bookish83's review
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
2.0
Reads like a really well written and thought out tract. I liked a handful of things said in the book but much of it was overly preachy.
bringmybooks's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
“There is no other day. All days are present now. This moment contains all moments.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce
✨ 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 ✨ B̷O̷R̷R̷O̷W̷ B̷Y̷P̷A̷S̷S̷
To answer my own question above, I find that I really want to love these types of novels but often get lost in them - what am I supposed to be taking from this? Was this sentence supposed to have more significance than I'm giving it? Is there a study guide? Am I a dolt? 😅
All that being said, once I gave in to the story as it was being presented, I did find a lot to take from this novel and found that it gave me a lot to discuss with my husband, which I ultimately enjoyed quite a bit. Not having a lot of background with Scripture I can't speak eloquently to the themes and lessons presented as they connect with theology, but I did find a lot to ponder and a lot that was very profound in the way CS Lewis wrote this book.
Also, hilariously, I asked my husband to choose my first book of 2023 and, after perusing his shelves, he presented me with this - to which I responded with a quirked eyebrow and a "Do we need to talk?" 😂 Rest assured though, this is not about the marriage between two people, but rather whether a marriage between good and evil can ever exist - or whether there should be a divorce of those two ideas.
jrthompson95's review against another edition
3.0
I went with 3 because ultimately I believe Lewis could have even a lot clearer with his allegories. I couldn’t tell for the majority of the book if he was arguing that some can actually leave Hell and go to Heaven after death, or what. There were sections of the book where it was worthy of 4 or 5 stars, and those were the points where his allegories were clear and poignant (for example, the “scene” with the lizard).
markhoh's review
3.0
“Hell is a state of mind - Ye never said a truer word. And every state of mind, left to itself, every shutting up of the creature within the dungeon of its own mind - is, in the end, Hell. Heaven is reality itself. All that is fully real is heavenly”.
C.S.Lewis is certainly a master of allegory and The Great Divorce is no exception. This short novel seems to exist somewhere between Heaven and Hell and as the title suggests highlights the opposing natures of each. Through a series of observations of a number of characters and conversations overheard by the narrator, Lewis makes some astute and unsettlingly confronting statements.
Some of these observations made me sit up and reflect...
“Did Ye never know a lover of books that with all his first editions and signed copies had lost the power to read them?”....
“But the time comes on when, though the pleasure becomes less and less and the craving fiercer and fiercer, and though he knows that joy can never come that way, yet he prefers to joy the mere fondling of unappeasable lust and would not have it taken from him.”...
“But what we called love down there was mostly the craving to be loved. In the main I loved you for my own sake: because I needed you.”
Unsettling because they hit a nerve that begs to be understood more.
I can’t say that this novel maintained my interest all the way and in some ways I’m pleased it is only 146 pages long. It is the sort of book to be revisited and perhaps I will. I hope at least I will revisit those thoughts and pages that made me sit up and think.
C.S.Lewis is certainly a master of allegory and The Great Divorce is no exception. This short novel seems to exist somewhere between Heaven and Hell and as the title suggests highlights the opposing natures of each. Through a series of observations of a number of characters and conversations overheard by the narrator, Lewis makes some astute and unsettlingly confronting statements.
Some of these observations made me sit up and reflect...
“Did Ye never know a lover of books that with all his first editions and signed copies had lost the power to read them?”....
“But the time comes on when, though the pleasure becomes less and less and the craving fiercer and fiercer, and though he knows that joy can never come that way, yet he prefers to joy the mere fondling of unappeasable lust and would not have it taken from him.”...
“But what we called love down there was mostly the craving to be loved. In the main I loved you for my own sake: because I needed you.”
Unsettling because they hit a nerve that begs to be understood more.
I can’t say that this novel maintained my interest all the way and in some ways I’m pleased it is only 146 pages long. It is the sort of book to be revisited and perhaps I will. I hope at least I will revisit those thoughts and pages that made me sit up and think.
halliedu's review
5.0
This is probably my favorite C.S. Lewis book & definitely the one I think about the most. Read it for the first time four years ago and I still think of it regularly. Today I read it in one day.
I love this book. I hope it continues to run through my brain for a long time
I love this book. I hope it continues to run through my brain for a long time
snowlodger's review against another edition
5.0
I often turn to this book when I am feeling lost and need to be set straight again.