C. S. Lewis On Stories: And Other Essays on Literature [Paperback]

C. S. Lewis (Author), Walter Hooper (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 24, 1982

The theme of this collection is the excellence of the Story, especially the kind of story dear to Lewis-fantasy and science fiction, which he fostered in an age dominated by realistic fiction. On Stories is a companion volume to Lewis’s collected shorter fiction, The Dark Tower and Other Stories. Edited and with a Preface by Walter Hooper.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Though shorter than Haruki Murakami's South of the Border, West of the Sun, it is a more expansive work, delving into frightening territory....Smoothly translated by James Westerhoven, Okuizumi's prose is full of glassy surfaces that tilt to reach vertigo-inducing depths.-Los Angeles Times
"This eloquent, sorrowful, marvelously translated novel is a meditation on the ravages of war, the persistence of violence on the human soul and incredible bravery."-The Washington Post

About the Author

C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) gained international renown for an impressive array of beloved works both popular and scholarly: literary criticism, children's literature, fantasy literature, and numerous books on theology. Among his most celebrated achievements are Out of the Silent Planet, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Screwtape Letters, The Four Loves, and Surprised by Joy.

Product Details

• Paperback: 180 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (June 24, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156687887
• ISBN-13: 978-0156687881
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #988,837 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Popular Literary Criticism, September 4, 2001

By 

Bowen Simmons (Sunnyvale, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: C. S. Lewis On Stories: And Other Essays on Literature (Paperback)

Lewis's shorter works were generally originally composed as speeches or as articles for periodicals. Various sets of them were collected and published in book form both during his life and after his death. Trying to determine what works are in what collections is difficult - most works appear in more than one collection, some works appear under more than one title, and some collections appear under more than one title.

To aid readers, in this review I've listed the works in this collection, with notes indicating other collections they have appeared in. Where a work has appeared under more than one title, I give both titles separated by a slash.

Table of Contents:

"On Stories" / "The Kappa Element in Romance" (1), (2)

"The Novels of Charles Williams" (2)

"A Tribute to E. R. Eddison" (2)

"On Three Ways of Writing for Children" (1), (2)

"Sometimes Fairy Stories May Say Best What's to be Said" (1), (2)

"On Juvenile Tastes" (1), (2)

"It All Began with a Picture ..." (1), (2)

"On Science Fiction" (1), (2)

"A Reply to Professor Haldane" (1)

"The Hobbit" (2)

"Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings'" / "The Gods Return to Earth" & "The Dethronement of Power" (2)

"A Panegyric for Dorothy L. Sayers" (2)

"The Mythopoeic Gift of Rider Haggard" / "Haggard Rides Again" (2)

"George Orwell" (2)

"The Death of Words" (2)

"The Parthenon and the Optative" (2)

"Period Criticism" (2)

"Different Tastes in Literature" (2)

"On Criticism" (1), (2)

"Unreal Estates" / "The establishment must die and rot ..." (1), (2)

Notes:

(1) also published in "Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories"

(2) also published in "Essay Collection & Other Short Pieces"

Recommendations:

I don't really recommend this book as a first choice.

What do I recommend?

In general, to anyone interested in Lewis's shorter works, my best advice is to get "Essay Collection & Other Short Pieces", which, as of the time of this writing, is available from Amazon UK but not Amazon US. That collection consists of about 130 short works by Lewis. Although the works in that collection are mostly Christian, they also include almost everything in this collection, plus Lewis's short science fiction and fantasy from "The Dark Tower and Other Stories".

If your interest in Lewis's shorter works is restricted to literary criticism, and your budget or enthusiasm does not run to "Essay Collection & Other Short Pieces", then my second-best advice is to go ahead and get this collection, and possibly "The Dark Tower and Other Stories" as well (Lewis's short science fiction and fantasy).

Fans of Lewis's science fiction who are on a really tight budget may prefer my third-best advice, which is to get "Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories", which contains about half of this collection plus the best of Lewis's short science fiction.

Finally, those interested in Lewis's literary criticism will be interested in the following collections, neither of which overlap with each other or have significant coverage in "Essay Collection & Other Short Pieces":

"Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature"

"Selected Literary Essays"*

* ...very hard to come by, but it largely consists of essays unavailable in any other collection.

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fine discussion of stories, June 22, 1998

By 

David Graham (Shell, Ecuador) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: C. S. Lewis On Stories: And Other Essays on Literature (Paperback)

As a voracious reader and prodigious author, C.S. Lewis had lots of views to air on the art of telling stories. Twenty pieces he wrote through the years are here collected in a compendium that ranges over a wide array of topics. The titles give a good idea of the sorts of things you'll find in this book: The Novels of Charles Williams, On Three Ways of Writing for Children, Sometimes Fairy Stories May Say Best What's to Be Said, A Panegyric for Dorothy L. Sayers, Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, The Mythopoeic Gift of Rider Haggard, and Different Tastes in Literature are some of the things that Lewis discourses about with verve and understanding. This is fine reading for those who love enlightening commentary about what comprises good fiction.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Elegant, readable literary criticism, October 26, 2003

By 

Mark E. Hall (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: On Stories: And Other Essays on Literature (Paperback)

This collection primarily contains Lewis' essays and reviews concerning
fantasy and science fiction stories. Many of the essays contained in this volume originally appeared in the magazine
Time and Tide, while others appeared in a variety of regional magazines. The nineteen essays cover such topics as
fairy stories, juvenile fiction, period criticism, and science fiction, plus the writers E. R. Eddison, H. Rider Haggard,
Dorothy Sayers, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams.

The title essay sets the tone for the bulk of the essays in this volume.
Lewis takes issue with the critics who downplay the genre of Romance and instead
prefer realism and character development in their novels. While excitement
is important in this genre, Lewis notes that elements such as atmosphere,
ideas and imagery are equally important or more so. Lewis argues these other elements
are what cause people to re-read the classic Romances; the initial excitement is gone, but the

other facets of the story provide opportunities for discovery and wonderment for the reader.

His reviews of the writers mentioned above, while glowingly positive and supportive, are balanced
in that he also notes their shortcomings. For example, while he praises Haggard for being a
mythopoetic storyteller, he notes the man could not or would not write, and worse yet, he tried
to philosophize. With Tolkien, he saw problems in the opening chapter of The Fellowship of the Ring, and

notes how all the characters can be split between good and evil.

In other essays Lewis lays out rules he feels reviewers should follow. One of the most
important Lewis argues is that the reviewer must like the subject he is reviewing. Hating
a subject does not allow one to do an objective review. Lewis also feels that it is improper
for the critic to play amateur psychologist since s/he has not had the opportunity
question the author directly, nor are they trained psychologists.
Other important criteria are: 1) honesty in the review; 2) giving formal cause
on why something is "bad"; 3) using words and language properly.

This is an intelligently written book that is a welcome relief to much of the
literary criticism being produced today. Lewis writes in a clear,
elegant style, and does not hide behind jargon.