Provides incomparable insights into the man

I ordered this from the UK 9 years ago because I couldn't stand waiting for it to be released in the US, and then I let it sit and gather dust on my shelf until a friend shamed me into reading it by mentioning that he'd finished all 3 volumes. I'm very glad he did, because this was a great read!

Various people have complained about some of the unsavory aspects of Lewis's life that are exposed in these early letters: He's fascinated by weird things, snobbish, unkind to his father, and generally not living up to standards he would later propound. But all this had the effect of increasing rather than decreasing my admiration for Lewis, as I was given a front-row seat to the beginnings of a miraculous transformation in his life. As he becomes an adult, suffers the pains of war, copes with his father's death, and is gradually worked upon by faithful friends, the Lewis that we have come to know and love begins to emerge.

Sometimes you encounter an author whose every sentence seems to be remarkable, or nearly so. For me, those authors are Austen, Dickens, and Lewis. By the end of this volume, Lewis the Gifted Writer has made his appearance. This is evident not only in his carefully organized logical arguments but in his humorous asides. How anyone could read the paragraph spanning pages 843 and 844 without laughing out loud is beyond me. And that is in the midst of a careful report about sifting through his late father's belongings!

There's no accounting for taste, but, rather than exhausting me, this 1000-page volume has whetted my appetite, and I began reading my copy of _All My Road Before Me_, immediately after finishing this one. For those who enjoy Lewis's writing and want to understand him better, I give this book my strongest recommendation. ( )

Sometimes I'm afraid that if I learn too much about C.S. Lewis, I won't like him so much anymore. That fear has yet to be realized. So far, the more I learn about him, the more I love him. He wasn't perfect, of course, and I wouldn't recommend these books to anyone who's not already a big fan, but I loved learning more of his personality through his own writing and seeing how he developed over the years. It's definitely important to keep in mind that he wasn't the famous author so many people admire when these letters were written. He wasn't even a Christian until the very end of this book.

I was also super excited to see my name (twice!) in one of his letters. And it's actually not unlikely that he wrote my name other times as well because of his interest in Greek mythology. I was able to go to the Wade Center in Wheaton, Illinois and see the actual letter in which he wrote my name. It was glorious. I had to work so hard to keep my fangirling inside my head that day... XD

My one complaint is this: Editor Walter Hooper says in the preface that he left out several letters (technically he says "a few", but he estimated it to be 5% and I'm pretty sure 5% of 977 pages of letters is more than "a few"), which bothers me. I want to read those letters too!! ( )