The Books That Shaped C.S. Lewis
And the Ones that Shape Us
C.S. Lewis once wrote in a letter to Rhonda Bodle, captured in Yours, Jack:
“I don’t believe anything will keep the right reader and the right book apart.”1
Countless readers have felt this truth in their own discovery of Lewis’s works since his first publication in 1919. Works like A Grief Observed or Mere Christianity have a way of meeting us where we are—whether in celebration or sorrow—serving as a guide, a challenger, or a quiet companion through the chapters of our lives.
But what fascinates me just as much as Lewis’s influence on his readers is discovering the books that shaped him. What stories found him in his own seasons of wonder, heartbreak, or growth?
Through Lewis’s letters, we get a glimpse onto his bookshelves which were just as alive and varied as his own writing. Sometimes, he’s enthusiastically sharing a book he adored; other times, he’s drawing sharp—often amusing—criticisms of a story he disliked. Always, though, his relationship with books feels deeply personal.
I have collected a few letters from Yours, Jack where Lewis recommends favorite reads, reflects on a memory tied to a book, or shares his expert opinion. Click below to read the excerpted letters.
Some of his suggestions feel timeless—books you’ll recognize instantly. Others might catch you off guard.
Have you read any of the books Lewis mentions in these letters? Are there any you’d vouch for and pass on to others? Or maybe there’s a book that found you in just the right moment, one that shaped your life in some way—big or small.
Drop your reviews in the comments—whether it’s a favorite C.S. Lewis book, one of his recommendations, or even one of your own. Who knows? You might just help the right reader and the right book find each other.
Lewis, C.S. Yours, Jack, HarperOne, New York, NY, 2008, pp. 218.
C.S. Lewis was a very interesting man. He was so practical and realistic, but he also enjoyed and appreciated fantasy and fairy tales. His own writing is reflective of this.
I have read much of what he referred to in his letters, but this is unsurprising to me. My father was a Presbyterian minister and an Old Testament scholar, and I was a teacher with degrees in English, language studies, and linguistics. I learned to read at home before starting school...from a father who read to us daily, took us to the library, and read himself. Yes, we were very fortunate.
We read and discussed so many things C.S. Lewis names, as well as his works. I enjoyed Phantastes, Water Babies, and Pilgrim's Progress as allegories. The Angel in the House is probably more interesting for its content than the writing. Andersen's fairy tales are fantastic. I have greatly enjoyed Henry James, the Bronte sisters, Sir Walter Scott, and the incomparable Jane Austen. Kierkegaard's writing and St. Augustine's Confessions are compelling. And, Dorothy L. Sayers wrote fiction and nonfiction, both of which are to be appreciated.
More than anything, I loved hearing Lewis's voice in his letters! There is love for reading and writing, books and poems, and sharing ideas. There is humor, self-deprecation, encouragement, and kinship. So many wonderful thoughts. I especially loved it when he recommended a modern translation of the Bible, as it would be more useful!
Several of his quotes struck me, as he was making recommendations.
"...not very good: but well worth reading."
"...our literary loves are as diverse as our human."
"...I rather wonder whether that 'being made to read it' has spoiled so many books as is supposed."
"I don't believe anything will keep the right reader and the right book apart."
Thank you for sharing this today. Lovely.
About a year ago I read Phantastes, thinking that if MacDonald was Lewis's Virgil as Lewis had been mine, I should give him a go. I cannot recommend it enough. It is genuinely life changing, if you approach it with the right state of mind, that of an unwilling materialist who wants to get better from that disease of the soul. It really helped me see the life, beauty, and poetry in the world around me, and started to open my heart to the unseen world in much the same way I imagine it opened Lewis's. I still have a very long way to go in that, but it was a start, and a good one.