C. S. Lewis: Writer, Dreamer, and Mentor

In celebration of the centenary year of Lewis's birth, Adey, coauthor of C.S. Lewis's `Great War,' shows that understanding the two sides of Lewis's personality--reason and imagination--is the key to understanding his writings. Adey devotes chapters to Lewis's literary criticism, his fiction for adults and children, his apologetics and his essays, addresses and letters. Adey contends that the roles of dreamer (imagination/romanticism) and mentor (reason/rationalism) manifested themselves throughout Lewis's writing career, and they were often in conflict in his early manhood. Through a careful analysis of Lewis's writings, Adey concludes that Lewis plays the role of dreamer in novels like Perelandra and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. As a moralist and rationalist, the mentor Lewis is to be found in his apologetic works like The Great Divorce and Miracles. Though Adey's prose is engaging and accessible, his book is an unremarkable study that reveals little new about Lewis's life and work. (Mar.)