The Abolition of Man and the Great Divorce [Unabridged] [Audio CD]

C. S. Lewis (Author), Robert Whitfield (Narrator)

Editorial Reviews

From AudioFile

These two short works by Lewis are a fine introduction to his eloquent writing, as well as his thought. Although labeled second, "The Great Divorce" starts off this recording. In this work the narrator takes a bus trip that unexpectedly gives him a vision of heaven and hell as he travels through the afterworld. Lewis's view of the afterlife gives us his insights into the nature of good and evil. "The Abolition of Man" is an eloquent and erudite essay concerning what education should be and how far from this standard modern education has fallen. Robert Whitfield's disciplined and well-modulated voice has an appealingly confident quality. Whether or not one agrees with Lewis's arguments, it is a joy to hear writing so eloquent. M.T.F. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks; Unabridged edition (October 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786198192
• ISBN-13: 978-0786198191
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #210,344 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #6 in Books > Books on CD > Authors, A-Z > ( L ) > Lewis, C.S.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eloquent, masterful, challenging and a joy to read, especially as an audiobook!, June 5, 2011

By 

Book Glutton - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Abolition of Man and the Great Divorce (Audio CD)

The book, The Great Divorce, is based on the claim that there is a heaven and a hell and that each of us will ultimately arrive at one of them and live there for all eternity. The picture Lewis paints of each of these places is not what any of us would expect. With his extraordinarily rare brilliance that mystifies his readers, Lewis takes this opportunity to look at the reasons why an individual would choose hell over heaven or vice-versa and has us take a look at them.

He does this by presenting characters which we all seem to know very well. We have either met people like this and have grappled with their logic or lack of it; or, we might find ourselves to be very much like the people he describes. Nevertheless, they all have a story--one with which we can easily identify. The stories take us along life's paths and we are shown how they lead to the greatness of heaven and those who enter there, or the nothingness of hell and those who enter there.

I read this for the second time as an audiobook. I thought it was even better than in print. Why? Well, the above AudioFile review of the Blackstone audiobook, says it as well as I can, "Robert Whitfield's disciplined and well-modulated voice has an appealingly confident quality. Whether or not one agrees with Lewis's arguments, it is a joy to hear writing so eloquent." It is eloquent--so much so that you can hardly understand that he is taking you through his thought process but not doing your thinking for you. He subtlety, but surely, gets you the reader to think about his subject and how it applies to your own life.

Whether you are a C. S. Lewis fan or not, if you have not read this: get it! You will not be sorry.

I have not yet read The Abolition of Man, but will comment on it here when I do.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Typicaly Great CS Lewis, March 22, 2008

By 

J. G. Bennett (North Central Ohio, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Abolition of Man and the Great Divorce (Audio CD)

If you're looking at this you probably already know CS Lewis was a great writer. My guess is you probaby have read both of these wonderful books. So why buy the audio? Because, it is a wonderful way to really get into the story in you spare time that's normaly wasted doing things like driving, hosehold chores ect. Just pop it in and make the best use of your time. I got this for my father a while back and I don't think he's listened to his car radio since.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars C.S. Lewis, still great!, March 24, 2008

By 

Z Man (Bath, NC Usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Abolition of Man and the Great Divorce (Audio CD)

The Abolition of Man is a superb short work. Written in the '40s, C.S. Lewis projects the ultimate result of extending the logic of contemporary secular progressive philosophy on mankind.

The Great Divorce is a C.S. Lewis classic deeply probing concepts of heaven and hell. It is a wonderful study in mankind's self absorption and the spiritual blindness that engenders.