The Great Divorce Reviews

• Vivid fantasy of a bus ride through Heaven and Hell - WOW!

  
  By A2B7BUH8834Y6M on 2000-05-26
  Only C.S. Lewis can write a story like this. A man takes a bus ride through Hell, then Heaven and witnesses the choices made by others in their lives.

  The vivid stories within the story show that indecision is still a decision... it underscores the petty things in our lives that we allow to dominate us, things that will still plague us in Hell for eternity if we don't abandon them.

  Lewis' concepts (fantasized, of course) of the substance of spirit versus the substance of flesh and blood are incredibly thought provoking. There are mental images I got from reading this book that I will never forget.

  It is basic truth - you choose life, you choose death, or you choose not to choose. You will either give up the things that are holding you down (whether they be bitter resentments, anger, material gain, control, etc.) or you will cling to them until they become your master and you their slave.

  The book presents these concepts in such a non-threatening way that you've gotten a life lesson that you don't realize until you've finished this short, yet vibrant book.
  
  

• Great Images of Heaven and Hell

  
  By AX3T81AX775G3 on 2000-05-15
  Although this book is written as a novella, it contains TONS of thinly disguised theological truths and brain-shaking ideas. This is one of those books where everything means something. Every bit of the scenic description of Heaven and Hell reveals something that Lewis believes to be true about the two places and how people respond to them. Other fascinating things about this book are the fictional characters and seeing how different types of people respond to being in Heaven. There is one man who realizes that now that he is in Heaven, and in the presence of God, he is no longer useful. But he doesn't want to start feeling useless, and so cannot enter the presence of God--because in Heaven God provides for everyone's needs. This book really makes you contemplate whether Christianity is more about the journey or the destination. It's entertaining and full of wisdom, and is a must-read.
  
  

• For Christian allegory fans only

  
  By ACKAP8O7E1QN3 on 2002-01-21
  Okay, I admit that I probably shouldn't even be reviewing this book, I'm not in the target audience. For those who are in the book's target audience, I'm sure it is a wonderful book. If the description "enjoys Christian allegory" fits you, ignore my bad review and read the other reviews. All I'm saying is that for me, it was so boring I couldn't hardly finish it. I only read it because a Christian friend gave it to me.

  Just a few other small comments. In his introduction, Lewis finds it necessary to remind the reader that it is allegory, and he is not trying in any way to factually describe the afterlife. In fact he says, "encouraging factual curiosity of the afterlife is the last thing I want to do". Well, um, then what's the point? Though I maintain being agnostic, but I have to admit I lean more towards atheism. One of the reasons being that no one has presented, to my mind anyway, a plausible scenerio for what the afterlife is really like. An infinite life where there is presumably no pain or evil, would have to be inherently very different from our mortal existence. So different if such does exist, then it seems difficult to imagine any purpose to this very limited existence we have here. After all, a billion years from now, are you going to be sitting around heaven talking about the time your aunt died or something? I'm wondering if the reason Lewis doesn't want to "encourage factual curiosity" about the afterlife is because that when one tries to ponder it factually, it seems rather implausible.

  I think that a Christian would say that a quote late in the book more or less sums up what Lewis is trying to say. Lewis says that "there are two kinds of people, those that say to God 'thy will be done' and those that God says to them, 'thy will be done.'" Well, don't take the following statement as "bashing" Christians, I am fully aware that by and large, Christians are fine people. But of course there are those that claim to be Christians that don't seem like such fine people. My only point in this is that I basically reject that there is some intrinsic difference between those that choose to be Christians and those that don't. The point of the book is to try to show this supposed intrinsic difference, an intrisic difference would would last for eternity, which I reject exists. I reject Lewis' premise. I'm just in general not a big fan of allegory. And even Lewis himself says it says nothing about the real form of heaven and hell. So for me, it was a boring, useless waste of time. But if you are a Christian and like allegory, well, ignore me, I'm sure you'll like the book.

  NOTE: At the time of this edit of my review, I've got 0 out of 4 helpful votes. I guess I shouldn't be surprised as I'm giving a negative review of a popular book. But the point is - is my review actually helpful? And I think it is. I freely admit that those in the target audience will like it and I explain why I don't like it. That's what's called a GOOD review folks - don't say it is a bad review just because you don't like my opinion!
  
  

• A miniature masterpiece

  
  By A341BG8RMH8QW on 2000-01-05
  Some folks only know Beethoven for his 9th symphony. Some folks only know C.S. Lewis for one of his "greater" works. (Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia etc..) What a loss. Anyone who has read any C.S. Lewis should make the time over the course of their lives to read THIS C.S. Lewis. I loved this book. No writer in the twentieth century ever hit the nail more directly on the head when dealing with human nature than did Clive Staples Lewis. This book is a perfect example of his talent in this area. Not even the Screwtape Letters did it better. I heartily recommend this book to all readers.
  
  

• What is Heaven and Hell, anyway?

  
  By on 2000-09-07
  The brilliance of "The Great Divorce" is Lewis' focus on the spiritual aspects of Heaven and Hell and not just the literal aspects. The very day I became a Christian, the thought entered my mind that the very worst things about Hell had to be the absence of love and the absence of Christ. That was as far as my thinking went. Lewis took me much further with this book-- The lustful man lives in a kind of Hell already. The woman with a forgiving and humble heart lives in a kind of Heaven already. In the Bible, believers are described as already seated with Christ in Heavenly places-- spiritually, they have already arrived at their eternal destination. The converse is true of unbelievers. They dwell in the dark shadows of the underworld-- willingly without love and without Christ, burning in the flames of their own selfishness. An excellent read!! Lewis mentions his predecessor, George MacDonald, in "The Great Divorce." I have read that Lewis derived much of his theology from MacDonald's interpretations. I recommend MacDonald's book "Phantastes," the very book which Lewis partly credits for his conversion. I also recommend highly, and I do mean highly "Castle of Wisdom" by Rhett Ellis.
  
  
• THE GREAT DIVORCE
  By A2VUP5US1F5HG5 on 2002-05-28
  As Lewis explains in his preface, The Great Divorce is a response to the attitude of William Blake, among others, that someday there will be an ideal union of the secular and divine, or Heaven and Hell. Unable to see how this could ever be, Lewis wrote The Great Divorce to explore the issue further. The result is a religous allegory of the highest caliber and impeccable, nearly frightening, insight.

  As with all allegories, The Great Divorce relies on symbolism to make its point. Lewis admits his book is not to be taken literally as a tour guide of either Heaven or Hell, but merely as an artistic expression of his ideas. And the plot device works well--Lewis's intensely brilliant yet readily accessible and familiar writing style makes it easy to imagine oneself in the narrator's shoes on the uneasy bus ride out of Hell, hunkering under the great mountains of Glory, or even talking uncertainly with Ghosts or Spirits (oh yes, there is a big difference!).

  The Great Divorce is a fine read for anyone, believer or unbeliever. The former will find many challenges and assurances; the latter will discover new insights into the Christian faith not readily available from other sources. Above all, The Great Divorce is a Dante-esque tour of not only the Worlds Beyond, but just as importantly one of the often unexplored metaphysical World within us all.
  
  

• Great Book, Poor Edition
  By A3DAYDHAM7TFVV on 2001-12-21
  Please don't be amazed at my poor rating of this book; it is not actually a rating of the great C.S. Lewis's "The Great Divorce," of which the earlier reviews speak eloquently; rather, it is this particular edition by HarperCollins/Zondervan. Simply put, this edition is liberally peppered with typographic errors, perhaps even a missing word here or there--you won't be able to tell unless you get a reliable edition elsewhere and compare the two. But I found errors like "to" spelled as "eo," "the" spelled "teh," and so on, far too many simple errors to be permitted in such a slender volume. Hey, Harper/Collins and Zondervan: no one cares if fundamentalist claptrap books has typographical errors, since these are not read by thinkers, but when you set to reprint a work by one of the Great Authors, at least show him the courtesy of hiring an editor and proofreader to check the galley pages. Suffice it to say, since this edition is part of the "Signature Series," and presumably other Lewis books in the series is prepared in a similarly slipshod fashion, I will have to look for other editions of Lewis's works that I don't as yet own. (Of course, none of this may be important to the reader if he doesn't mind less than acceptable fidelity to the original editions of "The Great Divorce": in which case, I suppose this edition is better than none.)--A Former Editor
  
  
• Surface fantasy is framework for peak into human heart.
  By A3BFJFJRXMWXAX on 2002-10-03
  Lewis' "The Great Divorce" is a book that I have owned for years but only recently read. I don't know why it took me so long, but now that I have read it I want to read it again all the more. I guess that is a sign of a good book. Many of you reading this review are no doubt familiar with Lewis the philosopher, theologian, writer, and speaker. Suffice to say he remains one of the most esteemed and brilliant thinkers and writers of the last century.

  This book easily compares to the best of his work. The idea of using a fantasy-land constructed around a bus trip to try to give us some look into the unknown is pure Lewis. A dark, desolate, rainy bus stop gives us a mental picture of hell that reminds me of the films "Blade Runner" and "Dark City". The descriptions of a heaven-like place given in the book remind me of the house of Elrond and the elvish city in the recent "Lord of the Rings". The book essentially follows the author as he tours both of these worlds-seemingly seperated by a million miles. With George MacDonald as his guide, the author witnesses many interactions between those in the 'heavenly' world and those arriving from hell on a bus. The heavenly beings-who are solid-attempt to convince the spirits aboard the tour to remain with them and allow themselves to be made whole by the overseer of the heavenly realm.

  Unfortunately, most of the spirits prefer to deal with their various troubles 'some other time' or not at all. Wishing to remain as they are, they refuse the help of the heavenly beings. We witness spirits literally and figuratively in chains of pity, anger, pride, arrogance, and fear. The answer to all of these maladies is offered to them with outstretched arms, they need only accept the gift.

  The most powerful exchange in the book comes between a spirit who arrives with a little red lizard on his shoulder. (Readers of Lewis will recognize this from his earlier essay 'Horrid Red Things' in "God in the Dock"). The lizard embodies the spirit's struggles with lust; it continuously goads him on. As the spirit comes into contact with one of the heavenly angels, the angel states that if the man will only ask him to, he will kill the lizard. The lizard immediately warns the spirit that the angel is capable of this and reminds the spirit that if this is allowed, he-the spirit-will never enjoy the pleasures of lust and sin again. The spirit hems and haws, asking the angel many questions. Each time the angel responds "...MAY I KILL IT?"

  It is heartbreaking to read as the spirit decides to allow the angel-hands hovering just around the neck of the lizard-to kill it, only to relent when he realizes that he himself will be hurt in the process of obtaining freedom. The angel responds: "I never said it would not hurt you, only that it would not kill you." This seems eerily similar to so many of us in the 'real' world who, when offered freedom thru Christ and the solutions to our myriad of social, emotional, spiritual, and physical struggles, raise an angry hand to God and reject His offer. How many of us want our problems to be fixed, our wounds healed and our pain dealt with-without any pain!? How many of us prefer to hold onto the very things that are destroying us? Keeping us from God?

  A brilliant treatise on the ability of the human-in this case the spirit of departed humans-to rationalize and justify our behavior, whether it be an overbearing, controlling mother, a frightened woman, a man diseased with lust, those consumed by career, or any of the other characters in the book. Look deeper because there is a message for everyone in this book. A powerful allegory of the struggle to make the Gospel known to others.

  Recommended.
  
  

• Heaven is more real than Earth
  By A2ORLF4C88HDUJ on 2002-05-02
  A friend told me that this book opened his eyes to the fact that some people don't want answers, only debate and politics. He couldn't believe people would think that way, but then he went to college and experienced them for himself.

  Lewis has written a fun, memorable story about going to hell in a dream (or vision) and taking a bus tour of heaven. The ghostly figures that file timidly off the bus are barely visible in the bright light of heaven, and the grass is so much more real (or true) than they are it hurts their feet. One man tried to steal a golden apple, and he may as well have been trying to hiest a boulder. Lewis himself, writing in first person, feared a coming rain may pummel them into the ground.

  But after the initial shock of a world more real than he could imagine, he watched the other tourist interact with heavenly friends who had come to greet them. Some of them were friends from earth, some just kind-hearted people. Again and again the hellions (if I may call them that) choose to hold on to their worthless pride or foolhearty beliefs rather than humble themselves to the truth. Pride manifests itself in a hundred subtle ways as these pitiful souls whine about perceived injustices or irrational motives. Thankfully, a few tourists do humble themselves, become transformed into marvelously real beings, and remain in heaven. But most don't, about which the great Scottish author George MacDonald, Lewis' heavenly guide, says, "They may not be rejecting the truth of heaven now. They may be reenacting the rejection they made while on earth."

  This book has curious insight into our human hearts and teaches a few Biblical ideas in very memorable ways. I enjoyed reading it myself and again aloud to my wife. Lewis has a nice, readable style. 4 stars, only because a guy can't give everything good five stars.
  
  

• Enter Joy
  By A1X4JO8EJ1U5BR on 2000-06-09
  "There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, `They will be done,' and those to whom God says `They will be done'."

  This is a quote from this little volume, and effectively sums up the entire book in that one sentence. THE GREAT DIVORCE, like Lewis's TILL WE HAVE FACES, is his song of songs, his great achievement. Tolkien's was LORD OF THE RINGS, Adams' WATERSHIP DOWN, Sinclair Lewis' MAIN STREET. These novels are generally regarded as their major works. This little book, published in a little periodical called The Guardian, is one such book. (It was this periodical that Lewis's classic book THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS also appeared). Sadly, SCREWTAPE, though excellent in and of itself, is often given much more credit than this, which is a deeper work (and to those who know THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS, know what a feat that is).

  Perhaps one reason that this work is such an excellent little volume is its length of gestation: it was concieved in 1931 and written in 1944. Insipred by a sermon found in Jeremy Taylor's WORKS, suggested such a premise as to think, or take, the absuridity of damned souls getting a real refreshment from hell. Also another source was the fourth centru Latin poet named Prudentius Aurelius Clemens (his contribution can be found in "Hymn for the Lighting of the Lamp). Assuredly, one of the reasons that it took so long to be written (the first known written account is a diary entry by his brother Warnen on Paril 15, 1932) is he had not had it visualized. In terms of inspiration his fiction arose from "seeing pictures" in his mind. (Example: One of his images he received when he was about 16, and it was a faun with parcels in one hand and an umbrella in the other, standing in a wintery, snow laden forest).

  Much of this short little novel has a direct comparison or parellel to Dante's DIVINE COMEDY. Just like Beatrice to Dante, so also was George MacDonald to C. S. Lewis. MacDonald was almost a Universalist. He believed most of the world populace would submit and enter into joy, and know God's love. A lot of this would occur after death. According to Sayer, Lewis did not believe this, but thought it was a possibility (much my view on purgatory). What Lewis had to do was to rectify this belief with the others of purgatory, hell, heaven, predestination, damnation, etc. How he did so was a stroke of genius: he made hell and purgatory the same place. To those who would leave and give up a vice, it was only purgatory; but to those who were determined to keep their wickedness, instead of entering into joy, were damned. To enter into Heaven, the only prerequiste was to give up a vice. That was all. Some lust, some apostasty, some selfishness and false love (the mother Pam for her son Michael). Just like Dante, Lewis has an Apostate Anglican bishop in there.

  One of the things that he has done most brillantly is the potrayal of the Platonic belief that the essence of something is more real than the thing itself. Virture is more real that the vitrue that is practiced. Everything in God is much more real and tangible than hell, and Lewis does this marvelously. A device he borrowed from a writer whose name was unknown to him, Lewis made everything very, very real, and the damned men and women were but ghosts in that heavenly place. Each had an accompaning Spirit, one who has surrendered to God. In that place, the ones saved are real and can bend the grass and walk and swim, but always traveling further up and further in (to borrow a Narnian phrase, although it equally applies here). To aid the damned, the real, the saved, must go back and forsake their journey for a time, to aid those that will.

  One of the grandest scenes is toward the very last, in which a lady named Sarah is seen. In this, another of his master's ideals is expressed. Sarah Smith is no great woman by earth's standards, but she is so close to God, everyone she meets she changes for the better. God wants to use you, not only for his own intimate purposes, but for you also to update and bring the quality of the life for others around you to a much better place. Her whole train of follows is transformed by her love, because she allows God to work through her, and submitted to her; in turn, she transforms others, because she is a yielded vessel. Macdonald states of her "There's joy enough in the little finger of a great saint such as yonder lady to waken all the dead things of the universe into life". Likewise, because of Lewis being yielded to God, this book has a similar effect (as, perhaps, all of his books do -- I cannot say all because I have not read all).

  Ultimately, the entire point of this beautiful little book is that there could be no damnation without free choice. God made us to fellowship with us, not to damn us to hell. We are to enter into joy - but because we live in a fallen world, we might choose to hang onto some vice instead of entering into joy. Joy, that grand and beautiful intimacy with the Lord, real satisfying water that will forever quench your thirst, that is what C. S. Lewis is about. Let us not choose to stay in Hell. But one must understand this - Lewis is not advocating there is such a thing as bus rides to hell. The novel is, of course, but a dream. It is no way an examination of what lies after we die, although it does give thought to MacDonald's view on Universalism, though Lewis did not hold that view himself. Enter into joy, dear child, and meet Christ.
  
  

• A thought-provoking and profound analysis of Free Will
  By AH0KRQTLIXGW2 on 2002-03-23
  Allow me to begin by saying that I am, at best, skeptic regarding the existence of God. Yet, C. S. Lewis remains being one of my favourite authors, and this is by far one my favourite books by him. Through the allegory of a bus journey, this Christian writer allows to enter what he believes Heaven and Hell to be like. This, however, is just the means Lewis uses to face us with something much deeper and, to many of us skeptics, mind-boggling: The question of Free Will. Why is it that some people are granted entrance to Heaven, while others are doomed to Hell? How can a benevolent God punish his creatures so cruelly? He does not, Lewis claims; it is us who make the choice, whether consciously or not. This is what THE GREAT DIVORCE is about: making us aware of our own actions and where they lead us, thus forcing us to take a good, hard look at human nature... and our own. Afraid to do so? Then you should definitely read it.

  PS: What can I say? I've declared myself an atheist for a long time. Yet, the more C. S. Lewis I read, the more I doubt my beliefs- or lack thereof.

  Andrea
  
  

• Heaven or Hell? The choice is ours.
  By AHCVWPLA1O4X8 on 2003-01-21
  The perfect blend of logic, common-sense, and insight, the Great Divorce is typical CS Lewis. It is a masterpiece of Christian thinking, even by Lewis's standards, and ranks among his best in my opinion. This short work of fiction seeks to explain why some people go to heaven and others go to hell. Lewis's thesis is essentially this: those who are in heaven are there because they want to be, and those who are in hell are there because they want to be there, too. In other words, Divine judgment does not send individuals screaming down to hell--in fact, they go there themselves.
  
  Lewis's guide in the story, who just happens to be George MacDonald, tells him that most people have the attitude best expressed by Milton in Paradise Lost: "Better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven." According to Lewis, it is pride and selfishness that keep people from wanting to go to heaven. In the story, a number of "ghosts" are brought to the outskirts of heaven by bus, yet almost none of them wants to actually enter heaven when given the chance. They all have some reason why heaven isn't good enough, why they shouldn't go there. In other words, they willfully go back to hell.
  
  Of course, this story rocks the traditional views of the separation of the good and the evil, but Lewis presents his thesis in such an applicable story that it makes one stop and think. Why would a selfish, self-centered person want to be in heaven, anyway? What would they do? In Lewis's mind, there is no `marriage' between heaven and hell, because the two (and those who occupy them) want to keep as much distance between them as possible. Hence the title.
  
  As I said, I think this is one of Lewis's best. It definitely got me thinking. This is a great book, suitable for young adults and adults alike, that will certainly expand your mind on how we choose to live in our own personal heaven or hell.
  
  
• I Hate this Book!
  By on 2000-07-22
  Am I the only one who finds this book mean-spirited, even sadistic? Lewis takes these poor neurotic people and consigns them to hell. They get a chance to go to heaven for a visit. There, they only see Jesus briefly from behind as some kind of celestial bus driver, and God not at all. They are mostly left to shift for themselves, without a single kind word, even though they are obviously in extreme psychological pain. Occasionally heaven deigns to send them a helper in the form of a flaming angel or someone they despised on earth. The outcome is already decided,though, in nearly every case, allegedly by their "choices" on earth (although one expects that they were always neurotic and weak; they just grew that way, like an oak seed grows into an oak tree). Lewis refuses to be drawn into a discussion about predestination, but it is clear he has nothing but scorn for these poor weaklings who didn't cut the mustard to begin with. There's no talk of grace here; it seems clear that the inferior neurotics just don't "deserve" to get into heaven, unlike all the "great" "well-adjusted" Christians who reside there. I suspect what is really going on here is that Lewis despises the neurotic aspects of himself, and has found a way in fantasy to damn them, while celebrating his own rectitude. I would have been much more impressed if the people in heaven had faults and weaknesses, but were full of grace, love and understanding instead of "virtue"; and if Christ had met the neurotics with assurance and love and help instead of just sitting at the front of that d--- bus. Lewis's sneering, superior attitude toward the poor "sinners" in this book is particularly unjustified, in light of what should be apparent to everybody: neurotic sinners usually end up being neurotic believers.
  
  
• Review From a "Non-Choir Member" Who Enjoyed The Preaching
  By A3NP68BX7EOV4K on 2000-07-20
  I don't think Lewis meant to "preach to the choir." He knows that many fine people deny Christianity because they think its a naive and silly belief. Lewis understands the skeptics mind and speaks directly to it. He isn't an entrenched, Christian Theologian, he is a normal man who speaks planely. In fact he almost always prefaces his books by downplaying his own knowledge of Christian Theology. This make Lewis very approachable, yet intellectually sound.

  Unlike the other reviewers, I am not a Christian and I have read and enjoyed this book. Lewis was a die-hard ATHEIST before he became christian. He was a brilliant intellectual and made the leap of faith, not because he got hit on the head, but because he objectively analyzed the Bible. His background alone puts me immediatley at ease when I read him. He won't try to manipulate the facts to push you toward Christ. He just lays down his ideas, with nothing up his sleaves and lets you make of it what you will. Unlike many Christian apologists, he knows that you can't be forced into Christianity (God Knows Many Have Tried).

  Skeptics, myself included, should read at least some of Lewis. I suggest Mere Christianity as a primer and then The Great Divorce. If you are a responsible intellectual, unsatisfied with other "Christian" apologies, and looking for concrete answers concerning the Christian Faith, it would be foolish to ignore Lewis.
  
  

• Bus trip from Hell
  By AS0ORVQKJP1AC on 1999-12-23
  The blurb of the edition that I grew up with says, "Few know that from Hell one can can take a day excursion by bus to the outskirts of Heaven. The author finds himself, in this fantasy, taking such a trip...." with interesting results. Hell itself is interesting--despite a previous reviewer's comments, Lewis's vision of Hell is not quite the traditional one. Lewis in the book, once in Heaven, becomes more or less a bystander, watching angels meet the others who have taken the trip from Hell and trying to convince them to give up, again in the words of the blurb, "their most precious sins," those things they insist on keeping even at the cost of eternal joy. Twerpy as that seems, it becomes all too believable as encounter after encounter takes place. These are superb. There is the Tragedian, who uses 'his manly, bullying tone--the one for bringing women to their senses;' the chattering woman; the man in the grip of lust, a little lizard--'I promise I won't do it anymore. I'll give you nice dreams, sweet and fresh and almost innocent. You might say, quite innocent...;' the Big Man; and (best of all!) the Apostate Bishop, with his theory about Jesus, who was 'a comparatively young man when he died. He would have outgrown some of his views, you know, if he'd lived. I shall point out how this deepens the significance of the Crucifixion..."(point out, I should say, to his theology study group in Hell). The descriptions are fantastic, the comments on target; even if the reader doesn't agree with Lewis's views in general, he or she will recognize human nature in the characters, drawn with a very steady and sure hand.
  
  
• Can Anyone Equal Lewis?
  By A1IBC9XP2LICQL on 2000-08-25
  We who still live on Earth will probably never see another C.S. Lewis. The man was in a category all by himself. Most writers live to write ONE great work...Lewis wrote many including the Narnia Chronicles (NOT just for children!), The Screwtape Letters, Mere Christianity and many, many others. The Great Divorce is my second favorite Lewis work, just (barely) behind Till We Have Faces. Lewis introduces the work by citing Blake's concept of the marriage of heaven and hell, then writing about their divorce. Many of the details of the book have been cited by other reviewers, so I will only add that the book is a wonderful, thoughtful portrait of the human condition from the mind of a brilliant thinker. Enjoy.
  
  
• Who are you?
  By A1B52J22NWI3P6 on 2003-10-30
  The theologian who would rather lead a theological discussion in hell than experience heaven?

  The poet who is always slighted, never appreciated?

  The man who is too proud to accept any "bleeding charity" and must have his "rights"?

  The artist who would rather fight for his style of art than stay and take in true beauty?

  The materialist (entrepeneur?) who would rather try to take a bit of heaven back to hell for a proffit than enjoy the real thing?

  The cynic who believes everything is a sham?

  The grumbler who has finally become a grumble? (What other petty sins fit in this same category?)

  The mother who "loves" her son so much she would rather have him in hell than desire God, and be with her son in heaven?

  The man who struggles with lust but doesn't want to let it go?

  The tragedian who would rather blackmail the joyful than give in and experience joy himself?

  Or are are you simply onne of the malcontents who can't even get along well enough to get on the bus and see what heaven has to offer?

  Truth be told, I have parts of many of these people and need to learn from them all.
  
  

• One of Lewis's most provocative, controversial works
  By A16QODENBJVUI1 on 2004-08-23
  THE GREAT DIVORCE is remarkable for being a book by C. S. Lewis that is as likely to be criticized by Christians as by non-Christians. While MERE CHRISTIANITY is an apology for traditional Christianity, THE PROBLEM OF PAIN an attempt to deal with problems in theodicy, and THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS a help for analyzing psychological dimensions of temptation, THE GREAT DIVORCE can best be described as speculative theology. This is not the only place where Lewis allows himself to speculate on matters theological. For instance, he elsewhere suggests that pets and other animals who have interacted with humans will go to heaven, while wild animals will not, because these animals have gained a personality through human contact. In this work, Lewis speculates about the nature of the afterlife.
  
  Inevitably, Lewis's work will unfairly be compared to Dante, who like Lewis is granted a visit to the afterlife. It is unfair because Dante's DIVINE COMEDY is without debate one or the two or three greatest masterpieces in the history of world literature. THE GREAT DIVORCE is not even one of Lewis's best works. Still, as long as one does not force Lewis's work to compare favorably to Dante's work, the comparison is not uninstructive. Like Dante, Lewis finds a guide. While Dante is shown through Hell and Purgatory by Virgil and through heaven by Beatrice, Lewis's guide is the Scottish theologian and fantasy writer George MacDonald. This is not inappropriate for a couple of reasons. What Lewis is suggesting about heaven and hell in THE GREAT DIVORCE is not precisely orthodox, and MacDonald himself, while devoutly religious, was somewhat heterodox in his advocacy of universalism, i.e., the belief that all humans will be redeemed, and not only Christian believers.
  
  In THE GREAT DIVORCE Lewis tries to take a midpoint between universalism and a traditional belief in eternal damnation in hell of unbelievers. Lewis is hardly the first to attempt this. Origen, the brilliant if eccentric father of the early church, among other things toyed with the idea that being sent to hell might not be a permanent state. Lewis attempts to preserve the notion of the punishment of sins, but shifts the agent of that punishment from God to the individual involved. Basically, people place themselves in hell and prevent themselves from ascending to heaven. All one need do is surrender one's will to God, and cease insisting on one's own conception of things. In a sense, the primary thing an individual can do to receive grace, even in the next world, is to humble oneself.
  
  The great negative to Lewis's view is that it doesn't correspond terribly well with either the views of the New Testament or to traditional Church teaching. The great advantage is that it absolves God of any complicity in sending people to hell. A host of factors will determine whether one will find one or either of these views desirable. Like George MacDonald, I tend to be quite orthodox on most Christian doctrines, but somewhat heterodox on the issue of the damnation of the unsaved. I personally am quite drawn to Lewis's views on the afterlife, and while I concede that they don't mesh well with the Bible's teachings on hell, I believe they mesh well with the Bible's teachings on the loving nature of God. It solves some key issues at the heart of theodicy, or to paraphrase Milton, it justifies the ways of God to men.
  
  Regardless of whether one agrees or disagrees with Lewis, this marvelous book raises some important theological questions. It also complicates the normal picture of Lewis as a staunch defender of traditionalism. We find in it that Lewis was also a bit of a theological rebel.
  
  
• A Loving God and Hell?
  By A1ACUHYUW6UANH on 2006-05-24
  As Lewis says in his introduction, there are a couple of ways of looking at our journey through life. The first is a circle from which we all stat on the perimeter and wind up in the center. The other view, which Lewis and I hold, is that of a road with forks in it every mile or so and we are forced to choose between the two paths. In the first view we all end up in the same place while in the later view we may end up in different places, depending on our choices. If one of those places is hell, it raises the question of how a loving God could allow some to go to hell. This book is the best answer to that paradox that I have read. In short, Lewes shows that those who go to hell do so of their own free choice, but more interestingly he uses various characters to show the type of person who chooses hell over haven and why they chose hell.
  
  
• Another Lewis masterpiece
  By A37IBR8ILBNAJ on 2001-07-07
  This brilliant little piece of literature takes only an hour or two to read, but will foster a lifetime of contemplation and thought concerning heaven and hell. What if God gave people in hell (which, in the novel, is a gray, drab, lonely place) a second chance at heaven? Would they take it, or would they desperately hang on to their miserable lives, which is a hell in itself? Lewis, in his "dream", sees a procession of people who are given that chance and, sadly, hardly any take it. That illustrates what I've always believed about hell: God doesn't send you there, you basically send yourself by rejecting His free gift of salvation. To those "ghosts" in hell, heaven is actually a scary place, at least at first. Most don't want to go any further past the "hard part" to the glories that reside up the "mountain". Some may get a little tripped up by the rather unorthodox theological implications, but don't let that hinder you. Just enjoy the ride, and let it speak deeply to your spirit.
  
  
• A Masterpiece of Allegory
  By A3HVGB5L91VTL3 on 2001-07-12
  You always hear about people talking about life-changing books. Perhaps I greeted this with a certain degree of incredulity. Surely they were referring to books they simply liked, or maybe even loved?

  That was before I happened upon this book. It was recommended to me by a minister and director of a youth organization where I volunteered several years ago. And it isn't until now that I completed it. But I can finally say that I have encountered a book that has truly sparked cause for me to take a look back on my life.

  Lewis takes the reader on a bus ride from hell to heaven, or rather the Valley of the Shadow of Heaven. In heaven we see that all who took the bus ride are merely Ghosts here: ethereal figures. They are greeted by Spirits, people of light and substance who have accepted God as their ultimate Love. The Ghosts are given the choice to continue on to Heaven, or take the bus back to Hell. The path to Heaven won't be without pain, as the Ghosts must give up the earthly vices they have made their God.

  Lewis' talent is in depicting so well the nature of humans. Don't expect to see the Ghosts' vices being anything so simple as hate for someone. Rather in one instance it is a mother's love for her son that keeps her from choosing Heaven, a love that blinds her from the ultimate love of God. I see so much of myself in these "Ghosts", and Lewis paints a very compassionate picture of the "damned" (they need not be if they choose not to be). Lewis' book in a sense almost helps you to step outside yourself and look with less clouded vision on the person you are. It is for this reason this has become my favorite work.
  
  

• Unique among Christian books
  By A1GALZCXD8FHOR on 2002-11-09
  C.S. Lewis' "The Great Divorce" may be the most unusual book you will ever read. Beyond allegory, beyond fantasy, this look at the nature of Heaven, Hell, and the denizens of both has radically altered the view of what happens after we die in the lives of more people than any book you will encounter.

  Lewis provides an utterly original view of the afterlife through the mechanism of a bus trip from Hell to Heaven. The portrayals of the vast, nearly-empty city in Hell and a Heaven more real and solid than our reality are so profound that many will find their thoughts on the two places forever altered.

  Also included is an examination of the question that has haunted many: "How can a loving God send people to Hell?" Lewis brilliantly answers this in a way that is completely satisfying to even the most demanding inquirer. You'll have to read the book to see.

  There are so many gems in "The Great Divorce" that any further discussion would spoil the book. But suffice it to say, this work of fiction may be the greatest ever written for provoking long and enjoyable discussions with others. As a worthy diversion from more heady small group studies, it is without peer.
  
  

• Blake, Plato, Milton, Dante, H. C. Andersen, MacDonald, etc
  By on 2003-08-23
  If you don't care for C.S. Lewis, you will not care for this book. On the other hand, if you like C.S. Lewis (and appreciate what he was up to) you may thoroughly enjoy, even love, this book. I say "may" because an honest reading of this short allegory can reveal a great deal about the author's soul and view of the moral universe and something about the reader's own soul and views as well. In other words, it can entertain or disturb or both. It will, in any case, provoke a great deal of thought for any reader who bothers to think at all.
  
  I read The Great Divorce many, many years ago and could never forget it; some of its images and episodes were and remain indelible. By some quirk or inspiration, I recently suggested using it for an adult Sunday School class of folks who love good, mental exercise, good literature, etc. and thus got back into it - big time. In preparing ten lessons on the book, I rediscovered why I loved it in the first place but then I also discovered a myriad of rich nuggets and not a few whole veins that I had completely blitzed by in the earlier reading. This second time I found it to be absolutely magnificent and have gone from being a CS Lewis fan to a serious and devoted student of the whole "mythopoeic" approach that he (along with many others, including now, most famously, JK Rowling) have championed.
  
  You don't have to be well read or a Christian or an intellectual or a theologian or a Bible scholar or even a full grown adult to truly enjoy - or be really bothered by - this book. The premise, after all, is that not everyone would enjoy a holiday in the Valley of the Shadow of Life (post-mortem or otherwise), much less a few hours with C.S. Lewis himself. (It does help things, however, to have a good imagination and sense of humor.)
  
  Like scripture, like great poetry, like any of those guys in my title (all of whom are embedded in the text and context of this book), this book and everything else I've read by Lewis is worth reading ...and worth reading (including reeading) carefully and soulfully.
  
  
• The Divorce betwixt Man and God
  By A1TAWJ2PA3USVX on 2005-11-02
  If you haven't yet read any theology or Christian apologetics, this novella is a fine place to start. If you already read such, then you know that you just HAVE to read this classic.
  
  C.S. Lewis uses a dream device, ala not only Dante and Bunyan, but also echoing of Isaiah and John, to give us a keyhole glimpse of the afterlife, albeit in more modern terms.
  
  Hell is an endless, shabby, grey city in the rain, where the quarrelsome and disputatious residents are given a chance for a bus ride to Heaven. There they must confront their sins and foibles and make the ultimate choice. Even faced with the reality of God, many are still unable to free themselves from the shackles of vanity, uncertainty, and pride!
  
  Lewis clearly is intending The Great Divorce as a metaphor, for the notion of the damned being given "another chance" and a bit of a day-excursion to Heaven is, of course, not in accord with any Christian doctrine. However, he uses the metaphor to illustrate many telling points of Christian theology, starting with God being the Great `I AM.' The bus ride itself, and the relative sizes of things are also evocative of the extra-spatial nature of the Godhead.
  
  In summary, Divorce is a short, brilliantly-written tract and a wake-up call for many: A thought-provoking read for anyone and worth multiple readings! Get it.
  
  
  
• Bus Ride through Eternity
  By A2O9HU1K7TCF7B on 2006-08-07
  Admittedly, I have a certain degree of difficulty decoding C.S. Lewis's brand of science fiction/Christian fiction. It is not so much that I can not appreciate his writing as that I have trouble picturing the fantastic concepts that Lewis paints. This being said, I was able to take quite a lot from this book.
  
  In "The Great Divorce", the narrator dreams he has taken a bus ride that allows him a visit to eternity. Visiting both heaven and hell, Lewis paints a picture that in some ways reminds me of the movie "What Dreams May Come". Beneath the imagery is a morality play in which people's choices have consequences. Some people make choices that put them in a position that causes harm to their soul which can be healed if they are made to see their fault. The most famous line of the book epitomizes the concept: "thy will be done" or "Thy will be done".
  
  Readers need not accept the imagery created in this book to appreciate the messages. Choices have consequences for our soul. The correct choices decrease the burden on our soul and allow us the opportunity of eternal life in paradise.
  
  
• More than afterlife philosophy
  By A39BAS6VFE2L5L on 2000-05-05
  Lewis' The Great Divorce is a chilling story which goes deeper than it seems. It is very easy to pass this little tale off as mere philosophy or "thoughts on death"; the truth is, this book is a warning against those who think their "story" is neither good nor bad. Lewis doesn't leave much wiggle room in describing heaven: it is a place so substantial that it cuts and causes pain for those who don't realize the wonder of it. There isn't much solace in hell, either: completely reversed, hell has no substance at all. In fact, its residents don't even realize they are even in hell in the first place. I believe Lewis intended this to be a caveat against a lack of substance in one's life as well as death. Of course, Lewis and I are both Christian, so working within that understanding, there is much more to be said. But even for non-believers, The Great Divorce is a commentary of great value, as many of Lewis' works are. In the end, it would seem that The Great Divorce isn't about Heaven and Hell; it is about the great chasm between Life and Death themselves.
  
  
• Everybody in?
  By A3C2FPHNY2UST9 on 2001-01-30
  This book is a psychological masterpiece. The dialogues are pure genius. Lewis' skeptical biographer, A. N. Wilson, acknowledging his wit, thought Lewis' parodies cruel. But is it cruel to warn of the corruption of the soul, in a way that might lead to healing? We may see the characters described here in the "real world" around us. Lewis is hoping, of course, that we will recognize some shadow of ourselves, and recognize our need of God's help in attaining freedom.

  Lewis warns in the preface that his purpose is not to promote speculation about the nature of heaven and hell. Still, the book is very thought-provoking on that count as well. This book might be helpful to someone who is trying to reconcile the love of God with the Christian doctrine of hell, as it was to M. Scott Peck, for example.

  A few days ago I saw an interview of a great character actress who, when asked what she would like to hear God say when she arrived at the gate of heaven, replied, "Everybody in." The audience applauded loudly. Lewis, noting the remark of Milton's devil that it is "better to reign in hell than serve in heaven," in effect poses the question, "What if not everybody wants in?" Or as Jesus put it, what if, when the invitation to the wedding of the Lamb arrives at our door, we are busy with livestock and real estate transactions, and we decide to stay home?
  
  

• The Great Analogy
  By on 2001-11-14
  With clear moral and spiritual insight, Lewis delves into what keeps man from God. Using a mythical bus trip from Hell to Heaven, he shows what humans have to sacrifice on the way to Heaven. While, some say Lewis is a bit cold in this book, I disagree. Lewis merely shows that even the best virtuals can be twisted into vices. Like men who kill innocents in the name of God, or the stalker who terroizes the one he "loves". The major problem is that like the Screwtape Letters it is more piercing than we would like, but just as piercing as we need.
  
  
• An amazing novel
  By A36WD8GXQ5QCJ7 on 2006-01-09
  The Great Divorce is an enlightening novel. I began the book thinking it would be something like Dante. However, after the first thirty or forty pages I could tell it was different, but only near the end did I realize how different it was from Dante. The difference stems from the difference in their viewpoints of hell. I believe that Lewis sees hell as a separation from God while Dante sees hell as a place of torment for nonbelievers. Lewis, therefore, deals with reasons why some people will be separated from God. The narrator in the novel overhears conversations between people from hell visiting with souls from Heaven. The Great Divorce attempts to show why "good" people may end up in hell. The people the narrator overhears are not the stereotypical "bad" people who we "know" are going to hell. He attempts to show the pride, bitterness, or sin of the "good" people who most assume do not deserve hell. I enjoyed this novel. A common objection to the Christian Faith: Why a loving God would send good people to hell. Lewis attempts to show why. I recommend buying this novel, and I have already given my copy to a friend.
  
  
• This book will make you think...
  By A3UTMBZHPVVROY on 1998-02-24
  C.S. Lewis himself says in his preface, "The last thing I wish is to arouse factual curiosity about the details of the after-world." This book kept me wondering just what he WAS trying to say--whether he thought there were choices after death, or whether he was just trying to get us to think about life and the terrible seriousness but potentially glorious finality of our choices. If you are the kind of person who believes common 90s philosophies like, "That's YOUR reality but not mine," you should let Lewis tell you a little story. Aside from being very entertaining, it cuts right through a lot of "intellectual" nonsense, and makes you really THINK, maybe for the first time "outside the box" you didn't know you were in.

  In the end, I believe he makes it clear that there are no choices after death. His characters are simply acting out the choices we make within the boundaries of time here on earth, with the element of time removed from the story as it plays out in "heaven" and "hell." While you are caught up in the story, you will be in another whole "world" of Lewis's creation, and will be surprised to find yourself back on earth at the end--but you'll now see it (for a while at least) through different eyes. Reality is absolute, and what is seen is the least real of all.
  
  

• The Screwtape Letters
• Mere Christianity
• The Problem of Pain
• The Four Loves
• Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold