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On the Letters of Lewis

2018-12-22

Letters of CS Lewis I've been working through this over the past few days. Much of these letters so far were directed toward his father or brother since he was a teenager.

I haven't ever read a Letters Of collection before; this is a new experience. Quite feels like taking a bath in someone's mind; not entirely pleasant. It provides a perspective on Lewis that, I think, is useful for someone who grew up around people with a reasonably high regard for him. Takes a lot of the shine off.

His struggles to land a tenure track job as a professor sound eerily familiar, although the mode of lecture & study that was practiced then was quite different - much less lecturing, much more directed 1:1 study.

It's also interesting to think about the habit of writing Lewis formed - letters written to family every two weeks, as well as his academic work. It is something I hear repeated for any excellence - practice it.