THE MAGIC NEVER ENDS
The Life & Work of C.S. Lewis

What follows is the introduction from the book THE MAGIC NEVER ENDS - The Life & Work of C.S. Lewis. The book is a publication of Augsburg Fortress Publications.

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The book is also available in both Christian and non-Christian bookstores throughout the USA. The companion documentary film may also be purchased in our company store. For more information, please contact Bob@DuncanEntertainment.com.

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INTRODUCTION

Novelist. Children's fantasy writer. Poet. Lecturer. Radio commentator. Oxford scholar and teacher. Christian apologetic writer. A stocky, balding, nearly-life-long bachelor from the cloistered world of England's Oxford University, C.S. Lewis was a versatile, thoughtful, talented-yet-humble man who just might rank among the greatest writers in the English language. Yet defining Lewis among the greatest requires a broad view of his work. Would he qualify as a poet? Not likely. As a novelist? Perhaps not. In fact, Dabney Hart, an Atlanta-based English professor who's written and lectured extensively about C.S. Lewis said "I think it does no disservice to him to say that he is not one of the great novelists of the 20th century. I think he would have been the first person to say that himself."

So what was he? In what does this acclaimed man's greatness lie? Hart, like so many others who've discovered Lewis' writings during the past fifty to sixty years, understands that his success and prominence can not be interpreted by evaluating his novels or poetry alone. The fact is that the greatness of C.S. Lewis' writing does not arise merely from his craft with words or his ingenious plot lines. It doesn't come from his unique characters, his imagination, or the worlds he creates outside the reality we all live with day to day. The greatness of C.S. Lewis' writing comes from his ability to simplify an intellectual or philosophical concept and to assist readers on a spiritual journey of their own. He did it as a novelist (in such works as Till We Have Faces, Out of the Silent Planet and That Hideous Strength), as the author of children's fantasy literature (The Chronicles of Narnia series), as a satirist (The Screwtape Letters) and as the writer of numerous volumes of Christian apologetics and essays including Mere Christianity, The Problem of Pain, Miracles and A Grief Observed.

To qualify the success of Lewis' work, one need look only at its longevity and to the passion his writing evokes among his readers, a force that grows in number year after year. C.S. Lewis is among those rare talents who, by defining his own spiritual path and interpreting his journey in his writings, has helped create a life changing opportunity for others. In this, an oral history on his life and work, I hope to share the insights and knowledge of those who knew him, as well as those who have given much of their life to a study of his work.

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To say that the work of C.S. Lewis is popular, commercially successful and critically unique is a classic understatement. In fact, the entire body of Lewis' work - all thirty eight books - has never been out of print. Millions of readers from all walks of life, from all parts of the world, both secular and non-secular, are not just readers of his work … they are devoted readers of his work. Recent sales statistics show that more than 200 million copies of Lewis' books have been sold worldwide and, since 1989, more than 1.5 million copies of his books are sold annually. It's safe to say that Lewis' popularity continues to grow as more and more readers are exposed to his books. At present, there are more than 200 individual fan clubs, readers groups and C.S. Lewis societies around the world.

But it's also important to note that Lewis fans are different … different because his books touch both Christian and non-Christian readers on a soul level. Why? Because C.S. Lewis used his work to ask the philosophical, psychological, and moral questions that are at the core every person's existence.

Is there a God?
If so, is there only one God?
If there is a God, then why does evil permeate our world? Why is there famine, war, overpopulation, death and destruction?
How does belief in God help nurture happiness and fulfillment?
How does faith heal and help someone overcome pain?

For many of Lewis' readers, his conversion to and understanding of his Christian faith have become a significant part of their own conversion to Christianity. Lyle Dorsett, Professor of Evangelism and Spiritual Formation at Wheaton College & Graduate School in Wheaton, Illinios, suggests that "Lewis is one of the reasons I'm a Christian. He's not the only reason. But his writings were very influential. It was also very instructive for me to read his autobiographical work, Surprised by Joy, and to see that our pilgrimages were somewhat similar. There was always a longing. But there was a worldview that was naturalistic and materialistic, but yet being drawn into something that you really didn't particularly want to be drawn into. I was afraid of becoming a Christian because I was afraid I'd change. And I thought I'd never have fun again. But the opposite was true. He taught me a theology of prayer. He's the one that instructed me on the basics of faith."

Throughout his life, Lewis remained spiritually inquisitive. And he used both his fiction and non-fiction writing to develop a defense of the faith in which he came to believe. Because he wrote not as a preacher but as a teacher, his fictional work continues to reach well beyond Christian followers. In fact, many who read Lewis visit his worlds without ever knowing that he writes from a Christian perspective.

"I think that's one of his most brilliant accomplishments," said Colin Manlove, Professor of English at Edinburgh University, Scotland. "C.S. Lewis was a man who had a tremendous mind and he used it to explain joys that he felt all through his life as coming from God. You can't compare him with Lawrence or Forrester or Wolfe, he wasn't trying to do the same thing. You have to talk about Lewis in terms of the different aims he had and they come down to the realization of joy, the idea of the putting newness inside fiction, the idea of making Christianity believable without actually naming it -- all these things. And, of course, the idea of putting together a fantasy, making a world that works. All these things are not valued in 20th century criticism."

"He always felt that although his fiction obviously had a moral or religious intent, that the first concern was to be true to his motives in writing," continued Manlove. "Lewis wrote as though he were a plain, ordinary, old atheist turning into a Christian. And in practically every one of his works, there is a sort of non-Christian happening on Christianity."

The way Lewis posed spiritual questions in both his fiction and non-fiction writing apart from many writers of his or any generation. Few writers are able to place the search for God or enlightenment in a context that is equally thought provoking and entertaining. Lewis was able to walk that fine line. His intellect and his vast knowledge of English literature and mythology helped him craft his argument and his storytelling. But it was more than that. Lewis was also able to harness the same imagination and creativity that served him as a child and use it to explore different worlds, colorful landscapes, and multi-dimensional characters consumed by the same human frailties and temptations that besiege us all.

Because he wrote in so many different genres and styles, C.S. Lewis was able to use his fictional writing to convey moral and ecological values that complemented the spiritual and attracted a global following. "One of the things he had to offer was multiculturalism," said Manlove. "Practically all of Lewis' books are about getting used to and getting on with the alien, getting on with the strange. Whether it's a faun or a 'marshwiggle' or a 'green lady' who is originally innocent on a strange oceanic planet, all of these things involve getting on with those absolutely unlike oneself. In that sense, he's talking about how we accommodate ourselves to the unfamiliar, to the foreign.

"Another aspect is the sort of ecological sense that comes from Lewis - he's constantly valuing animals. And the whole of Perelandra, for instance, is about preserving innocence and with it, preserving a planet that is basically full of life and variety."

Readers from any background will discover that the core of Lewis' work is about values, morality and the battle between good and evil. Yet it was Lewis' imagination that helped to create the quality many admire most - the open, curious mind that never stopped exploring the landscape and the ever-changing dynamics of the search for God and happiness. In that, we find a man who never stopped growing, a man who never stopped learning, a man who never hopped off the train of life believing he had all the answers. Lewis began his adolescence as an atheist and he ended his adulthood as a devout, reflective Christian. Along the way, he became a teacher and a writer. It was Lewis' active and intellectual exploration of faith that guided him through much of his adult life, through his role as a Christian writer, through his unique and powerful friendships, and through the pain he felt at the loss of his wife.

While it is Lewis' work that is both lasting and inspired, there is an ongoing interest in who Lewis was as a man. It may surprise many to learn that much of his adulthood was defined by its simple routine. Lewis lived a quiet, humble, communal and uniquely provincial lifestyle that's in sharp contrast to the worlds he explored in his books. He often said he was a throwback to an earlier century. In many ways he was. He didn't drive, he rarely wore a watch, and, until late in life, his travels were limited to Ireland, England and a brief war time service in France. From the age of 18, Oxford was his home.

When she met Lewis in person, Dabney Hart found him unassuming. "He seemed like a dear and very likeable, even lovable person - someone who might have been a relative or a friend of my parents," she said. "It would never have occurred to me to react to him as someone with a great deal of charismatic appeal. He just seemed too ordinary for that."

"He had many friends," said Walter Hooper, an editor of numerous books on Lewis and, according to Hooper, an assistant to Lewis near the time of his death. "He often rejoiced when he was on a train and he could talk to an ordinary man about literature because, he thought, when you're talking to an ordinary man about Jane Austin, this man really liked her books. That's why he read them. But if you were talking to a fellow professional, you weren't sure whether he really liked them or whether he's merely writing a book about them."

Hooper added, "When I asked him to talk about the Narnia stories, he didn't talk about them as though a man who wrote them. His interest was in the books themselves. I was surprised that he was so humble. I really hadn't expected it.

"I was also surprised to find that Lewis' house was so basic. There was even a hole in the floor that you had to be careful the chair didn't fall into. And the food he liked couldn't have been simpler: sausages and mashed potatoes, fish and chips.

"He so humble and kind, and such a simple man. I can't imagine anyone not feeling comfortable with him," Hooper continued. "One might find his conversation very rich, but there was nothing daunting about his home or the way he lived. He was one of those fortunate people who didn't really need much to make him happy. If you had put him in a palace, he would have admired it for its beauty, but he didn't need those things."

"Jack (as his friends called him) was, to me, a very extraordinary person," said Colin Manlove. "He was not someone whose sexual preferences, personal idiosyncrasies, faults, failures, and so forth are particularly evident. He was someone who was extremely modest, careless of appearance, someone who lived in humility and innocence. He was always seen as he presented himself, and we don't know much of what lay behind it. I don't mind. For me, it's an attraction in Lewis because I know a lot of his heart is in his books."

"He was a man of habit," said Chris Mitchell, director of the Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College - the world's largest repository of C.S. Lewis' scholarly writings and memorabilia. "I don't think he was the sort of guy who necessarily stood out unless you engaged him. You would never have thought of him as an Oxford don because of the way he dressed. Neat freaks would not have admired Lewis. He could be loud and boisterous but I don't know that his personality could be called eccentric. His life was filled with friends, teaching at the college, reading and his work. And of course, walking. But he didn't take in the cinema. He didn't have a public social life. Especially in American contemporary terms, he was kind of a boring guy -- which is ironic because he's anything but that in his writings."

"I don't think anyone could ever describe Jack's life or his personality as in any way dull or boring," countered C.S. Lewis' stepson, Douglas Gresham. "But it's very easy to get fascinated by Jack's development as a human being or by the development of his literature. Yet no matter what the subjective angle of one's own interests are, we should look beyond that to the power of the Holy Spirit of God behind Jack's work, governing it, channeling it, guiding him all the time. I think the work is far more important than Lewis the man."

There are many who suggest that Lewis would be embarrassed by all the attention that's placed on his lifestyle, his personality, and his relationships. Yet that hasn't stopped thousands of fans from touring his old haunts in Oxford - from pubs such as The Eagle & The Child and The Trout on the river Thames to Addison's Walk behind Magdalen College, the Bodlien Library and the University Church. Hundreds of people visit his home (the Kilns) each year and many include a stop at the cemetery outside Holy Trinity Church to visit his grave. While it's safe to say that Lewis' day-to-day life was mostly unremarkable, he did one thing incredibly well and it's that for which he would no doubt like to be remembered. C.S. Lewis spent hours each day mulling ideas while walking, researching and reading in the Bodlien Library. And then, hunched over a tablet, nib pen and inkwell at hand, Lewis had one simple goal in mind - to share his imagination, ideas and beliefs through his writing.

Yet them an still fascinates readers worldwide -- despite Lewis' own objections. Dabney Hart, who met Lewis at Cambridge while doing her doctoral work on his writing said "Lewis believed that it is false literary criticism to concentrate on learning about the author, and learning about whether he got along with his mother, and so on. He said that when you try to find out all these features of the author's life and try to relate them to the book, it's not literary criticism, it's gossip. If you cannot understand the novel or the poem on its own, if you have to go to the author's life to find out the clues to understanding it, then there are only two possibilities. Either the author has failed to make his point in the work of art, or you lack the ability to understand it.

"There are many people who would disagree with that. There are people who love to go sifting through all the works to find little details here and there that reflect part of Lewis' own experience. Sometimes, I admit, I'm guilty of calling attention to details like that just because I know an audience enjoys them. But I'm almost ashamed of myself when I do it," said Hart, laughing.

Despite Lewis' own objection to knowing more about him on a personal level, it can also be argued that such details enhance the understanding of his work. Yet to know Lewis as a man is a challenge. While the basic facts of his life are well documented and the philosophical course of his life is covered in his autobiography, Surprised by Joy, there are few alive today who knew him intimately. His professional life is filled with lectures, books, articles and BBC radio addresses, of which copies and transcripts remain. His interactions with his literary colleagues, The Inklings are well noted; yet much of their time was spent in friendly comment, philosophical argument and literary criticism. What allows us to meet C.S. Lewis today are the insights of those few people who did know Lewis as well as the in-depth analysis of his writings from scholars who have spent years studying his work.

Many of the interview insights that comprise the following chapters were compiled during the course of a television documentary production on C.S. Lewis called THE MAGIC NEVER ENDS - The Life & Work of C.S.Lewis, which is a visual companion to this book. Produced by Crouse Entertainment Group (CrouseEntertainment.com) and The Duncan Group (DuncanEntertainment.com), it can be viewed on public television in the United States and on numerous networks around the world.

As part of this production, we were granted interviews with several of the world's leading scholars on Lewis and his work as well as those who knew him. Each is notable in his or her own right, and each contributed invaluable comment to this book. They include:

o Douglas Gresham - Minister, writer, former journalist, stepson of C.S. Lewis and son of Joy Davidman and William Lindsay Gresham. Born in New York, Gresham spent much of his youth in Oxford, England with his mother, his brother David, C.S. Lewis and Lewis' brother Warnie.

Following his parents' divorce in 1954, Gresham went to school in Surrey, England. The next year the family moved to Headington, Oxford. After his mother died in 1960 and his father in 1962, Gresham continued to live with C.S. Lewis in their Headington Quarry home until Lewis' death in 1963.

For the next few years, Gresham studied Agriculture, and worked on farms, and during this time he met and fell in love with Meredith Conan-Davies. Shortly after their wedding, he and Merrie sailed for Australia. During many eventful years there, he worked as a farmer, a radio and television broadcaster, a restaurateur and "many other things between."

Since 1973, Gresham has worked with the estate of C.S. Lewis. In 1993, the family moved to Carlow County, Ireland. Gresham and his wife, both of whom are committed Christians, have made their home into a multi-faceted, non-denominational Christian House Ministry that specializes in counseling and seminar hosting.

In 1988, Gresham published his autobiographical book Lenten Lands. He now works full time and he and his wife devote their spare time to " to addressing whatever work the Lord sends them."

o Walter Hooper - Writer, Lewis scholar and editor. Born and educated in North Carolina, Walter Hooper's life changed immeasurably when he relocated to Oxford, England in the early 1960's. It was during this time when, according to Hooper, he became a personal assistant to C.S. Lewis. As a temporary resident of Lewis' home, the Kilns, says Hooper, he got to know Lewis personally. He gained insights into Lewis' prolific correspondence with fans and friends and he studied his writings. Though in graduate school in the USA when Lewis died, Hooper later returned to Oxford where he's become the editor of several collections of Lewis' writings as well as the book C.S. Lewis: Companion & Guide. He is also an advisor to the estate of C.S. Lewis.

It should be noted that Walter Hooper has been the source of some controversy. As recently as 2001, author Kathryn Lindskoog in her book Sleuthing C.S. Lewis: More Light in the Shadowlands suggested that several literary and theological works attributed to C.S. Lewis may, in fact, be the product of forgery. According to Lindskoog's work, Hooper may be at the helm of the forgery. Lindskoog has previously accused Hooper of embellishing the facts of his relationship with Lewis.

For the purposes of this book, it should be noted that Mr. Hooper is one of several interview subjects who either knew Lewis personally or have studied his work extensively. Hooper's claims to have known Lewis and to have served as his temporary secretary (during the absence of Lewis' brother, Warnie, who was notable as Lewis' secretary in later years) in 1963 are true and have been substantiated by others who knew Lewis, including Douglas Gresham. And there is no doubt that Mr. Hooper has focused much of his career as a writer and editor on the life and work of C.S. Lewis. His contributions to this book as an interview subject are substantial; however, like all of those interviewed, his comments are purely subjective.

o Dabney Hart PhD - English Professor, Lewis scholar and lecturer. As a student, Dabney Hart met C.S. Lewis during his time at Cambridge University as part of her graduate studies on his work. "He had a good handshake," Hart recalled, "and a lovely, warm welcoming smile. He wasn't striking or distinctive looking in any way, just pleasant." Hart went on to author numerous articles on Lewis as well as the book Through The Open Door: A New Look At C.S. Lewis for the University of Alabama Press. Today, Hart is an Associate Professor of English at Georgia State University in Atlanta.

o Lyle Dorsett PhD - Professor, author, lecturer. A professor of evangelism and spiritual formation at Illinois' Wheaton College and Graduate School, Dorsett is the author of numerous articles and books on C.S. Lewis including And God Came In: A Biography of Joy Davidman. Dorsett is also the editor of The Essential C.S. Lewis and co-editor (with Marjorie Mead) of C.S Lewis, Letters To Children. He is currently writing a spiritual biography on Lewis. Dorsett is the former director of the Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College and is a senior pastor at the Church of the Great Shepard in Wheaton.

o Christopher Mitchell, PhD - Pastor, missionary, director of the Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College. After receiving his doctorate from the University of St. Andrews (Scotland) where his concentration was historical theology, Mitchell spent several years as a Christian missionary including time in both India and Haiti. As Director of the Wade Center, Mitchell has lectured widely on C.S. Lewis and published articles including "Bearing the Weight of Glory: The Cost of C.S. Lewis' Witness" and "University Battles: C.S. Lewis and the Oxford Socratic Club" along with numerous contributions to journals and other publications. He is currently working on a book-length study of C.S. Lewis and the Oxford Socratic Club. Mitchell is also an assistant professor of theological studies at Wheaton College and book-review editor of SEVEN: An Anglo-American Literary Review.

o Colin Manlove - Professor, writer, Lewis scholar. Born in Falkirk, Scotland in 1942, Manlove earned his bachelor's degree in literature at Pembroke College, Oxford, with a thesis on English fantasy. He received his master's degree in English language and literature at Edinburgh University. He became a lecturer in English at Edinburgh University in 1967 and was awarded a doctorate in 1990. In 1993, Manlove retired from the University and has continued writing.

Manlove's has authored numerous books on fantasy, science fiction, Shakespeare and English literature from 1600-1800. His extensive writings on C.S. Lewis include C.S. Lewis - His Literary Achievement (1987) and The Chronicles of Narnia - The Patterning of a Fantasic World (1993). He has also written approximately forty articles and essays. It is Manlove's belief that fantasy can best be described in terms of its country of origin, and he has plans for a book on the fantasy of different European countries.

Manlove was first drawn to C. S. Lewis after reading The Problem of Pain, which excited him intellectually. He later read Perelandra, which, he says, "has never failed to awaken wonder." Years of teaching Lewis texts to students continually highlighted new aspects of his work, which, like any good literature, revealed fresh perspectives with each reading. Lewis' mind and work have brought light to Colin Manlove's life, and he looks forward one day to saying so face to face.

The common denominators among those included in this oral history on C.S. Lewis are their passion for Lewis' work and their commitment to sharing personal insights into C.S. Lewis the man, the writer, the teacher and the creator of magical worlds.

We are grateful for the time they've shared with us, for their participation in the interview process, and for their commitment to our efforts to share the story of C.S. Lewis on television and in various forms of educational media and print.

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Thank you for reading the introduction to the book THE MAGIC NEVER ENDS - The Life & Work of C.S. Lewis.

If you would like to purchase the book or the related home video documentary, please click here. The book may also be purchased in bookstores throughout the United States.

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