I was fortunate enough to have received as a Christmas gift from my sister another biography of C. S. Lewis for Christmas:  Jack’s Life, by Douglas Gresham (Lewis’s younger step-son).  I read the slim volume in two or three sittings--neglecting housework to do so, of course—so I thought I’d write a very quick and cursory review.

The book comes with a DVD of an interview with the author, which I have not yet had the opportunity to view.

If I may nitpick the printing itself, I noted that the book seemed rushed to publication (timed to the Narnia film’s release, no doubt), as there were several obvious typographical errors that I'm sure would have been corrected otherwise (words run together, or suddenly hyphenated in the middle of a line), not to mention a page here and there that was of lesser print quality (e.g., darkened along the edge). 

A couple of the pictures had captions that failed to note which individual was Lewis.  I also noticed some repetitiveness that more careful editing would have eliminated.

Still, Gresham holds such a sincere admiration for Lewis that I couldn’t help being charmed by his telling of “Jack’s life.”  Here is someone who saw, at least on some level, Lewis live out his everyday life.  It seems Lewis lived up to Gresham’s expectations of a Christian, and then some. 

Gresham goes to some length to demonstrate that Lewis’s true Christianity was almost heroically lived out in his domestic situation, which was at times apparently quite trying.  (I have read other biographies of Lewis that confirm Gresham’s view of Mrs. Moore and Lewis’s domestic life. )  I was struck by Lewis’s sturdiness under stress, his ability to go on writing and creating in the midst of great difficulty, and especially his lack of self-pity in spite of myriad household and professional duties.  (Probably because self-pity is something with which I often struggle!)  In many ways, this biography left me feeling sad for Lewis and all the personal difficulty he encountered, from losing his mother at such a tender age to the horrors he endured as a young man during WWI.  This is more a telling of those events than of his incredible success as an author.

I was disappointed that when I finally came to the time when Gresham first met Mr. Lewis as a boy, through his mother, Joy, more personal reminiscences were not included.  Aside from a recounting of few WWI stories in an earlier chapter that Lewis related to Gresham, their personal relationship and conversations were not greatly detailed.  Perhaps Gresham's other memoir (Lenten Lands) or the DVD offers more of that; I’ll have to check them out.  It seems that during much of this period of Douglas’s life, Lewis was at Cambridge during the week and only home on the weekends (and I’m sure the boys were in school much of the time as well).  Yet, a book written by someone who personally knew Lewis (and Joy) cries out for detailed first-person memories, and I’m not sure why more were not included.  However, Gresham’s fondness for The Kilns (as it was then) is abundantly plain, as is his fondness for its owner.

This would be a good “first biography” for a young admirer of Lewis, one that I would be comfortable reading to my girls after they get a little older.  It does speak of alcoholism (and how it was typically handled back then), but glosses over some of Lewis’s proclivities as a young man that other biographies delve into in more detail.  Of Lewis’s earlier relationship with Mrs. Moore, Gresham merely notes that some “like to believe he had a love affair with her,” while himself noting Lewis’s own deep need for a mother figure, especially as he was about to go to war, and stating that nobody can know for certain the true nature of that relationship.

One thing’s for certain:  As Gresham comments quite accurately, you never really know a person until you’ve lived with them.  Gresham observed Lewis at home, practicing Christianity where it counts the most, and came away with a deep admiration for the man, imperfect as he may have been.  After reading of Lewis’s steadfast dedication to his own homefront (the difficulties of which every mother/homemaker is aware), I feel a deeper admiration for him too, and a conviction to go about my duties with greater devotion to the Lord, and less complaint.

I’ll offer my thoughts on the DVD after I watch it. 

Edited to add:  You know, it occurs to me that, though Gresham may not have spent a huge amount of time around Lewis as a boy (though surely some), he must have felt a deep empathy for him.  The loss of an individual so pivotal to both of them, loss of their respective mothers at early ages, the difficulties with their respective fathers growing up, the problems caused by alcoholism in the family--all probably caused Gresham to feel an affectionate bond with Lewis.  Just my guess.