Surprised by Joy cover art

Surprised by Joy

The Shape of My Early Life

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Surprised by Joy

By: C. S. Lewis
Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
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Summary

In the closest thing we have to an autobiography, C. S. Lewis, an unfailingly honest and perceptive observer of self, here shares the story of his personal spiritual journey. With characteristic candor and insight, he describes how his “search for joy” led him from the conventional Christianity of his childhood to a youthful atheism, and finally back to an assured Christianity compatible with his formidable intellect. With no pretense, Lewis describes his early schooldays, his experiences in the trenches during World War I, and his undergraduate life at Oxford, where he reasoned his way to God. Lewis’ “surprise” holds continuing interest not only for admirers of his work but for any modern seeker concerned with the compatibility of the rational and the spiritual.

©1956 C. S. Lewis, © renewed 1984 by Arthur Owen Barfield (P)2000 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Art & Literature Authors Biographies Christianity

Critic Reviews

“Fascinating.”

(Nation)

“He is admirably equipped to write spiritual autobiography for the plain man, for his outstanding gift is clarity. You can take it at two levels, as straight autobiography, or as a kind of spiritual thriller, a detective’s probing of clue and motive that led up to his return to the Christianity he had lost in childhood.”

(Sunday Times (London))

“Anyone approaching this book as a study in the psychology of conversion will find the greatest interest in the dual paths—intellectual and intuitive—which converged at last. But the casual reader looking merely for an enjoyable book will equally value many other parts.”

(Saturday Review)

“Since St. Augustine’s meticulous analysis of what was the light, what the color, what the sound, the smell, the touch, what, indeed, was the good he loved when he loved God, few writers have taken the trouble to distinguish, with such clarity of psychological insight, the nature and the degree of attraction, the nature and the degree of satisfaction, apprehended by man.”

(Commonweal)
All stars
Most relevant
To get to know someone who has faced the truth of themselves and done somthing about it.

The story of a life through articulate honest eyes

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language was colourful yet hard to track. foavorite part was the last 3 chapters capturing his muse about his conversation..

so dense itbis hard to follow

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This book was first published in the 1950s and its style has a 50s feel to it.

Solid

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To hear the people and friends he speaks of an know so many of them were important to the literary and intellectual world. This is a very honest telling of his early education and life at school. To understand the sordid though excepted nature of public schools life and know that so many men survived school as they survived war never to speak of either again. I am thankful for the work Mr Lewis has left behind and hope many will chance upon his books and the wisdom within. Why his books aren’t in every school curriculum is a travesty.

A truly interesting first act of CS Lewis

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Fantastically read. Dramatic and engaging, plus appreciated the accent. Very pleasant to listen to. thanks

Great voice

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