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The Screwtape Letters: With Screwtape Proposes a Toast [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

C. S. Lewis
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (187 customer reviews)

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Book Description

March 17, 2009

In this humorous and perceptive exchange between two devils, C. S. Lewis delves into moral questions about good vs. evil, temptation, repentance, and grace. Through this wonderful tale, the reader emerges with a better understanding of what it means to live a faithful life.


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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Who among us has never wondered if there might not really be a tempter sitting on our shoulders or dogging our steps? C.S. Lewis dispels all doubts. In The Screwtape Letters, one of his bestselling works, we are made privy to the instructional correspondence between a senior demon, Screwtape, and his wannabe diabolical nephew Wormwood. As mentor, Screwtape coaches Wormwood in the finer points, tempting his "patient" away from God.

Each letter is a masterpiece of reverse theology, giving the reader an inside look at the thinking and means of temptation. Tempters, according to Lewis, have two motives: the first is fear of punishment, the second a hunger to consume or dominate other beings. On the other hand, the goal of the Creator is to woo us unto himself or to transform us through his love from "tools into servants and servants into sons." It is the dichotomy between being consumed and subsumed completely into another's identity or being liberated to be utterly ourselves that Lewis explores with his razor-sharp insight and wit.

The most brilliant feature of The Screwtape Letters may be likening hell to a bureaucracy in which "everyone is perpetually concerned about his own dignity and advancement, where everyone has a grievance, and where everyone lives the deadly serious passions of envy, self-importance, and resentment." We all understand bureaucracies, be it the Department of Motor Vehicles, the IRS, or one of our own making. So we each understand the temptations that slowly lure us into hell. If you've never read Lewis, The Screwtape Letters is a great place to start. And if you know Lewis, but haven't read this, you've missed one of his core writings. --Patricia Klein --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“This book is sparkling yet truly reverent, in fact a perfect joy, and should become a classic.” (Guardian)

“Excellent, hard-hitting, challenging, provoking.” (Observer)

“C.S. Lewis is the ideal persuader for the half-convinced, for the good man who would like to be a Christian but finds his intellect getting in the way.” (New York Times Book Review)

“Apparently this Oxford don and Cambridge professor is going to be around for a long time; he calls himself a dinosaur but he seems to speak to people where they are.” (The Washington Post Book World)

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 224 pages
  • Publisher: HarperCollins (March 17, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 9780060652890
  • ISBN-13: 978-0060652890
  • ASIN: 0060652896
  • Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 0.9 x 8.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (187 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,586 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

C.S. Lewis' "The Screwtape Letters" is a diabolically clever read. J. Marchal  |  76 reviewers made a similar statement
I'd recommend this be one of the first books you read as you start your spiritual journey. Rosemary Thornton  |  40 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
362 of 379 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars I wish I'd read this book many years ago... June 18, 2000
Format:Paperback
I'd recommend this be one of the first books you read as you start your spiritual journey. This is a profound book that will jolt you awake from your apathetic musings and stir you to the depths of your soul.

I was a Christian for 12+ years before I picked up this little volume and it was of inestimable worth for me, but I regretted not having read it much sooner.

It's one of those books (like E. L. Prentiss's "Stepping Heavenward") that feels like it was written JUST for you. "Screwtape Letters" has that same feel - that C. S. Lewis crawled into your consciousness and described every mental battle you've ever had - and explains that those subtle arguments which steered you away from spiritual growth, were cleverly disguised devilish whispers. As Lewis points out, the path to hell is a gentle slope.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn how to differentiate between God's thoughts and the lies of evil. "Screwtape Letters" pulls back the curtain and reveals evil's best kept secrets and oh-so subtle tricks.

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92 of 94 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars a wise little book May 6, 2000
Format:Paperback
This book was assigned reading when I was in 8th grade at a Catholic school. I remember I had no appreciation for it whatsoever at the time. I couldn't relate to the protagonist or his travails in wartime England. Perhaps one needs a little time in this world to appreciate the delicious simplicity of Lewis' allegory. Having read it recently I was struck by the wisdom, strength and genuine spiritualism this book exudes. One needn't, as commented upon elsewhere, be a believer to appreciate this work. Lewis never tries to foist any doctrinaire agenda upon the reader. Neither is he didactic. All that comes across (to this reader, at least) is a sense of hard-won wisdom. It offers some hints about how we might find a bit of peace and happiness on this earth if we are willing to think a little less selfishly and are able to set our powerful egos aside for awhile. I wish that those readers who wasted their money on The Celestine Prophecy and thought it provided wonderful spiritual insight would turn their attention Lewis' way. Here is the matter simply stated, without some wayward attempts at new-age jingoism.
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35 of 35 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Devilishly Insightful November 11, 2007
Format:Hardcover
Who can deny the insidious whisperings that infiltrate the noblest heart and penetrate the most virtuous mind?--those subtle impulses that beckon hither and thither to paths we ought not to travel upon. How often have we vowed never to yield to some enticement, only to succumb moments later to the very vice we had pledged to eschew? Whether manifested in the final, luscious slice of a calorie-loaded pound cake or in the tantalizing allure of a forbidden passion, temptation to choose wrong over right is ubiquitous in our lives as we daily make decisions of both trivial and profound significance. Yet while many have denounced the depravity of sin, C.S. Lewis, a mid-twentieth century British theologian, took a much more innovative approach - through the eyes of the devil himself. The resulting correspondence written between the seasoned devil Screwtape and Wormwood, his inexperienced nephew, is an insightful training manual on the art of human subjugation. In his masterful commentary The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis effectively employs satire, irony, and appeal to logos to enable his adult Christian audience to recognize and understand the devices of temptation.

From the beginning, Screwtape's writings unveil the real roots of temptation through satire. Wormwood's task is to bring about a soul's damnation, but as his uncle quickly observes, the newly christened tempter is prone to error. Critiquing his understudy, Screwtape chides, "Are you not being a trifle naďve? It sounds as if you supposed that argument was the way to keep him out of the Enemy's clutches... Jargon, not argument, is your best ally in keeping him from the Church" (p. 1).
... Read more ›
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49 of 54 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
"The Screwtape Letters" is one of those books that teaches you a lesson without you even realizing it... or even if you do, it's in the most non-threatening manner imaginable. It's akin to learning about duty and loyalty from watching "Star Wars." The work takes the concept of "the Devil's advocate" to a whole new level. By a strange set of circumstances (covered in the book's Introduction/Forward), we are privy to private written correspondence from one devil to another devil on the finer points of directing their "patient" to think evil thoughts and to commit evil deeds.

The concept of a little devil sitting on your shoulder is magnified by the dubious fiends whose ultimate goal is consume the souls of those they lead astray as though they were food. Lewis brings forth several ways of re-thinking how we think and addressing the real heart of the matter. The book is an easy read and is entertaining to boot. Lewis intended this work (as his other books such as "The Narnia Chronicles" and "The Great Divorce") to be a fantasy that teaches, not a dramatized version of doctrine. Regardless of your background or your beliefs, the book's underlying themes concern the true nature of good an evil and how we use our will to apply good or evil onto those we care about and onto those we don't.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars Good Novel, but Only Half the Story
I have an inkling that C.S. Lewis could have (should have) given his readers much more in The Screwtape Letters: With Screwtape Proposes a Toast where Screwtape, a senior demon,... Read more
Published 12 days ago by Andrew Barger
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Book
Written from an odd perspective but the novelty is refreshing. It's wordy and seems to drag on at times but overall it's fun to read things from the evil perspective.
Published 12 days ago by Kenneth Walter
5.0 out of 5 stars Treat your spirit and read it!!!
"Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one--the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts." In Screwtape Letters, C.S. Read more
Published 20 days ago by NJKramer
5.0 out of 5 stars In record time!
I ordered this book as a gift for my PawPaw for his birthday/retirement! After ordering, the estimated delivery date was Saturday 5/25/13. Read more
Published 25 days ago by ELIZABETH ROYER
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
It was definitely worth the money I spent for it. Delivery was very fast, less than a week after I bought it. Read more
Published 27 days ago by Deeanimal
5.0 out of 5 stars Classic and Orthodox
I teach catechumen classes for Othodox Christians, and I always recommend this book to my students. Lewis was a Protestant, but his theology with respect to the problem of evil is... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Greg Farman
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting thoughts
This book was very philosophical. But not very hard to read or understand. It made me understand how low our society is and that evil is "feeding" from us. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Deira
5.0 out of 5 stars A great teacher.
C.S. Lewis published some fine works over his lifetime. This is one of my favorite books. I have purchased it a few times over the years because I never get it back when I lend it... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Norman R. Cyr
5.0 out of 5 stars Devil of a Book
Another CS Lewis classic. I have read this book four times and enjoyed it every time. You have to think in reverse while reading.
Published 3 months ago by Robert J. Steckert
5.0 out of 5 stars amazingly smart book
cs lewis digs into the most subtle nuances of self aggrendisement in this book. taught me much about myself and about how i view --or miss viewing--others
Published 4 months ago by Raja Shaheen
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