Jack's Life by Douglas Gresham is one of the most heart-warming books that I have read in a very long time.
It is the life story of C.S. Lewis written by his youngest stepson, Douglas. I've always found C.S. Lewis interesting, perhaps with a bit of mystery about him. After reading this book, my respect for Jack has grown even more immensely. Douglas writes with his heart and shares things about his stepfather that I never really knew before.
I knew of some of Jack's childhood from reading other books and I've also known about his love for Joy Davidman. It seems in recent years, his and Joy's relationship has been the primary focus in books concerning Jack. But in this book, Joy isn't even mentioned until the last two or three chapters. The majority of the book speaks of Jack from his birth through until his death in 1963.
The book details Jack's relationship with his mother, and how his life changed dramatically when she died while Jack was still a young boy. His father did not cope well after the passing of Jack's mother, and Jack was sent off to boarding school.
The book details his close relationship to his older brother, Warner (or Warnie, as he was known).
It details Jack's time that he served in World War One, how his injury sent him home, and then how, even though he and Warnie both by this time had been back home, wanted to be involved in what they could do in their community when World War Two began.
In this book, you will also learn a great deal about the mother and sister of Jack's dear friend Paddy. They were in World War One together and had promised each other that if something happened to the one, then the other would take responsibility for caring for their family they left behind. As it turned out, Paddy was killed in France and even though Jack was only 19 years old, he carried through with the commitment he'd made to Paddy. I am amazed at the stamina that Jack exhibited because of this commitment. Talk about resilience!
As anyone who knows much at all about C.S. Lewis knows that through all of the circumstances of his early life after his mother died, he was a self-proclaimed atheist. In this book, you will find how he came to know Christ and how he went all over England during the war years, giving lectures about Christianity. He became so well known for these lectures that he was requested to speak to the troops, which he gladly did, and he was also requested to give these lectures on the BBC that more people could be exposed to what Christianity was about.
There are beautiful descriptions of Jack's and Warnie's home, The Kilns and how Jack diligently worked with Paxford, the gardener, to make the grounds free of all of the overgrowth, etc. that was there when The Kilns was purchased.
Would I recommend this book? Absolutely...especially if you are already a C.S. Lewis fan because you will get to know Jack more intimately.
I thoroughly enjoyed "Jack's Life". It amazes me that he was such a staunch atheist and yet when he came to Christ, he wrote such deep spiritual tomes. His quotes on Christianity show up everywhere.
ReplyDeleteIt was because of you, my friend, that I purchased this book! I'm so glad that I did. I knew about him being a staunch atheist, how he came to Christ and how he wrote so many books, but I did not realize all of the lectures he gave about becoming a Christian during the wars and then also the broadcasts he did on BBC. Such a good book, written from the heart of a man who loved him deeply.
DeleteI've not read this book but it sounds very interesting and engaging. Lots of rain here today and for the rest of the week. Guess we can be thankful that it is not ice and snow. Enjoy a wonderful Wednesday..
ReplyDeleteIt's really a good read, Shug. I know you would enjoy it. We had snow today and now it's raining. So, the roads should be nice and slick by morning. Glad we don't have to go anywhere. :) xx
DeleteI am a big fan of CS Lewis and read this book last year. I agree with your thoughts on it.
ReplyDeleteIt truly is a great read, yes? I didn't realize that you were a fan of his...that's cool. Don't know how I've missed that.:) Just another thing we have in common.
DeleteSounds like a good book to read, Dianna. We visited the Kilns and this would be a nice follow-up. Hope the snow is not making things hard on you. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteDo you have pictures of The Kilns from your visit there or have you done a blog post on it? I'd love to see. What a neat experience! We received snow at some point during the night and it's snowed a good portion of the day today. It's currently raining, so when the temperature drops tonight it will make for some slick places, but we don't have to go anywhere. I "felt" the storm coming in yesterday morning when I got up, but I spent the day making jam and I guess it was the warmth of the kitchen from all of the steam, etc. that I didn't notice it as much. xx
DeleteI've read other biographies of Lewis, so I knew much of this. But it would be different to read it from someone who actually knew him. I don't think I knew Gresham wrote this one til after I read Lenten Lands. I should probably pick this up some time.
ReplyDeleteI, too, had read other biographies of Lewis, Barbara, but none of them compared to this one. It is the personal relationship between Douglas and Jack that makes the difference. I just received my copy of "Jack" written by George Sayers today, so I will be starting that soon. It was one of two books that Douglas mentioned that were true biographies of Lewis because Sayers had been a student of Jack's at one time. Have you read it?
DeleteSounds like an interesting read, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome, Bill.
DeleteThanks so much for this review and letting us know about another book worth reading. I read reviews but am so often disappointed once I start reading the book myself. Not sure why. I appreciate your sharing good reads:) I hope you are having a good week!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jennifer. I always try to give an honest review of the books I read because I appreciate it when other people do the same when they review books.
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