The Surprising Imagination of C. S. Lewis

Discovering the Genius of C. S. Lewis

The Surprising Imagination of C. S. Lewis: An Introduction by Jerry Root and Mark Neal is a different look at the mind and works of C. S. Lewis. The authors describe and illustrate Lewis’ ability to harness the power of imagination and enlighten readers by giving us a different way to think and look at the world around us. This volume would be perfect for use in an upper level high school or college literature course, and our Real Teens Read literature group will benefit from it when we study some of C. S. Lewis’ works together. I will refer to this book again and again for enriching our group discussions.

The Surprising Imagination of C. S. Lewis provides an in-depth analysis of Lewis’ works and how he uses his imagination to harness the readers’ imaginations–such an interesting way to analyze literature! This book will really make you think. I especially found the chapter, The Magician’s Bargain, compelling as the authors discuss “God terms and charismatic authority” in relation to government past and present:

“Charismatic terms are forced into ultimate positions intentionally in order to foster an environment in which the generous imagination can multiply. This, we see another facet of this imagination: the desire to manipulate…We see this time and time again in history. We’ve seen it in the rise of the Third Reich and the blind estimation of Hitler and his ideas. We see it wherever totalitarian regimes are flourishing in the world today. We see it in the Middle Ages in the use of the term infidel. Wherever such rhetoric is being used, the generous imagination is sure to be present” (p. 125).

This isn’t a book to skim through quickly. It is a scholarly work suitable for deep literary analysis and deep thought. It made me look at C. S. Lewis’ works in a whole new way, and in fact, made me look at all literature with different eyes.

The publisher provided a review copy of The Surprising Imagination of C. S. Lewis.