The Great Divorce

Reviewed by Symon: 9 out of 10.

The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis is, without doubt, the most bizarre, and most theologically challenging book I have ever read.  It’s plot is as follows (courtesy of Wikipedia):

In The Great Divorce, the narrator suddenly, and inexplicably, finds himself in the “grey town”, representative of hell. He eventually finds a bus for those who desire an excursion to some other place (which eventually turns out to be the foothills of heaven). He enters the bus and converses with his fellow passengers as they travel. When the bus reaches its destination, the “people” on the bus, including the narrator, gradually realise that they are ghosts. Although the country is the most beautiful they have ever seen, every feature of the landscape is unbearably solid compared to themselves: it causes them immense pain to walk on the grass, and even a single leaf is far too heavy for any of them to lift.

Shining figures, men and women whom they have known on earth, come to meet them, and to persuade them to repent and enter heaven proper. They promise that as the ghosts travel onward and upward, they will become acclimated to the country and will feel no discomfort. These figures, called “spirits” to distinguish them from the ghosts, offer to assist them in the journey toward the mountains and the sunrise.

Almost all of the ghosts choose to return instead to “hell”, giving various reasons and excuses. Much of the interest of the book lies in the recognition it awakens of the plausibility and familiarity, along with the thinness and self-deception, of the excuses that the ghosts refuse to abandon, even though to do so would bring them to “reality” and “joy forevermore”.

As you can see in the overview, The Great Divorce pushes the boundaries (or perhaps brazenly steps outside) of Christian theology of the afterlife, and for this reason I must admit, I initially struggled with it. In the introduction, Lewis covers his theological bases by begging his readers to remember that this book is a fantasy.  Needless to say, if you struggled with The Shack, don’t even think about reading this book .

Having said I struggled with it, I also throughly enjoyed, and was surprisingly impacted by The Great Divorce.  Its description of heaven is worth the read alone.  In my opinion, Lewis’ imagination surpasses any author I have read. This book’s depth and insight into human-nature and its profound dissection of the human heart – is simply incredible.

Consider this excerpt as an example…

“Every poet and musician, but for Grace, is drawn away from love of the thing he tells, to love of the telling till, down in Deep Hell, they cannot be interested in God at all but only in what they say about Him. For it doesn’t stop… you know. They sink lower – become interested in their own personalities and then in nothing but their own reputations.”

In conclusion, this is a book that should be read more than once as I believe it will only get better with each reading.  If you are in search of a book which excels in engaging the intellect, the imagination and the soul, you won’t find much better than The Great Divorce.

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• The Silver Hand by Stephen on May 17, 2009
• A Ship Possessed by Symon on February 16, 2010
• Heaven’s Wager by Symon on January 11, 2010
• The Song of Albion Trilogy by Stephen on June 28, 2009
• The Pawn by Symon on May 20, 2009
• The Paradise War by Stephen on April 6, 2009
• Thunder Of Heaven by Symon on January 17, 2010