The Great Divorce
February 9th, 2010 by admin | Filed under divorce.
Review
The Great Divorce is C.S. Lewis’s Divine Comedy: the narrator bears strong resemblance to Lewis (by way of Dante); his Virgil is the fantasy writer George MacDonald; and upon boarding a bus in a nondescript neighborhood, the narrator is taken to Heaven and Hell. The book’s primary message is presented with almost oblique tidiness–”There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’” However, the narrator’s descriptions of sin and temptation will hit quite close to home for many readers. Lewis has a genius for describing the intricacies of vanity and self-deception, and this book is tremendously persistent in f [Read More...]
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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.
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.