Customer Reviews

Light in the Shadowlands: Protecting the Real C. S. Lewis

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In this outstanding update to "The C.S. Lewis Hoax", Kathryn Lindskoog shows, by evidence of indisputable facts, several works posthumously published in the name of C.S. Lewis are by the simplest analysis: FORGED!

In "Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval & Renaissance Literature", C.S. Lewis reminds his students to follow the wisdom of Occam when attempting to explain the "bad bits" of Shakespeare -- thus, as the reality that "writers aren't always at their best" relies on fewer assuptions than "adapters wrote the bad parts", Occam suggests the former as the best available theory.

On the contrary, with Lindskoog's thoroughly documented research available, one is compelled to admit that Occam and Lewis himself would likely accept this startling book's conclusions with respect to the authenticity of certain alleged "Lewis" texts. Quite frankly, Lindskoog's theories require the least reliance upon "assumptions" as she carefully confines her own theories to known facts.

The really amazing result is that the real Lewis shows up here like nowhere before -- in brilliant clarity. Other than Lewis's own biography, there is no other book which truly reveals Lewis so clearly.

Lindskoog recieved the highest documented praise of any Lewis researcher in print (by Lewis himself) for so uniquely and completely "seeing him." Undoubtedly, she still does.

Second generation Lewis researchers better not ignore her findings. Surely, in time, the revelations of "Light in the Shadowlands" will require much of the Lewis mis-history to be corrected. Naturally, the best way to avoid producing anachronistic research will be to get the facts straight now.

"Light in the Shadowlands" is a reliable guide for this purpose. It is simply true.

Lord Acton said that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. St. Paul said that the love of money is the root of all evil. These two principles have combined in the C. S. Lewis literary estate. As one of the many economically foolish things CSL did in his life, he left the management of his literary estate to two friends who did not have the experience or time to manage it. At the first opportunity his friends unloaded the management upon the first person handy, a student from America who was keenly interested in Lewis' books and occasionally visited him in the last summer of his life.

Predictable results occurred. This person wielded power over publishers who made huge profits from the books. He had the power to say which academics had access to certain Lewis archives and which got permission to quote Lewis. The publishers had to include this person's book introductions in which he rewrote himself in a favorable light into history. Ambitious specialists needed to agree with the claims. One such claim was that this person was Lewis' live in, full time, private secretary for several years. This person also "discovered" many unknown Lewis literary works and revisions of existing works that were significantly lower in literary quality than the original, known Lewis literature and in some cases contained religious and ethical themes that were the exact opposite of Lewis' adamantly held views.

In this book Kathryn Lindskoog does a thorough job of investigative journalism in deflating much of the rewritten history and "new" Lewis works with documentary evidence and eye witness accounts. This book reads much like a Chapman Pincher espionage expose. A previous book, "The C. S. Lewis Hoax," attracted much attention five years earlier, and then further eye witness and documentary evidence led to this book .

Mrs. Lindskoog makes a strong case in these pages. Eveyone who reads C.S. Lewis should be made aware of the case presented here...a case that is supported by excellent research and a mountain of evidence...a case that makes Walter Hooper deeply suspect as an editor and introducer of the works of Lewis, and more than that, suspect as a man of integrity. If what the book says is true, the way that Mr Hooper mistreated Warren Lewis and misrepresented people after they had died is truly shameful.

I really wanted to like this book. I spent a long time trying to justify Lindskoog. And then I realized I was spending a long time justifying Lindskoog.

I think she's right. Her evidence is overwhelming that Hooper has lied and deceived; has presented forgeries to the public and trodden on the name of Lewis. I don't think I will ever again purchase a Lewis book edited by Hooper- because of his forwards, and the possibilities of changes within the published manuscript itself.

But she goes too far. The tone of the book can only be described as vindictive and paranoid. After reading it, I realized that not once did Lindskoog have a kind word to say about Hooper. She lambasted him throughout, and this is really too much. It would have been a much more convincing argument if she presented the errors he had made, as well as the positive contributions.

And some of her arguments are really quite specist. I really don't see the point of the arguments regarding homosexuality- she doesn't actually lay allegations, but seems to allude to gay allusions in books produced by Lewis' posthumous editors, making an appearance of evil worse than the real thing. A better editor would really have helped this book- shortening it and making her case much stronger by removing those ideas that don't really relate to the main case of the book.

Also throughout the book Lindskoog presents almost everyone as against her. Though she lists some pretty famous people on her side, none of them are presenting arguments in support of her apology. All those who actually argue are against her.

Her case is well supported, with copious footnotes and evidence: a scholarly work. I believe her. But I would rather have not read this work, because of the tone in it: it was not full of love.

. . .follow-up to Mrs. Lindskoog's earlier work "The CS Lewis Hoax".

Informed hobbits have known for quite some time that there have been serious issues of legitimacy and integrity surrounding the writings and literary legacy of CS Lewis, close friend and fellow Inkling of our own great Professor. In this volume, Mrs. Lindskoog continues to trace the history and lineage of Lewis' literary legacy and demonstrates that there has, in all likelihood, been a great deal of fraud and deceit practiced upon lovers of Lewis by a number of individuals who should have known better. Indeed, going a step further than her earlier work, Mrs. Lindskoog examines in detail several specific "myths" which have arisen concerning the life and legacy of Lewis -- myths which should now be considered "laid to rest".

This hobbit can only hope that Mrs. Lindskoog's book is widely read and disseminated among those of our fellows who truly loved Mr. Lewis and respected his legitimate work.

I was very turned off by Lindskoog's tone. Her unrelenting hatred for Walter Hooper -- a man she is clearly intensely jealous of for taking a job she desperately wanted when he became Lewis' editor instead of her -- shows a terrible personal bias that mars the whole work.

Her unforgiving and un-Christian attitude would seem to indicate that she hasn't really read or understood anything that C. S. Lewis wrote, at least. The whole thing just leaves a bad taste in one's mouth -- instead of "protecting" Lewis, she may well turn many readers completely away from him... legitimate works or not.