amberinhonduras's review against another edition
4.0
Very intellectual but also full of quick wit. I think it gave me more questions than it answered but I think that's a blessing when you are striving to know God more closely. Definitely thought provoking.
smsands2's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
3.25
Excellent thinking material. The analytical writing style struggled to hold my interest at times (the reason for a 3 rating)
dfram's review against another edition
3.0
This was a required read for a class I took as a Sophomore in college because it was the introduction to Lewis' faith. It raises the discussion of pain from a religious perspective without attempting to convince the reader to believe in a determined doctrine.
ellasreads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
josiahdegraaf's review against another edition
3.0
Like any Lewis book, it has a number of rich quotes in this book, and it's well worth the read. However, the book seemed to lack a singular theme or argument that connected all the varying parts, and, as a Calvinist, my fundamental disagreement with Lewis' more-Arminian solution to pain also made the book less helpful to me personally. Taken as a whole, this is a good book, but wasn't quite to my liking.
Rating: 3.5 Stars (Good).
Rating: 3.5 Stars (Good).
hybum's review against another edition
3.0
This is an early Lewis work, and it shows. This is, as one reviewer said, "Professor Lewis teaching a theology course."
In fact, I'll just link to that review, as it says virtually everything I want to say about this book:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2737392109?book_show_action=true
My favourite passage was this: "If, being cowardly, conceited, and slothful, you have never yet done a fellow creature great mischief, that is only because your neighbour's welfare has not yet happened to conflict with your safety, self-approval, or ease.”
I happened to read this the same week we were discussing the good character requirement for entering the law society in my Professional Responsibility class. Surely it's application rings true today.
I was also delighted to discover that Lewis shared my theory that the most likely thing seems to be that mankind was created, evolved, and then at some point developed what we call a soul. This balances what we believe as Christians with what we know from science, but I've never heard anyone else express it.
It's a short enough book, so I do recommend it to fans of Lewis, but it is quite a bit more dense and academic than, say, The Great Divorce or The Four Loves.
In fact, I'll just link to that review, as it says virtually everything I want to say about this book:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2737392109?book_show_action=true
My favourite passage was this: "If, being cowardly, conceited, and slothful, you have never yet done a fellow creature great mischief, that is only because your neighbour's welfare has not yet happened to conflict with your safety, self-approval, or ease.”
I happened to read this the same week we were discussing the good character requirement for entering the law society in my Professional Responsibility class. Surely it's application rings true today.
I was also delighted to discover that Lewis shared my theory that the most likely thing seems to be that mankind was created, evolved, and then at some point developed what we call a soul. This balances what we believe as Christians with what we know from science, but I've never heard anyone else express it.
It's a short enough book, so I do recommend it to fans of Lewis, but it is quite a bit more dense and academic than, say, The Great Divorce or The Four Loves.
rubyclaire's review against another edition
3.0
Lewis lost me frequently... I also went into reading this thinking it would address personal pain, as opposed to the actual existence of pain in a universal kind of scale. The final chapter on heaven is worth the read.
dorhastings's review against another edition
3.0
This is not my style of book, but I've always been a little interested to read C.S. Lewis' non-fiction works regarding theology and philosophy. I felt a bit lost while listening to this, but when listening to non-fiction, I tend to phase out and prefer to pick out little things of interest. Overall it seems like a good, concise argument and book. While some people have mentioned that the vocabulary is unnecessarily difficult, I found it in general easy to understand and assumed his word choice had to do with his everyday vocabulary or that which was expected of him.
I also found the narrator of this audio book to be pretty excellent.
I also found the narrator of this audio book to be pretty excellent.