Listen free for 30 days

Listen with a free trial

Try for £0.00
One credit a month, good for any title to download and keep.
Unlimited listening to the Plus Catalogue - thousands of select Audible Originals, podcasts and audiobooks.
Exclusive member-only deals.
No commitment - cancel anytime.
Buy Now for £33.89

Buy Now for £33.89

Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

C. S. Lewis - A Life cover art
Surprised by Joy cover art
The Problem of Pain cover art
The Four Loves cover art
Mere Christianity cover art
Miracles cover art

Summary

This is an extensive collection of short essays and other pieces by C. S. Lewis that have been brought together in one volume for the first time. As well as his many books, letters, and poems, Lewis also wrote a great number of essays and shorter pieces on various subjects. He wrote extensively on Christian theology and the defense of faith but also on various ethical issues and on the nature of literature and storytelling. In this essay collection we find a treasure trove of Lewis' reflections on diverse topics.
©1973 C. S. Lewis (P)2014 Blackstone Audio
Classics World
Show More Show Less

What listeners say about C. S. Lewis

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    50
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    44
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    42
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.co.uk reviews

Audible.com reviews

Amazon reviews
Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for UKJ

A Thoughtful and Erudite Perspective of Christianity

A wonderfully erudite and intelligent perspective of Christianity. I am thoroughly enjoying this collection. Thanks!

Allthough many and various topics are covered , C S Lewis's thoughts about Christianity run throughout and pops up again and again.

These essays need to be listened to more than once, to get the full grasp the author intended for the listener, in my view.

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for John Horncastle

A treasure trove

Lewis' thoughts on literature, living, religion, culture, science and education (among other things) are a delight. He writes so well. There's so much goodstuff here. And the fiction pieces open up some of Lewis' lesser known works. It's like being able to keep company with him, and the nearest any of will get to being party to a conversation with the man. You can dip in and out at leisure - chapters headings would make this easier but you can find a contents page from the printed edition online if you look to help you find your way. Ralph Cosham's naaration is clear, warm and has timbre of how one would imagine Lewis to have spoken; my one reservation is that his performance is very straight and doesn't always pick up on Lewis' humour. This collection is amazing value - so many hours of content for the price of one Audible credit! I thoroughly recommend it.

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Carôle

Interesting and Deep

This audiobook requires several forays. Not because it is disinteresting, but because it covers several topics and with such thoroughness, one sometimes feels quite unschooled!

I purchased this mainly for Lewis' Apologetics work, which I find fascinating and which gives me a script I can rely on when faced with a colleague or friends' agnosticism or atheism. However I found that he wrote about many and varied subjects, both at the request/behest of another, or because he felt that it should be addressed: So he addressed it. For me, the most fascinating of these dealt with corporal punishment, which was initially shunned in the UK, but addressed - quite seriously and studiously - in Australia.

Also worth a revisit are Lewis' 2 incomplete novels, at the end of this audiobook. I'm sure that I am doing Lewis an injustice in rating the content so lowly but, as a compilation of his many, many essays, on a first pass, this is a lot to absorb. I shall probably revise this review after my 3rd perusal.

If you are a C S Lewis fan - this is definitely a book for you. It does not disappoint. It is superbly read by the narrator whom, I've now begun to associate as the voice of C S Lewis, given that all of his work is written in the first person text.

Definitely worth the money for the time that you will be investing in this audiobook.

30 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Dr. Livesey

Contents

I am copying R. Valerius's very helpful list of contents to the audible.co.uk reviews so that it can be viewed from the app.

Essays
1) The Grand Miracle
2) Is Theology Poetry?
3) The Funeral of a Great Myth
4) God In the Dark
5) What Are We to Make of Jesus Christ?
6) The World’s Last Night
7) Is Theism Important?
8) The Seeing Eye
9) Must Our Image of God Go?
10) Christianity and Culture
11) Evil and God
12) The Weight of Glory
13) Miracles
14) Dogma and the Universe
15) The Horrid Red Things
16) Religion: Reality or Substitute?
17) Myth Became Fact
18) Religion and Science
19) Christian Apologetics
20) Work and Prayer
21) Religion Without Dogma?
22) The Decline of Religion
23) Unforgiveness
24) The Pains of Animals
25) Petitionary Prayer: A Problem Without an Answer
26) On Obstinacy in Belief
27) What Christmas Means to Me
28) The Psalms
29) Religion and Rocketry
30) The Efficacy of Prayer
31) Fern Seed and Elephants
32) The Language of Religion
33) Transposition
34) Why I am Not a Pacifist
35) Dangers of National Repentance
36) Two Ways With the Self
37) Meditation on the Third Commandment
38) On Ethics
39) Three Kinds of Men
40) Answers to Questions on Christianity
41) The Laws of Nature
42) Membership
43) The Sermon and the Lunch
44) Scraps
45) After Priggery – What?
46) Man or Rabbit?
47) The Trouble With X
48) On Living in an Atomic Age
49) Lillies that Fester
50) Good Work and Good Works
51) A Slip of the Tongue
52) We Have No Right to Happiness
53) Christian Reunion: An Anglican Speaks to Roman Catholics
54) Priestesses in the Church?
55) On Church Music
56) Christianity and Literature
57) High and Low Brows
58) Is English Doomed?
59) On the Reading of Old Books
60) The Parthenon and the Optative
61) The Death of Words
62) On Science Fiction
63) Miserable Offenders
64) Different Tastes in Literature
65) Modern Translations of the Bible
66) On Juvenile Tastes
67) Sex in Literature
68) The Hobbit
69) Period Criticism
70) On Stories
71) On Three Ways of Writing for Children
72) Prudery and Philology
73) Tolkein’s “The Lord of the Rings”
74) Sometimes Fairy Stories May Say Best What’s to Be Said
75) It All Began With a Picture
76) Unreal Estates
77) On Criticism
78) Cross Examination
79) A Tribute to E.R. Eddison
80) The Mythopoeic Gift of Rider Haggard
81) George Orwell
82) A Panegyric for Dorothy L. Sayers
83) The Novels of Charles Williams
84) Learning in War-Time
85) Bulverism (or, The Foundation of 20th Century Thought)
86) The Founding of the Oxford Socratic Club
87) My First School
88) Democratic Education
89) Blimpophobia
90) Private Bates
91) Meditation in a Tool Shed
92) On the Transmission of Christianity
93) Modern Man and His Categories of Thought
94) Historicism
95) The Empty Universe
96) Interim Report
97) Is History Bunk?
98) Before We Can Communicate
99) First and Second Things
100) The Poison of Subjectivism
101) Equality
102) De Futilitate
103) A Dream
104) Hedonics
105) Talking About Bicycles
106) Vivisection
107) The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment
108) Behind the Scenes
109) The Necessity of Chivalry
110) The Inner Ring
111) Two Lectures
112) Some Thoughts
113) X-mas and Christmas
114) Revival or Decay
115) Delinquents in the Snow
116) Willing Slaves of the Welfare State
117) Screwtape Proposes a Toast

Letters
118) The Conditions for a Just War
119) The Conflict in Anglican Theology
120) Miracles
121) Mr. C.S. Lewis on Christianity
122) A Village Experience
123) Correspondence With an Anglican Who Dislikes Hymns
124) The Church’s Liturgy, Invocation, and Invocation of Saints
125) The Holy Name
126) Mere Christians
127) Canonization
128) Pittenger-Lewis and Version Vernacular
129) Capital Punishment and Death Penalty

Short Stories
130) The Man Born Blind
131) The Dark Tower
132) The Dark Tower (cont')
133) Ministering Angels **Lewis Chapter 132, Audible Chapter 133**
134) The Shoddy Lands **Lewis Chapter 133, Audible Chapter 134**
135) After Ten Years **Lewis Chapter 134, Audible Chapter 135**
136) Forms of Things Unknown **Lewis Chapter 135, Audible Chapter 136**

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Anonymous User

Spending time with C.S.Lewis

Although this is a long (audio)book, it was a fascinating voyage into Lewis' mind. There are essays on a wide-range of theological, literary, apologetical, aesthetical and (then) contemporary topics. Some provide great life lessons, keen insights I will never forget. A few were a uninteresting. At first the length of the book seemed daunting. Now that I've finished it, I'm sorry it is not longer. Definitely recommend it and will definitely listen to it again soon.

2 people found this helpful

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for R. Valerius
  • R. Valerius
  • 14-06-16

Here is the missing Table of Contents

Any additional comments?

Start Essay
00:00:00 1) The Grand Miracle
00:21:25 2) Is Theology Poetry?
00:55:35 3) The Funeral of a Great Myth
01:26:52 4) God In the Dark
01:39:14 5) What Are We to Make of Jesus Christ?
01:50:53 6) The World’s Last Night
02:25:09 7) Is Theism Important?
02:35:45 8) The Seeing Eye
02:57:58 9) Must Our Image of God Go?
03:01:23 10) Christianity and Culture
04:05:30 11) Evil and God
04:14:07 12) The Weight of Glory
04:45:44 13) Miracles
05:18:54 14) Dogma and the Universe
05:42:43 15) The Horrid Red Things
05:51:58 16) Religion: Reality or Substitute?
06:10:10 17) Myth Became Fact
06:22:22 18) Religion and Science
06:29:46 19) Christian Apologetics
07:04:21 20) Work and Prayer
07:12:02 21) Religion Without Dogma?
07:55:00 22) The Decline of Religion
08:08:09 23) Unforgiveness
08:16:37 24) The Pains of Animals
08:43:20 25) Petitionary Prayer: A Problem Without an Answer
09:06:28 26) On Obstinacy in Belief
09:36:03 27) What Christmas Means to Me
09:40:18 28) The Psalms
10:19:15 29) Religion and Rocketry
10:35:42 30) The Efficacy of Prayer
10:49:29 31) Fern Seed and Elephants
11:25:59 32) The Language of Religion
11:58:42 33) Transposition
12:34:04 34) Why I am Not a Pacifist
13:12:04 35) Dangers of National Repentance
13:19:02 36) Two Ways With the Self
13:24:01 37) Meditation on the Third Commandment
13:32:29 38) On Ethics
14:06:13 39) Three Kinds of Men
14:09:30 40) Answers to Questions on Christianity
14:40:31 41) The Laws of Nature
14:48:58 42) Membership
15:15:03 43) The Sermon and the Lunch
15:26:43 44) Scraps
15:29:49 45) After Priggery – What?
15:39:21 46) Man or Rabbit?
15:51:47 47) The Trouble With X
16:02:00 48) On Living in an Atomic Age
16:17:21 49) Lillies that Fester
16:48:51 50) Good Work and Good Works
17:06:20 51) A Slip of the Tongue
17:18:44 52) We Have No Right to Happiness
17:32:08 53) Christian Reunion: An Anglican Speaks to Roman Catholics
17:39:16 54) Priestesses in the Church?
17:53:30 55) On Church Music
18:07:12 56) Christianity and Literature
18:33:28 57) High and Low Brows
19:07:54 58) Is English Doomed?
19:16:58 59) On the Reading of Old Books
19:31:50 60) The Parthenon and the Optative
19:39:56 61) The Death of Words
19:47:06 62) On Science Fiction
20:21:27 63) Miserable Offenders
20:33:09 64) Different Tastes in Literature
20:50:18 65) Modern Translations of the Bible
21:00:28 66) On Juvenile Tastes
21:07:02 67) Sex in Literature
21:14:00 68) The Hobbit
21:17:03 69) Period Criticism
21:27:16 70) On Stories
22:10:34 71) On Three Ways of Writing for Children
22:40:43 72) Prudery and Philology
22:49:41 73) Tolkein’s “The Lord of the Rings”
23:07:31 74) Sometimes Fairy Stories May Say Best What’s to Be Said
23:15:38 75) It All Began With a Picture
23:17:54 76) Unreal Estates
23:40:58 77) On Criticism
24:16:38 78) Cross Examination
24:33:39 79) A Tribute to E.R. Eddison
24:35:15 80) The Mythopoeic Gift of Rider Haggard
24:44:59 81) George Orwell
24:53:37 82) A Panegyric for Dorothy L. Sayers
25:03:24 83) The Novels of Charles Williams
25:20:03 84) Learning in War-Time
25:43:51 85) Bulverism (or, The Foundation of 20th Century Thought)
25:55:13 86) The Founding of the Oxford Socratic Club
26:01:56 87) My First School
26:09:37 88) Democratic Education
26:19:09 89) Blimpophobia
26:26:26 90) Private Bates
26:34:16 91) Meditation in a Tool Shed
26:43:55 92) On the Transmission of Christianity
26:57:30 93) Modern Man and His Categories of Thought
27:11:02 94) Historicism
27:46:59 95) The Empty Universe
27:58:36 96) Interim Report
28:12:12 97) Is History Bunk?
28:21:26 98) Before We Can Communicate
28:29:54 99) First and Second Things
28:39:32 100) The Poison of Subjectivism
29:05:59 101) Equality
29:14:25 102) De Futilitate
29:52:43 103) A Dream
29:59:49 104) Hedonics
30:11:13 105) Talking About Bicycles
30:22:01 106) Vivisection
30:33:41 107) The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment
31:07:08 108) Behind the Scenes
31:17:41 109) The Necessity of Chivalry
31:26:45 110) The Inner Ring
31:50:26 111) Two Lectures
31:58:20 112) Some Thoughts
32:06:47 113) X-mas and Christmas
32:13:42 114) Revival or Decay
32:23:06 115) Delinquents in the Snow
32:33:40 116) Willing Slaves of the Welfare State
32:48:10 117) Screwtape Proposes a Toast

Start Letters
33:24:21 118) The Conditions for a Just War
33:30:18 119) The Conflict in Anglican Theology
33:31:11 120) Miracles
33:33:12 121) Mr. C.S. Lewis on Christianity
33:35:19 122) A Village Experience
33:36:50 123) Correspondence With an Anglican Who Dislikes Hymns
33:39:56 124) The Church’s Liturgy, Invocation, and Invocation of Saints
33:48:49 125) The Holy Name
33:50:36 126) Mere Christians
33:52:16 127) Canonization
33:55:08 128) Pittenger-Lewis and Version Vernacular
33:57:01 129) Capital Punishment and Death Penalty

Start Short Stories
34:01:01 130) The Man Born Blind
34:12:31 131) The Dark Tower
35:16:16 132) The Dark Tower (continued)
36:15:57 133) The Dark Tower (continued)
37:07:58 134) Ministering Angels
37:31:23 135) The Shoddy Lands
37:49:13 136) After Ten Years
38:38:46 137) Forms of Things Unknown

904 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Wayne
  • Wayne
  • 17-11-14

Great book if you want to hear more C.S.Lewis

What made the experience of listening to C. S. Lewis the most enjoyable?

The content of this book is comprised of C.S. Lewis’ lectures, sermons, magazine articles, etc. and I believe written based on the assumption each respective audience was well educated. One result of this appeared to allow him to freely use quotes in their original language. Given the nature of its content, the reading by Ralph Cosham was so superb that I really felt I was listening to Mr. Lewis speak. Mr. Cosham’s accent, inflection, rhythm, intonation, emphasis, and pronunciation, especially of when applied to quotes in a foreign language were remarkable.

What does Ralph Cosham bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Mr. Cosham’s accent, inflection, rhythm, intonation, emphasis, and pronunciation, especially of when applied to quotes in a foreign language were remarkable. He brought Mr. Lewis to life in the presentation and made listening truly enjoyable.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. it was easily broken into its various parts, given the nature of the compilation of writings.

95 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Don C Harris
  • Don C Harris
  • 25-11-16

Most valuable in my library

Would you listen to C. S. Lewis again? Why?

Less than twenty times and you haven't heard it.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Lewis himself

Have you listened to any of Ralph Cosham’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Lost instructions to thinking.

Any additional comments?

Dear God! Are there no men like this anymore?

41 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Stephen
  • Stephen
  • 10-10-14

A THINKING PERSON'S COLLECTION

Very interesting material. You really have to listen to Mr Lewis, unlike other author's, or you will find yourself wondering what he is talking about. Recommend even though some of the material in this collection I've already purchased in shorter collections. The only real problem I had with this book is that I had to listen to it on my computer because Mr. Cosham's voice is so low I had a hard time hearing him on my kindle fire.

23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Craig
  • Craig
  • 23-03-14

All You'll Ever Need As Far As Lewis' Essays Go

What made the experience of listening to C. S. Lewis the most enjoyable?

Lewis' fine mind, even though I disagree with him as an Atheist.

What did you like best about this story?

See the above comment.

Have you listened to any of Ralph Cosham’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes. It was another Lewis audiobook, I think. He is a consistently excellent reader.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, but it is *way* too long to do that.

Any additional comments?

C. S. Lewis is the greatest Christian apologist of the 20th Century.... hell, of *any* century. Whether you're a Christian who agrees with him or an Atheist like me, you'll appreciate his great intellect and fine use of the English language.

56 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Ruby Montelongo
  • Ruby Montelongo
  • 01-09-15

Great book.

a wonderful book very educational on both ends I would recommend to everyone and anyone who is looking to get the educational and biblical view of religion and Christianity. LOVED IT.

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Michael
  • Michael
  • 13-07-15

The narration and collection were excellent

If you are a C.S. Lewis fan or simple a fan of philosophical thought, this collection is most excellent. Lewis covers such a wide range of issues and does it so well. The narration was a bit slow, but the style was superb.

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Kevin S Lucas
  • Kevin S Lucas
  • 02-02-16

Excellent work a feast to the ear and heart

This is a terrific book with absolutely everything for the C. S. Lewis fan. It will expand your mind, open your heart, and thrill your soul. I highly recommend this work. #inspirational #essays #CSLewis #thinkingpersonsread #Tagsgiving #Sweepstakes

13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Robert L. Weeks
  • Robert L. Weeks
  • 20-08-15

Treasure Trove of CSLewis Literary Genius

What did you love best about C. S. Lewis?

Clarifies philosophical/scientific/theological reasonings, logical conclusions, ponderings of the Great Minds of all ages

What was one of the most memorable moments of C. S. Lewis?

There are many - a MOST memorable manifesting one of CSL's significant contributions is his revealing a deep study encompassing thoughtful insights regarding literary-affectiveness-relationships on rmoral-behevior attendant to scripturally-based ordinations. This is a one-Hour+ Chapter 10 of 136 in the Essay Collection edited by Lesley Walmsley and read by Ralph Cosham.

The subject is very important to the concerns of those believers in THE WORD who would educate and be educated in secular setting, home-school setting, and for that matter any non-ordained scriptural stimulus. The chapter has Huge implications directly related to the universe of God's people..the eternal Church and its greatest enemies!

What about Ralph Cosham’s performance did you like?

seamless accurate and astoundingly non-biased performance throughout

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

not practical ... needs absorption over time and often many patient repetitive listenings.

12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for andrew
  • andrew
  • 26-10-14

lewis

Where does C. S. Lewis rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

this is a great purchase. there is a ton of material and on a variety of different topics. the reader is fine. it would likely be best enjoyed by a person who has already experienced c.s. lewis in his other more traditional works, one of his (nonfiction) books. its a great supplement of diverse opinions from lewis for fans already familiar with his writing.

5 people found this helpful