Lewis, C.S.

Lewis, C.S.

▪ British author
born Nov. 29, 1898, Belfast, Ire. [now in Northern Ireland]
died Nov. 22, 1963, Oxford, Oxfordshire, Eng.
 British scholar, novelist, and author of about 40 books, most of them on Christian apologetics, the most widely known being The Screwtape Letters. He also achieved fame with a trilogy of science-fiction novels and with the Chronicles of Narnia, a series of seven children's books that have become classics of fantasy literature.

      During World War I, Lewis fought in France with the Somerset Light Infantry and was wounded in 1917. The following year he went to University College, Oxford, where he achieved an outstanding record as a classical scholar. From 1925 to 1954 he was a fellow and tutor of Magdalen College, Oxford, and from 1954 to 1963 he was professor of medieval and Renaissance English at the University of Cambridge.

      Lewis lapsed into atheism in his teens but experienced a reconversion to Christianity in 1931. His first work to attract attention was The Pilgrim's Regress: An Allegorical Apology for Christianity, Reason and Romanticism (1933). In 1936 came the critical and characteristic Allegory of Love: A Study in Medieval Tradition, considered by many to be his finest scholarly work. The first of his science fiction novels (a genre then scarcely known), Out of the Silent Planet (1938), was followed by the equally remarkable fictions Perelandra (1943) and That Hideous Strength (1945). These three books, which form one of the best of all science fiction trilogies, centre on an English linguist named Ransom who voyages to Mars and Venus and becomes involved in a cosmic struggle between good and evil in the solar system.

  Lewis' The Problem of Pain (1940) brought him wide recognition as a lay expositor of Christian apologetics, but it was far exceeded by the fictional best-selling Screwtape Letters (1942). This satire consists of 31 letters in which an elderly, experienced devil named Screwtape instructs his junior, Wormwood, in the subtle art of tempting a young Christian convert. Lewis' first story for children was The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950; filmed 2005), the first of seven tales about the kingdom of Narnia. The Narnia books are exciting, often humorous, inventive, and, in the final scenes of The Last Battle (1956), deeply moving. Notable among Lewis' other books are a volume of autobiography, Surprised by Joy; The Shape of My Early Life (1955), and a novel based on the story of Psyche and Cupid, Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold (1956).

Additional Reading
W.H. Lewis (ed.), Letters (1966), compiled by C.S. Lewis' brother, includes a memoir. Dabney Adams Hart, Through the Open Door (1984); and A.N. Wilson, C.S. Lewis (1990), are biographies. Critical studies include Chad Walsh, The Literary Legacy of C.S. Lewis (1979); and Margaret Patterson Hannay, C.S. Lewis (1981). William Gray, C.S. Lewis (1998), provides a comprehensive introduction to the author's work and career.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Lewis — puede referirse a: Contenido 1 Nombre 1.1 Personajes con el nombre Lewis 2 Apellido 2.1 Personajes con el apellido Lewis …   Wikipedia Español

  • LEWIS (J.) — LEWIS JERRY (1926 ) Né d’un couple d’artistes de music hall, à Newark (New Jersey), Joseph Levitch exerce toutes sortes de métiers à partir de ses douze ans. En 1944, il met au point un numéro d’imitation de chanteurs et passe avec succès en… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • LEWIS (P. W.) — LEWIS PERCY WYNDHAM (1882 1957) Né en 1882 sur le yacht paternel, Percy Wyndham Lewis fut ainsi canadien par proximité géographique, avant de devenir le plus cosmopolite des artistes de culture anglaise. Vers les vingt neuf ans on lui connaît un… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • LEWIS (J. L.) — LEWIS JOHN LLEWELLYN (1880 1969) Fils d’un mineur gallois fixé dans l’Iowa, John Lewis suit, professionnellement et syndicalement, la tradition paternelle. Il impose rapidement ses talents de lutteur, d’organisateur et son ambition. À vingt six… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • LEWIS (M. G.) — LEWIS MATTHEW GREGORY (1775 1818) Au risque de décevoir, on ne peut pas maintenir la légende qui, par une étrange assimilation du personnage central d’une œuvre à son créateur, abolissant ainsi l’écart entre le réel et l’imaginaire, fait de M. G …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Lewis — (Carlton Mc Hinley, dit Carl) (né en 1961) athlète américain; champion olympique à Los Angeles (1984) du 100 m, du 200 m, du saut en longueur et du 4 fois 100 m. Lewis (Gilbert Newton) (1875 1946) physicien et chimiste américain. Il définit les… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • LEWIS, I.M. — LEWIS, I.M. (1930– ), social anthropologist. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Ioan Myrddin Lewis was educated at the University of Glasgow and at Oxford University, where he received a diploma in social anthropology in 1952, a B.Litt. in 1953, and a… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • LEWIS (S.) — LEWIS SINCLAIR (1885 1951) Premier écrivain américain à avoir obtenu le prix Nobel de littérature, en 1930, Sinclair Lewis est un satiriste doublé d’un naturaliste. Ses cibles: la petite ville (Main Street , 1920), avec ses mesquineries, ses… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • LEWIS (A.) — LEWIS ARTHUR (1915 1991) Auteur de Theory of Economic Growth (1955) et Prix Nobel d’économie en 1979 avec Theodore Schultz, sir Arthur Lewis est né à Sainte Lucie, aux Antilles, en 1915 et a étudié à la London School of Economics. Rendu célèbre… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Lewis — Lewis, C. S. (1898 1963) a British writer and university teacher. He wrote literary and religious works but is famous for his children s stories The Chronicles of Narnia, which include the well known novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • Lewis — Lewis, IA U.S. city in Iowa Population (2000): 438 Housing Units (2000): 196 Land area (2000): 0.500017 sq. miles (1.295038 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 0.500017 sq. miles (1.295038 sq. km)… …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”