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June 15, 2006
The Screwtape Letters
by C. S. Lewis
W
hy does that name sound familiar? C. S. Lew... oh yeah! That's the guy who wrote that Narnia book that they made into that movie earlier this year. Yep, same bloke.But Lewis was quite the serious dude. Lots of his writing has to do with why God can seem such a bastard while in fact he's really full of love and light. Sure, you're starting to tune out right now, so let's get to the meat of Screwtape.
The book is a series of short letters, advice from a demon in hell, Screwtape, to his "nephew" on earth; Wormwood. Wormwood has been charged with corrupting a mortal soul on earth. The book is composed of Screwtape's Letters to Wormwood, commentary on his progress and explanations as to why different hellish strategies will either succeed or fail. Frankly it's all amazingly logical, from the devil's point of view, and at times really funny stuff, which is a recommendation in itself. Also, note that the book is indeedd composed of a series of short letters, which makes the reading very easily digested in small bites, and the collection of them all makes for a short book too.
Still not buying it? OK, we'll break out the big recommendation: Listen to it. Instead of the book, get the book on tape. Used or probably even down at your local library. The reader; John Cleese, master of the silly walks and flesh wounds from Monty Python's Flying Circus. Cleese's reading is inspired. He's the perfect devil to read the prose, finding much more of the humor here than most readers will ever do on their own.
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