One of the things related to our move, but which there was no hurry to do, was taking out a library card. I finally did that the week before last. I echo the words of Linus van Pelt (of the Peanuts comic strip) who, upon getting his library card, said: “I have been given my citizenship in the land of knowledge.” That same day, I of course had to check out three library books, because I could, and because a thousand books in our house obviously are not enough.

The one I read first was A Life Observed: A Spiritual Biography of C.S. Lewis by Devin Brown. As regular readers of the blog know, I read a lot of things both by and about Lewis. That includes his fiction, his Christian non-fiction, and his works of literary criticism (such as I can understand them). So this was a no-brainer one to pull off the library shelf.

I went through the book’s 228 pages in about ten days, maybe less. I found it to be an easy and fascinating read. Much of Lewis’s spiritual journey is well known. His path from the nominal Christianity of his upbringing, his drift to atheism, his two part conversion first to theism then to Christianity under the influence of Tolkien and Dyson, his growth as a Christian scholar and writer who could speak to both scholars and non-scholars. I’ve read all about it before.

This book, with much of Lewis’s non-spiritual journey either not covered or truncated, does a good job in describing Lewis, the “mere” Christian. Brown quotes extensively from Lewis’s books, letters, and interviews. Lewis’s autobiography, Surprised By Joy, is a major source and Brown quotes or refers to it extensively. But he is not limited by that. He takes note of other things in Lewis’s writings that he (Brown) shows to have bearing on Lewis’s spiritual journey. Surprisingly, even The Chronicles of Narnia become a major source of what was on Lewis’s mind as he journeyed through life, both before and after his conversion.

In fact, my only complaint about this biography is the author does a bit too much digging into the writings and finding spiritual things about Lewis in them. Every part of Lewis’s life and writings are laid bare and tied to his Christianity. I suppose such is inevitable for a person of Lewis’s renown and influence. But it made me somewhat glad that I, as a failed author, won’t have anyone picking apart my life in a similar manner.

If you are a C.S. Lewis fan, by all mean pick up a copy of this book and read it. I give it 5-stars. If it were mine, I would keep it. Alas, it goes back to the library tomorrow.