The A-Z of C.S. Lewis by Colin Duriez (Litfuse)

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I read the A-Z of C.S. LewisThe A-Z of C S Lewis: A Complete Guide to His Life, Thoughts and Writings, in exchange for review from Litfuse.

About the book:

A Complete Guide to His Life, Thoughts and Writings


Published to coincide with the 50th anniversary of C. S. Lewis's death, this complete guide covers all of Lewis' works, from his literary criticism to Narnia.


C. S. Lewis's work is widely known and regarded, but enthusiasts are often only aware of one part of his work-his children's stories and his popular theology; and yet he wrote so much more, including science fiction and literary criticism. This volume brings together all aspects of C S Lewis's life and thought. Arranged in alphabetical order, it begins with The Abolition of Man-written in 1943 and described as "almost my favorite"-to Wormwood, a character in The Screwtape Letters. This book will delight anyone who is interested in C. S. Lewis and wants to learn more about him, his thought, his works, and his life.

About the Author:

Colin Duriez was for many years a commissioning editor at Inter-Varsity Press UK. He has subsequently appeared as a commentator on DVDs of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings, and BBC television's The Worlds of Fantasy. He is also the author ofThe Inklings Handbook (with the late David Porter), J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis: The Story of Their Friendship, and Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings, and has contributed to definitive reference works relating to Tolkien such as The Tolkien Encyclopedia (Routledge).

My Review:

I wanted to read the book because I love Chronicles of Narnia. I read the entire series over a few days. My mother is also a fan of C.S. Lewis's non-fiction books. She has a whole collection of the non-fiction, plus Narnia and the ScrewTape letters. Some of her books includes Mere Christianity, Words to Live by, A Joyful Christian and a Case for Christianity. She is awaiting me to give her this book because of her collection. 

The A-Z Guide is an encyclopedia of C.S. Lewis's books, thoughts, and writings. The book is in alphabetical order. 

Each entry provides a description of a book or writing or character in a book, etc. Some entries are related to other entries. Some entries have further reading to expand your knowledge. 

For example, I looked up Aslan. In the book, Aslan is: 

• The creator and ultimate sovereign of Naria. 
• Aslan is intended to be a symbol of Christ in Christian teaching. 
• Readers are moved to tears when Aslan dies (yep, I was sad too). 
• See Allegory ("an extended metaphor, or sustained personification. figurative narrative or description, which conveys a hidden meaning.". See also imagination, Aslan, or Allegory of love. 
• Imagination:  hard to define. fantasy is a power and product of imagination (p. 141). 

The book also contains a bibliography of Lewis's work.