Resource Library Reviews
The Great Divorce : A Dream (C S Lewis) 2001
A fable and an allegory, the writer embarks on an incredible voyage through Heaven and Hell... [Read the Review.]
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The Great Divorce is a work of fantasy by C.S. Lewis that portrays the matter of life after death. This book was the subject of the Circuit Book Group, which met at Philip and Karen’s house on Thursday 21st May 2009. In this book the reader is taken on an imaginary journey from a grim and joyless city (Hell) to the foothills of Heaven. People are given the chance to renounce their sinful natures and enjoy an eternity of salvation. For many of the characters, their sinful thought forms are more precious to them than all the rewards of Heaven. The descriptions of sin and temptation were realistic and potent and it led us on to consider the consequences of everyday actions and pettiness. The group considered what we may find hardest to give up? ‘If we accept Heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell’. The group found the book challenging and was experienced quite differently by readers. We discussed how C.S. Lewis’ portrayal relates to Christian beliefs. Some of the group questioned whether God was too distant in the book, whereas others found that it related well to verses from the Bible such as Hebrews 9:27: ‘just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgement’ , and Romans 10:5: ‘Salvation is for everyone’. The book is based on a dream and C. S. Lewis uses a story as a framework to get people interested and asking questions. It can open the mind of Christians and non-Christians about life after death. Below are some quotes from the book comparing Hell and Heaven, which were found to be quite powerful. ‘All Hell is smaller than one pebble of your earthly world: but it is smaller than one atom of this world, the Real World’. ‘All the loneliness, angers, hatreds, envies and itchings that it contains, if rolled into one single experience and put into the scale against the least moment of joy that is felt by the least in Heaven, would have no weight that could be registered at all’. Helen Redmayne. June 2009 |
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