One of my favorite authors has always been C. S. Lewis. I might offend some by saying this, but of all his books, the Narnia Chronicles are my least favorite. Many of his other works were much more meaningful to me when I read them, and continue to be so.

However, with that said, his imaginative work in all of his writings is extraordinary. In fact, his imagination was extraordinary. From his poetic writings, before he became a Christian, to his deepest theological efforts, the power of his imagination shines through all of them.

That is the focus of The Surprising Imagination Of C. S. Lewis, by Jerry Root and Mark Neal. In this book, the authors take a thorough look at all of Lewis’ writings, and examine the different forms of imagination used in each of them.

C. S. Lewis found that there are many facets to the imagination, and he made use of almost all of them in his writings. From the baptized imagination he used in Surprised by Joy, to the shared imagination found in Mere Christianity, to the penetrating imagination and the material imagination found in the Narnia stories, and more, Lewis took these different aspects of the imagination and utilized them to a tremendous extent.

Basing his understanding of the various aspects of the imagination on the cosmology of the medieval worldview, which fascinated Lewis, he created his own worldview, and his own worlds, in the stories that he crafted.

Root and Neal take a deep look at many of these different characteristics of imagination as defined and used by Lewis. As they examine each of these, they also look deeply into the associated works of Lewis that display such uses of the imagination most clearly. And, while this is a book about the imagination of C. S. Lewis, it could also be used a a guide to his works, enabling the reader to gain as much as can be gleaned from each of his books in turn.

I enjoyed reading The Surprising Imagination Of C. S. Lewis, and found it to be very helpful in understanding the way Lewis viewed the world he lived in, and wrote in. This will be an excellent companion volume as I continue to read and study his works. If you are a fan of C. S. Lewis, I highly recommend that you pick up a copy and read it. It will help you understand the writings of Lewis at a level you may have never even guess existed.

Question: Do you enjoy C. S. Lewis? What is your favorite book by him? Which of his works was most impacting to your life? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

I received this book free from Handlebar Publishing as part of their Handlebar Publishing blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.