Mayra Calvani -- TCM REVIEWS

books:

	• Jack's Life: The Life Story of C.S. Lewis Douglas H. Gresham B&H Publishing Group, 2005 - 167 pages average customer review:based on 23 reviews view larger image
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Jack's Life

This book was very good, I could not put it down, I have read alot about C.S. Lewis and this is by far the best. It give the reader a real sense of the life of this great writer. I loved the stories about the real life and how the family came together.

Mayra Calvani -- TCM REVIEWS

For those interested in a light yet informative biography of famous Irish author C.S Lewis, this may well be the perfect book. Written by Lewis' stepson, this is a piece of work that will delight not only young adults, but adults as well.

Gresham recounts Lewis' life from birth to death with obvious love, care and admiration, creating a touching portrayal of the gifted man who invented such unforgettable children's fantasy works such as The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.

Lewis was a highly intelligent, funny, compassionate and courageous man who suffered all throughout his life and whose mind and health were deeply influenced by major painful episodes, especially by World War I, when, like many other English young men of his time, he fought in the trenches and saw many of his friends get killed. He keenly pondered the reason for so much pain in the world, and this showed in his writing.

The book is full of interesting information--how Lewis used walking for inspiration, his full transformation from Atheism to Christianity, his friendship with Tolkien and other famous authors, his education at Oxford, the "club" he created, called The Inklings, which came to be an elite group of gifted literary and philosophical minds. There are several other biographies about Lewis, but while those others concentrate mostly on Lewis' work, this one concentrates on the man himself.

This particular edition comes with an exclusive author interview on DVD, the perfect complement to the book.

Now that the motion picture of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe is soon to be released for Christmas, this timely work will make a worthy, beautiful gift for Lewis' fans. Highly recommended.

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Life from an inside view

Reviewed by Beverly Pechin for Reader Views (8/06)

"Jack's Life" is truly an inside look at the life and times of famous author, C. S. Lewis from a perspective nobody else could give you but his own step-son, Douglas. First glance at the book and it's elegant cover tells you immediately that not only was there a lot of thought and care put into the making of this book, but no scrimping on presenting the reader with a wonderful personal view of Lewis' life was ever even an option. An exquisite hard cover book with a detailed embossed cover to protect this cherished book is only the beginning of the author's way of expressing the care taken. At a mere list price of under $20 the elegant hard cover book not only offers some great reading material, but a bonus DVD that adds yet another touch of class to the experience.

Even the most well read of biography lovers has not been given a chance like this to see the inside life of the world renowned C.S. Lewis. Focusing not as much on his writings and his thoughts as a writer, but more on his every day life and hardships that helped to create the man he was. A wonderful look at what later became known as the true "home" of Lewis; Douglas fondly remembers the stories told by so many others regarding the beginning of the love/hate relationship Lewis came to have with his beautiful Estate. With so much work needing to be done, Lewis was remembered not only as an extremely hard worker, but a determined man with so much character that he took on the extended family of a friend who died at war while serving with Lewis. Submitting to a life of poverty at times, simply to take care of them all! This alone shows the intense character of the beloved author and, after reading the life Lewis accepted as his own to simply fulfill the obligation of a pact he shared with his close friend, brings one to realize that this is a man of integrity.

The author shares everything from the relationships Lewis had with the "inherited" family, the mother and sister of a friend and fellow soldier in war, to the often shaky relationship he had with his own father; the touching love and relationship he shared with his brother, Warnie; and later the loving and tender relationship he shared with Douglas himself. Touching ever so briefly on the friends and acquaintances with whom he also shared numerous conversations and intricate details of the books he wrote, the author shows the inside influences of other famous authors, such as J.R. Tolkien, and some not-so-famous people that met together in a group weekly for intellectual discussions. This small group of intellectual geniuses and intimate friends became known as "The Inklings" and provided Lewis with many intense conversations and criticisms that influenced nearly all of his writings.

"Jack's Life" is simply one of the best biographies I've read in ages and shares intimate details and touching antics of Lewis' life that no other author could share accurately. Seeing the loving relationship and utter admiration that Douglas Grisham had for his step-father gives the reader a feeling of truly knowing the inside workings of an intriguing man. Sometimes humorous, always intimate and completely touching, this is one biography that will not only leave you smiling from the knowledge shared but remembering to add on the many other books of C.S. Lewis that you may not have read yet, simply to experience the man you've learned about all over again.

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A Touching Tribute

I found this book to be a most touching tribute to a wonderful man of great ethical and spiritual integrity, who through the touching circumstance of a "late-in-life" deep love affair he never ever had dreamt could have been part of his "entrenched bachelerhood", enabled a young boy, in his turn, (He was to become the stepson.) to be profoundly inspired. This life-transforming experience for a young boy was sustained long past the time of C.S. Lewis' (he rathered being called "Jack"!) death, and impelled him, (Douglas Gresham) as an adult, to write this heartfelt biography of a great, yet perhaps troubled, man.
I found it to be most a heartwarming reading.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Douglas Gresham claims that Jack Lewis was the finest man and the best Christian he has ever known. Of course, Jack to Douglas is C. S. Lewis to the rest of the world. The informal address Gresham uses to refer to the great writer is indicative of the intimacy he shared with Lewis for a dozen years, living in England as Lewis's stepson.

Jack's Life is an affectionate account of days now long gone. It is a personal memoir of a man who touched many in the classroom, even more with his pen, and made a significant, lasting, and eternal impression on one young man. Douglas Gresham is uniquely qualified to offer such an extraordinary portrait.

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