C.S. Lewis Biography

Irish Children's Writer and Novelist, Famous for Narnia Chronicles

Dec 14, 2008

Life and works of C.S. Lewis, twentieth-century British novelist and scholar. Famous for The Chronicles of Narnia.

C.S. Lewis, British author and scholar, created one of the best-loved series of books for children in English literature, The Chronicles of Narnia. He applied his great intellect to English poetry and defense of Christianity.

Early Life of C.S. Lewis

Clive Staples Lewis was born on November 29, 1898, in Belfast, Ireland. When he was nine years old, his mother died, and Lewis was sent away to boarding school. His great unhappiness at losing his mother and being separated from his family made worse by the harsh treatment he received at the school.

During World War I, Lewis was drafted into the army. He was injured in the fighting and spent months recovering before going to study at Oxford University in 1918. He spent the next 35 years living and working there.

Lewis was a brilliant scholar, and in 1925, aged 27, he became a teacher at the university.

Spirituality

Lewis drifted from his spiritual beliefs. Raised in an Irish church-going family, he became atheist at age 15. At one point, he espoused Pantheism. It was at age 33 when he signified that Christianity outshone all other religions. His struggle with the faith gave him insights into the psychology of believing, and the trimmings and nature of temptation.

In part, he rediscovered Christianity through arguments with his Oxford colleague and close friend J.R. Tolkien, a Roman Catholic. He was also a friend of crime writer Dorothy L. Sayers. He fought greatly up to the moment of his conversion. After his conversion to theism in 1929, Lewis converted to Christianity in 1931. He became a member of the Church of England, somewhat a disappointment of Tolkien, who had hoped he would convert to Roman Catholicism.

Christian Beliefs in His Writings

Lewis's writing genres are children's literature, Christian apologetics, fantasy and science fiction. After he converted to Christianity, he began to write stories that expressed his religious beliefs. For example, he published Out of the Silent Planet, the first of a trilogy of books that put his Christian beliefs in the setting of a science fiction story.

Later Years

It was not until Lewis was in his 50s that he began to write the series of seven books known as the Chronicles of Narnia. Beginning with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, published when hew was 52, the series describes the adventures of a group of children in a magical land inhabited by talking animals. Lewis included many ideas from the Bible in his Narnia stories.

Books by C.S. Lewis

Sources:

Cambridge Guide to Literature in English, by Ian Ousby, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1993

Chambers Biographical Dictionary, edited by Una McGovern, Edinburgh. Chambers Harrap, 2002

Larousse Dictionary of Writers, edited by Rosemary Goring. New York: Larousse, 1994

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