Summer Holiday Homework
C.S. Lewis
About C.S. Lewis:
The Chronicles of Narnia
Mere Christianity
The Allegory of Love
The Screwtape Letters
The Space Trilogy
Till We Have Faces
Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life
Biography:
Clive Lewis was born in Belfast, Ireland and died in Oxford, England.
As a toddler, Clive declared that his name was Jack, which is what he was called by family and friends thenceforth. He was close to his older brother Warren and the two spent much time together as children. Lewis was enraptured by fantastic animals and tales of gallantry, and hence the brothers created the imaginary land of Boxen, complete with an intricate history that served them for years.
Lewis's mother died when he was 10, and he went on to receive his pre-college education at boarding schools and from a tutor. During WWI, he served with the English army and was sent home after being wounded by shrapnel. He then chose to live as a surrogate son with Janie Moore, the mother of a friend of Lewis's who was killed in the war.
Marriage and Later Life:
In 1954, Lewis joined the faculty of Cambridge University as a literature professor, and in 1956 he married an American English teacher, Joy Gresham, with whom he had been in correspondence. Lewis was full of joy during the years of their marriage, though Gresham died of cancer in 1960. Lewis grieved deeply for his wife and shared his thoughts in the book A Grief Observed, using a pen name.
Extra Information:
World War I
In 1917, Lewis left his studies to volunteer in the British Army. During World War 1, he was commissioned into the Third Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry. Lewis arrived at the front line in the Somme Valley in France on his nineteenth birthday, and experienced trench warfare.
On 15 April 1918, Lewis was wounded and two of his colleagues were killed by a British shell falling short of its target. Lewis suffered from depression and homesickness during his convalescence. Upon his recovery in October, he was assigned to duty in Andover, England. He was demobilized in December 1918, and soon returned to his studies.
Quotes:
― C.S. Lewis
“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.”
― C.S. Lewis
“A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest.”
― C.S. Lewis