise the Lord.

[glum_of_the_marsh]

It is only recently that I read this marvellous book for the first time.

C S Lewis' own favourite of his own work, I gather -- and deservedly so.

I'm not so sure that I will be certain of a good destination for myself on this bus -- only hope, not certainty.

:)

[Copperfox]

Greetings, Glum-Of!

There is disputation to this day about the doctrine of "eternal security"--the belief that once we say the words "I believe in Jesus," we have a guaranteed free ticket to Heaven NO MATTER WHAT we do. But if accepting Jesus as our Savior does not mean eternal security strictly in this sense, it's as close to it as we need. Even if it IS possible for us, after gaining a relationship with God, to lose it, God will never make it EASY for us to lose it. He is FOR us, not against us. He wants us to succeed, not to fail. Thus the famous Parable of the Prodigal Son: the title character of this parable in Luke's Gospel had offended against his loving father VERY badly, treating the father with contempt and dishonoring the family name--but the father still was not only willing to forgive him, but DELIGHTED to have the relationship restored.

The fact that "The Great Divorce" metaphorically shows some lost souls being saved AFTER death--not something we should count on in reality!--reflects Mr. Lewis' understanding of God's merciful nature. Even in the Old Testament, before Jesus had come to pay for our sins, God said to the prophet Ezekiel, "As surely as I live, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they should turn from their way and live."

So you can have, not only a forlorn hope, but a strong confidence, that God is on your side--that He will be at work to HELP you toward Heaven, rather than planting landmines to PREVENT you from getting there.


Oh, while I'm thinking of it: in spite of the atheistic leanings of the "Doctor Who" series, there must have been someone among the writers who had read "The Great Divorce"....because the Great Lady is named Sarah Smith, and lived on Earth at Golders Green, England. The Doctor Who character Sarah JANE Smith was once referred to as living at Golders Green also!

[Gibby]

I read this book while on vacation this summer....good read. It makes me thankful for soft grass. ;)

[Copperfox]

"The Great Divorce" is actually the first C.S. Lewis book I ever HEARD OF, back before I was even old enough to READ his work with comprehension. And yes, it DOES make one appreciate flexible grass.