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Surprised by Joy
- C. S. Lewis Signature Classic
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, World Literature
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Summary
For many years an atheist, C. S. Lewis vividly describes the spiritual quest that convinced him of the truth and reality of Christianity, in his famous autobiography.
"In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God...perhaps the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England." Thus Lewis describes memorably the crisis of his conversion.
Surprised by Joy reveals both that crisis and its momentous conclusion that would determine the shape of Lewis' entire life.
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Overall
- Georget
- 09-08-18
Joy ful surprise
Now that I come to write this review i find i can't remember how i found this book or why I decided to read it. I am glad that I did and I will again. At times it was a little difficult, not the writing but following a description of a time and class i know nothing about. The quotes in german,french,Latin and Greek although lost on me, didn't really spoil the story. I feel the narrator a perfect choice, his voice and tone are suitable to the era, also his emotion in the reading at times made me feel i was listening to an old radio broadcast of c.s. Lewis himself. A book I'll keep in my library to listen again and again to find the parts i missed this time.
12 people found this helpful
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- katya belaia
- 09-01-19
Beautiful
impossible to put down, captivating, illuminating. i want to listen to it over again straight away.
5 people found this helpful
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- Lawrence D.
- 24-11-17
A genuine pleasure to read .
CS Lewis' books are a genuine pleasure to read and this reader is simply outstanding. Highly recommended.
5 people found this helpful
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- Fraser Jeremy Clark
- 05-08-20
Hoped for more
Appears that a boyhood obsession with Animal Land becomes in adulthood Narnia. Not fully biography yet glimpses of background to Lewis becoming a Christian, not a Damascene event but logical reasoning I hoped for more on his Christian life a sense of rushed final chapters. Good narrative voice.
3 people found this helpful
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- JDS
- 25-02-20
An insightful book into the conversion of CS Lewis
Great narrator, love CS Lewis! A really insightful book into his conversion to Christianity. Would recommend.
3 people found this helpful
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- Greg Gauthier
- 20-02-20
Fantastic reading, amazing work.
The reader was amazing and Lewis' story of himself was riveting and inspiring. Highly recommended.
3 people found this helpful
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- ian naftel
- 06-07-20
Enjoyed it very much
It is a long book but was must enjoyable.
The story is full of ups and downs.
Having not read any of C S Lewis before I am keen to read some more of his books
1 person found this helpful
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- neil
- 15-04-18
good insight on a journey of discovery.
lewis' knowledge and intellect shines through the words. a personal journey and historical document in one.
1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 28-01-19
An interesting read but weighted strangely
Interesting book and enjoy all of CS Lewis's so far, however I felt the first half dragged on and the second could have been drawn out longer than it was
2 people found this helpful
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- LMC
- 02-03-22
Essential – autobiography/spiritual classic
C.S. Lewis's Surprised by Joy is interesting from two perspectives: first, that it is the closest Lewis came to writing a conventional autobiography; second, that it recounts the process that led to Lewis becoming a Christian, and so is an invaluable aid to his philosophical and theological writings. Sometimes these two perspectives seem to be jostling for position: the earlier portion of the book deals with Lewis's childhood in great detail (including a painful account of his schooldays), while the more formal autobiography peters out in the book's second half. The spiritual theme is always present, but less so in the book's first part (for example, we learn less than might be expected about Lewis's teenage shift to atheism). Perhaps the reason for this is the connecting thread: Lewis's concept of 'joy'. 'Joy' is an Augustinian longing that manifests itself first in creative fantasy, then in the Nordic myths before finally finding its true aim. Perhaps for this reason, the book comes to an abrupt halt once the pursuit of 'joy' brings Lewis back to the Christian faith. While Surprised by Joy may be somewhat unusual in form, it is no less valuable for anyone interested in C.S. Lewis. Peter Noble narrates ably, and manages passages of French with skill. His performance would have benefited from consultation with an Irish person, however, as his pronunciation of (admittedly difficult) Irish names – Cú Chulainn, Donegal – is confusingly wide of the mark.
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- Kerry
- 22-03-17
A lot to digest
I enjoyed listening to tge story of Lewis's conversion and I thought it was well read. But I found it difficult to digest in this format. I would have got more out of it if I had read it myself.