Book Review: “Surprised by Joy” by C.S. Lewis

In my Goodreads review, I gave Surprised by Joy “three stars.” How dare I give a C.S. Lewis book only three stars?! I have loved every one of his books I’ve read to date. It’s not that this book isn’t worth reading. It is. Eminently so. It’s simply that this personal journey towards belief in Jesus – Lewis’ spiritual autobiography- is so, well, rambling.

You’ll find definitely find Lewis’ story interesting, even fascinating. It will give you additional insights into his time and culture. I chuckled along the way at how his self revelations of youthful pridefulness shared echoes with my own. Yet, it is a plodding journey – even as it’s decorated along the way with Lewis’ excellent analogies and forthright eloquence.

There are many underlined nuggets now in my own copy of the book.

[SPOILER ALERT] It was in the last two chapters, as Lewis found himself “surprised by joy” that I will quote from now, for how Lewis described his final conversation moved me deeply. (Don’t read any further if you want to also be surprised by his joy by reading the full tale).

I was driven to Whipsnade one sunny morning. When we set out I did not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and when we reached the zoo I did. Yet I had not exactly spent the journey in thought. Nor in great emotion. ‘Emotional’ is perhaps the last word we can apply to some of the most important events. It was more like when a man, after long sleep, still lying motionless in bed, becomes aware that he is now awake.

Lewis had been in pursuit of the elusive feeling of “joy” all his life. The sublime sense of deep and satisfying being eluded him, for as soon as he felt “joy” in a thing, person or experience, Lewis admitted he had the horrible habit of turning from the object that brought him joy to try to study the experience/feeling/sense of “joy” itself, and in doing so, joy evaporated immediately, as if a ghost.

So Lewis’ final words moved me:

But what, in conclusion, of Joy? for that, after all, is what the story has mainly been about. To tell you the truth, the subject has lost nearly all interest for me since I became a Christian… It was valuable only as a pointer to something other and outer. While that other was in doubt, the pointer naturally loomed large in my thoughts. When we are lost in the woods the sight of a signpost is a great matter. He who first sees it cries ‘Look!’ The whole party gathers round and stares. But when we have found the road and are passing signposts every few miles, we shall not stop and stare. They will encourage us and we shall be grateful to the authority that set them up. But we shall not stop and stare, or not much; not on this road, though their pillars are of silver and their lettering of gold. ‘We would be at Jerusalem.'”

Don’t let my three-star rating stop you from reading this wonderful book. I promise you’ll enjoy it as I did, even if you find yourself at moments wanting Lewis to “get on with it.”