Customer Reviews
A great book on many levels - By: Ashtar Command, 23 Aug 2008 
"The Great Divorce" is a strange allegorical novel written by the well-known Christian writer C.S. Lewis, who was also a friend of J.R.R. Tolkien. "The Great Divorce" is also my favorite work by Lewis, alongside the classical children's story "The Lion, The Witch & the Wardrobe".
The novel is about Heaven & Hell. Hell turns out to be a boring, great city, where the sun never really rises. An angel operates a bus that takes people from Hell to Heaven. Anyone who likes can go onboard the bus. In Heaven, the denizens of Hell are met by angels who call upon them to enter. The offer of salvation is (almost) free. Despite this, most of the bus-passangers voluntarily decide to go back to Hell!
On first reading, the story might sound completely absurd. Who would be so stupid as to voluntarily remainin Hell, if you are offered an eternityin Heaven instead? The story makes more sense if read as an allegory about why people reject the Church here on Earth. For instance, one of the main characters is a heretical priest who refuses to accept the truths of traditional Christianity, even when confronted with hard evidence. Another character is some kind of bohemian left-wing artist. They both retun to "Hell", i.e. the meaningless, grey, secular world outside the Church.
The story could also be read as a criticism of modern society. The peoplein "Hell" livein houses that slowly but steadfastly move away from each other, making the inhabitants more & more socially isolated from each other, & more & more preoccupied with their own negative feelings, rather than turning towards what C.S. Lewis believed was the best source for Meaningin life: traditional Christianity. (Poor Napoleon is held up as a particularly bad example of a meaningless, self-preoccupied denizen of "Hell". Lewis was British.)
But the story is also theologically interesting. Indeed, Lewis seems to have believed that his allegorical description of Heaven & Hell reflected something real. It's not just a story about modern man rejecting the Church, or modern society becoming increasingly meaningless. It's also a story about the actual, supernatural realms known as Heaven & Hell.
Lewis felt extremely uncomfortable with the traditional idea of Hell. Small wonder. The traditional idea is deeply immoral: Jesus throws most of humanityin Hell, for eternal torture, simply for disbelievingin him & his mission. Christian groups who believein this, claim that everyone who disbelieves *them* will end upin Hell. "Ultra ecclesiam nulla salus". And once you've been cast into Hell, let go of hope, for there is no turning back, not even an "Arbeit macht frei".
Modern Christians have tried to mitigate the hellish ideas of traditional Christianity somewhat. Some say that people who go to Hell choose to go there voluntarily. Others claim that even non-Christians can go to Heaven, at least if they act as Christians. Still others, who really believein Hell, refuse to discuss the matter if a critic gets to close for comfort. For instance, did the victims of 9/11 go straight to Hell? Most of them weren't born-again Christians.
Lewis felt so uncomfortable with Hell, that he went one step further still. He essentially identified Hell with Purgatory, & claimed that those who want to leave, can do so. He thus rejected the idea, based on the parable of the rich man & Lazarusin the New Testament, that denizens of Hell cannot leave their place of habitat. Lewis created a more humane, rational & logical view of Hell. What a pity that main-stream Christianity took millenia to come around to this position! Indeed, many still haven't.
At the same time, Lewis couldn't accept universalism, the idea that everyone gets savedin the end. What if people don't *want* to be saved? And this is precisely the main point of the novel, a point I first frowned at, but a point that's actually very poignant & clever. Why would a person voluntarily reject Heaven, even if given unlimited chances to enter? Why indeed? Many people here on earth refuse to get helped. They refuse to listen even to the most kind, loving advice. In fact, we all do, to a greater or lesser extent. What makes us think that angels or God himself could change this? Yes, many people would be changed, but the greater the love, the greater the rejection might be, the more supernatural the love, the more supernatural the rejection. Hence Heaven & hence Hell. And at a certain pointin time, people get so ingrainedin their real or imaginery insults, that they are simply beyond redemption.
I'm not saying I believein Lewis' supernatural speculations. But I must say that I was stinged by the novel. Indeed, Lewis has put a finger on an unfortunate human trait, a trait we perhaps don't want to see, being so optimistic about human nature.
And yet, Lewis simply couldn't end his book on a sombre, pessimistic note. He was no Albert Camus. Good old Jack seems to have been quite a party-animal, perhaps even a bit too hedonistic for his fellow high churchmen. Soin the novel, he lets one of the characters discover that the seemigly endless City of Hell is actually just a pinprick compared to the vastness of Heaven.
In his heart, I think Lewis might have been a universalist after all.
Goodspeed, Jack, wherever you are.
Five stars!
why when we're dead? - By: J. O'neill, 29 Jul 2008 
I've recently gotten into C.S. Lewis' adult Christian theology. I read the Narnia booksin school, & they were what really got me into reading. I remember the impression i got was one of a world of "goodness" & "moral uprightness" that at the time i felt i might only get once i died (if i was good enough to go to heaven). But recently after reading his adult books i've decided to become a Christian, & also realized that everything he writes about is attainablein this life, before we are physically dead. I think that's what he hints at here & there. Heaven can be attained while we are here on earth. I'd recommend his books to anyone who's not a Christian, not just because they might be converted but because the themes apply to every human.
Wonderfully allegorical - By: A. foley, 03 May 2008 In this strange allegorical tale, written to illustrate the gulfs that exist between heaven, (purgatory?) & heaven, CS Lewis movingly depicts what separates us from Christ: a kind of perverse desire to shrinkin on ourselves through retaining/nurturing our hurts, griefs & self pity. We would prefer nursing & self-infestering (neologism) our wounds than to cast off the shackles which keep us from God. The most moving allegory for me was the wife & the husband, the wife was now a great saint & the husband (manifestedin 2 forms) slowly shrinking under the weight of his self righteous self pity.
Top notch stuff, showing that allegories/parables etc can more clearly illustrates great theological truths than theoolgical tomes.
Classic - By: Paul Holland, 07 Apr 2008 This classic short story by C.S.Lewis tackles the issue of life after death & whether a soul chooses to go to heaven or hell (rather than sent there). Very readable & challenging it attempts to answer some of the concerns people have about "bad" people going to heaven & "good" people going to hell, & indeed what the actual nature of heaven & hell are. For Christians this is meaty theological stuff presented as allegory. For non-Christians this is a good sci-fi/fanatasy short story that (may) lead to deeper questions.
Enter into Joy - By: Mike London, 17 Oct 2007 "There are only two kinds of peoplein the end: those who say to God, `Thy will be done,' & those to whom God says `Thy will be done'."
This is a quote from this little volume, & effectively sums up the entire bookin that one sentence. THE GREAT DIVORCE, like Lewis's TILL WE HAVE FACES, is his song of songs, his great achievement. Tolkien's was LORD OF THE RINGS, Adams' WATERSHIP DOWN, Sinclair Lewis' MAIN STREET. These novels are generally regarded as their major works. This little book, publishedin a little periodical called The Guardian, is one such book. (It was this periodical that Lewis's classic book THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS also appeared). Sadly, SCREWTAPE, though excellentin & of itself, is often given much more credit than this, which is a deeper work (and to those who know THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS, know what a feat that is).
Perhaps one reason that this work is such an excellent little volume is its length of gestation: it was concievedin 1931 & writtenin 1944. Insipred by a sermon foundin Jeremy Taylor's WORKS, suggested such a premise as to think, or take, the absuridity of damned souls getting a real refreshment from hell. Also another source was the fourth centru Latin poet named Prudentius Aurelius Clemens (his contribution can be foundin "Hymn for the Lighting of the Lamp). Assuredly, one of the reasons that it took so long to be written (the first known written account is a diary entry by his brother Warnen on Paril 15, 1932) is he had not had it visualized. In terms of inspiration his fiction arose from "seeing pictures"in his mind. (Example: One of his images he received when he was about 16, & it was a faun with parcelsin one hand & an umbrellain the other, standingin a wintery, snow laden forest).
Much of this short little novel has a direct comparison or parellel to Dante's DIVINE COMEDY. Just like Beatrice to Dante, so also was George MacDonald to C. S. Lewis. MacDonald was almost a Universalist. He believed most of the world populace would submit & enter into joy, & know God's love. A lot of this would occur after death. According to Sayer, Lewis did not believe this, but thought it was a possibility (much my view on purgatory). What Lewis had to do was to rectify this belief with the others of purgatory, hell, heaven, predestination, damnation, etc. How he did so was a stroke of genius: he made hell & purgatory the same place. To those who would leave & give up a vice, it was only purgatory; but to those who were determined to keep their wickedness, instead of entering into joy, were damned. To enter into Heaven, the only prerequiste was to give up a vice. That was all. Some lust, some apostasty, some selfishness & false love (the mother Pam for her son Michael). Just like Dante, Lewis has an Apostate Anglican bishopin there.
One of the things that he has done most brillantly is the potrayal of the Platonic belief that the essence of something is more real than the thing itself. Virture is more real that the vitrue that is practiced. Everythingin God is much more real & tangible than hell, & Lewis does this marvelously. A device he borrowed from a writer whose name was unknown to him, Lewis made everything very, very real, & the damned men & women were but ghostsin that heavenly place. Each had an accompaning Spirit, one who has surrendered to God. In that place, the ones saved are real & can bend the grass & walk & swim, but always traveling further up & furtherin (to borrow a Narnian phrase, although it equally applies here). To aid the damned, the real, the saved, must go back & forsake their journey for a time, to aid those that will.
One of the grandest scenes is toward the very last,in which a lady named Sarah is seen. In this, another of his master's ideals is expressed. Sarah Smith is no great woman by earth's standards, but she is so close to God, everyone she meets she changes for the better. God wants to use you, not only for his own intimate purposes, but for you also to update & bring the quality of the life for others around you to a much better place. Her whole train of follows is transformed by her love, because she allows God to work through her, & submitted to her;in turn, she transforms others, because she is a yielded vessel. Macdonald states of her "There's joy enoughin the little finger of a great saint such as yonder lady to waken all the dead things of the universe into life". Likewise, because of Lewis being yielded to God, this book has a similar effect (as, perhaps, all of his books do -- I cannot say all because I have not read all).
Ultimately, the entire point of this beautiful little book is that there could be no damnation without free choice. God made us to fellowship with us, not to damn us to hell. We are to enter into joy - but because we livein a fallen world, we might choose to hang onto some vice instead of entering into joy. Joy, that grand & beautiful intimacy with the Lord, real satisfying water that will forever quench your thirst, that is what C. S. Lewis is about. Let us not choose to stayin Hell. But one must understand this - Lewis is not advocating there is such a thing as bus rides to hell. The novel is, of course, but a dream. It is no way an examination of what lies after we die, although it does give thought to MacDonald's view on Universalism, though Lewis did not hold that view himself. Enter into joy, dear child, & meet Christ.
Originally issued on Amazon.com on June 9, 2000
