C.S Lewis and His Works
Biography
Clive Staples Lewis was born in Belfast, Ireland ,or Northern Ireland on November 29, 1898. His parents’ names were Albert Lewis and Flora Hamilton Lewis. He also had an older brother named Warren that was born about three years before he was. He lived Northern Ireland before the bitter strife spread. He really did live a happy life. That happiness began to fade when his mother became ill and died of cancer in 1908. Almost a month later, he and his brother were sent to a boarding school in England. C.S hated this school, but fortunately for him, the school closed in 1910 and he got to go home.
One year later, he was sent back to England to study. His experience this time was positive. When he was a teenager, he loved poetry. One of his favorite poets was Virgil and Homer. He also had in interest in modern languages such as French, German, and Italian. In 1916, he was accepted into Oxford University. Soon after he entered though, he chose to volunteer for active duty in WWI. After the end of the war in 1918, he returned to Oxford and resumed his studies. In 1925, after graduating with first-class honors in Greek and Latin Literature, Philosophy and Ancient History, and English Literature, Lewis began teaching English at Oxford. He stayed at Oxford for 29 years before becoming a professor of medieval and renaissance literature at Cambridge in 1955. In addition to teaching, he began publishing books such as the Narnia series. They were mostly about his spiritual journey.
After finishing the Narnia series, Lewis continued to write on autobiographical and religious subjects. His wife, Joy Gresham died of cancer in 1960. After her death his own health started to disintegrate. In the summer of 1963, he resigned from his teaching position at Cambridge. He died on November 22, 1963. He is still remembered to this day by readers everywhere.
His Works
Lewis as a Writer
His first major work, The Pilgrim's Regress in 1933, was about his own spiritual journey to becoming a Christian. Other books followed that won him the honor not only as a writer on religious subjects, but also as a writer of academic works and popular novels. The Allegory of Love of 1936 , was a history of love literature from the early Middle Ages to Shakespeare's time. The novel Out of the Silent Planet of 1938 was the first of a trilogy of science fiction novels, the hero of which is la rough model of Lewis's friend J.R.R. Tolkien, author of the children's classic The Hobbit.
Originally when Lewis started writing children's books, his publisher and some of his friends tried to discourage him from doing so. They thought it would tarnish his reputation as writer of serious works. J.R.R. Tolkien in particular criticized Lewis's first Narnia book, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. He thought that there were too many elements that clashed.
Following the publication of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in 1950, Lewis quickly wrote 6 more Narnia books, publishing the final one, The Last Battle, in 1956. Although they were not approved at first by critics, the books gained in popularity through recommendation from fans. The Narnia books have since sold more than 100 million copies and are among the most loved works of children's literature.