Reviews
if this is how God speaks in the early stages, what more is in store? holding onto this.
“Joy is distinct not only from pleasure in general but even from aesthetic pleasure. It must have the stab, the pang, the inconsolable longing.” yes. yes!!! there is a reason i am somewhat obsessed with fleeting feelings: nostalgia, yearning, mono no aware, sehnsucht, whatever you want to call it. lewis proposes that this transient experience — this Joy — merely acts as a signpost pointing to something greater and grander. that sinking sadness while peering into beauty incomprehensible, memories you will never fully gather into your arms again. what more probable explanation is there than maybe we were simply created for another world? a good and timely reminder to consider everything in light of eternity.
I’m not a big reader of biographies and autobiographies but this one was intriguing. The journey that took Lewis to finding joy and ultimately Christ is one of intellect, philosophy, psychology, mysticism, atheism and eve the occult as well as the influences of those individuals throughout his life. How his childhood, imagination and experiences led him to his greatest works of literature was also fascinating. It’s a good read!
