The Great Divorce

The Great Divorce excels at story telling in a way that captures your heart. It's a fictional story, but C.S. Lewis weaves in different theological ideas in story form. Yes, he does admit that everything in the story if speculation but it's hard not to believe that his theology influenced his writing of this book. The beginning starts off a little slow but there are multiple points in the book that are really enchanting, more than at the story level, but at the heart level as well. You begin to see yourself in some of these characters and their decision-making. More importantly, he does a great job of imagining what life in the next world might be like. Of course, that's speculation, but if he's able to enchant your heart with his own thoughts, how much more will it actually be!

Another great CS Lewis book

I have to say I did not like this book at the beginning. It was written in such a way that was outside of my linear thinking. I read this with my book club, and I have to say that eventually I could not put it down. SO many thought-provoking ideas written into this fantastical story. It definitely gave me good food for thought (and prayer!). I recommend it.

The book itself is excellent, well-written, insightful, and worth reading. My 4-star rating is purely due to the poor print quality, not the content. The pages feel cheap, almost like they were torn from a notebook and bound together. Really disappointing coming from Amazon, especially for such a great book.

Haven't read it yet but his other books was great.

Theology is the systematic study of the revelations of God about Himself in the Bible, in nature, through Jesus Christ, and by the Holy Spirit. No one can comprehend the mystery of God unless He Himself provides truths of who, what, and where He is. Heaven and Hell are among the more interesting subjects of man’s quest to know about the afterlife, the Kingdom of God, and the purpose of man during the span of his lifetime. One man stands out as being of advanced intellect, superior knowledge, practical wisdom, and comprehensive education regarding the attributes of Almighty God. Of Harvard professorship quality, Clive Staples Lewis, who died in 1963, met all of these markers and went on to be a master story teller, teacher, and revealer of truths too complicated for the everyday person to understand without an interpreter. C.S. Lewis was a master of allegory, a Christian apologist, defender of the faith, and for a lay theologian, seemed to have been chosen as a vessel of Godly revelation shared by few others. Lewis, in the Great Divorce, has provided a theological fantasy or fairytale explanation of Heaven and Hell that encapsulates what is known of those two conditions and locations of man’s eternal abode after death, and has explained them in such a way that the little light bulb of understanding frequently flashes its brilliance in an otherwise dark area. Other than Heaven being a really nice place that “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard…” and Hell being a very bad place; one light one darkness, one with God eternally, one away from Him and all goodness; we know most of what we think we know from the metaphors and allegories provided in works such as Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy Trilogy: The Inferno, Purgatory and Paradise, and works such as Lewis’s best efforts. The wise reader will select the writer carefully with whom he entrusts the content of his or her mind. The Great Divorce is a wonderful and exciting read, a rewarding journey into religious surrealism made real on the printed page, and a rewarding effort in satisfying one’s need to draw a bit closer to God. It is also a tool by which a reader may sharpen his or her mind in the world of literary devices such as allegories, metaphors and their close friends. You will never go wrong with a C. S. Lewis work.

This is a must read for everyone, but especially for Christians.

I first read this book about 15 years ago. It was the second book of C.S. Lewis i had read. The first was The Screwtape Letters. I certainly recommend this book to anyone. It certainly sparks ones thoughts on purgatory, hell and heaven and who or how one may end up in either.