Can I read Surprised by Joy : the Shape of My Early Life on EtoBox?

Surprised by Joy : the Shape of My Early Life by Lewis, C. S. is a religious work available to read on EtoBox.

What is Surprised by Joy : the Shape of My Early Life about?

Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life is a partial autobiography describing Lewis' conversion to Christianity. The book overall contains less detail concerning specific events than typical autobiographies. This is because his purpose in writing wasn't primarily historical. His aim was to identify & describe the events surrounding his accidental discovery of & consequent search for the phenomenon he labelled "Joy". This word was the best translation he could make of the German idea of Sehnsucht, longing. That isn't to say the book is devoid of information about his life. He recounts his early years with a measure of amusement sometimes mixed with pain. However, while he does describe his life, the principal theme of the book is Joy as he defined it. This Joy was a longing so intense for something so good & so high up it couldn't be explained with words. He's struck with "stabs of joy" throughout life. He finally finds what it's for at the end. He writes about his experiences at Malvern College in 1913, aged 15. Though he described the school as "a very furnace of impure loves" he defended the practice as being "the only chink left thru which something spontaneous & uncalcula

Who reads Surprised by Joy : the Shape of My Early Life?

Author

Lewis, C. S.

Publisher

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

Published

1955

Language

EN

ISBN

9780006280835

Category

religious

Subjects

Memoir, Fiction, Religion

Rating

4.13 / 5 (34,643 ratings)

Updated

2026-03-14