C. S. Lewis: The Man Behind Narnia

Gormley wonderfully takes you through the journey of C.S. Lewis' childhood story writing days, and continues you onto his more mature and very obscure writing style as his life progresses. Through the whole biography she slowly gives you little hints about Lewis' humor, fear, and family problems. We not only learn about this intuitive storyteller but we are introduced to a man that followed earnestly after the heart of God not only in his personal life but also we see this through his novels. Nearing the end of this life explained we receive the background of one of his most famous novel sets, The Chronicles of Narnia. When reading this there is one thing that will stand out among any other biography written about Lewis. It not only talks about Lewis' profound ability to create wonderful stories that can take a person to places that were previously unimagined. But this book also shows the very hard and personal adversity that Lewis had to triumph over in order to create a great world for others that he wishes he could actually be living in. Doing this not only gives us a better background on Lewis but it makes him more of a personal author by showing that he struggled with some of the same things that we struggle with, and not just a high and mighty man of fiction. Even with all of the great attributes of this book there was one drawback when reading it. Gormley moves very very slow through his life. I feel that she has included too many useless facts about Lewis that do not give us any insight into his personal life or his writing style and motivation. This not only makes Lewis' life appear to be boring, but it also makes you the reader loose interest at key points in Lewis' life. But all in all if you want to delve into the mind and life of one of the most influential writers of the 19th century this is your book.

This book tells the life of one of the greatest storytellers of all time. It tells of his life in step-by-step review in easy wording for the average reader. I find this book extremely touching in many ways. One of these is how spiritually he was in his books. Each having a Christian theme to it. It also tells of his hard lfie in childhood which eventually led him to the Lord. This book recognizes his master pieces such as "The Chronicles of Narnia" and my all time favorite "Perelandra". It show the humble life this man lead and directed to his readers. This book gives a accurate description on his life. The only problem is the "choppyness" (gaps in his life, etc.). But other than that this book holds a spiritual and mental meaning for us all.