Good Morning Mads! (well... late afternoon)
Welcome to part one of two posts about The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis! This book really blew me away and in order to fully appreciate it I’m dedicating this post to an intro and my overall (non-spoilery) thoughts. And In my next post I’ll go into detail on themes and plot points that I think make this book so fantastic.
I’ve seen my dad’s copy of Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters bound in one book sitting on the bookshelf for a while but didn’t give much thought until it came up in conversation. Out of curiosity I picked it up to see what it was about. I felt weird about skipping to the middle of the book as The Screwtape Letters is printed after Mere Christianity in my copy, and I could only hope there was not a thematic benefit to reading them in the order the publisher arranged. In my impatience I dove in anyway...
The Screwtape Letters opens in conventional letter format, though “My Dear Wormwood,” was not how I had anticipated one devil to address another. This counterintuitive reading is something I would find myself having to keep in mind throughout the entirety of the book. In the first chapter- or letter- we learn that Screwtape, self titled Wormwood’s “affectionate uncle,” is advising Wormwood on the matter of his assignment of luring a particular man away from God (whom they refer to as “The Enemy”) in order to claim his soul.
Moving to chapter two I was a bit surprised that the second letter was still addressed to, “My Dear Wormwood,” but ultimately I thought it was brilliant of C.S. Lewis to only reveal half of the exchange because as a reader there is a need to pay even more attention to the details in order to bridge the distance to what Wormwood’s letter might have said and again to the action that is happening in the life of the man under Wormwood’s assignment.
I'm going to stop right there Mads (evil laugh?) I hope I have captured your interest! If you have not read it I can disinfect my copy and leave it on your front step! I read this super fast, due not only to the captivating and quick pace of the storyline but also the letter format. It was so easy to sit down and read a single letter, or three… or ten… you get the idea :)
-hp
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