Saturday, November 23, 2013

C.S. Lewis, Hot Off the Presses

When C.S. Lewis died 50 years ago today, he thought his works were likewise not long for this world. The famous professor, who had graced the cover of Time magazine and delivered radio broadcasts heard by most Britons (the original title of Mere Christianity was Broadcast Talks), thought popular memory of him would linger for five years, give or take. Then he would belong to the specialists.
Book critic Michael Dirda joked of this comically pessimistic assessment, "Lewis was clearly no prophet." However, give Lewis this much: it would be hard even for a drunken optimist to foresee the success that he has enjoyed since his passing.
All of Lewis's books are still available, sold to and read by millions of people around the globe. His life and writings are the subject of serious study by scholars and laymen. Movies based on his Chronicles of Narnia series have grossed about $1.6 billion.
In fact, Lewis is not only still in print 50 years later, but still publishing new works.
MBV Note: Lewis' Mere Christianity was on Doctor Richter's list, as was The Screwtape Letters.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Check out IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE by Sinclair Lewis - the parallels between it and our present government are eerie. Written pre-WW II era - Wow!