Responding to the first seven chapters of Surprised by Joy, I am shocked that Lewis, a man so completely disassociated with people, is a man who ends up as one of the most popular writers of his day and ours. Lewis writes nothing of any friendships he made through his childhood with the exception of his brother. Furthermore he discusses at length the agony of the social situations, such as dances, he was subjected to in his early years. He seems to be a man who lived all but entirely in his head feeding his thoughts with astonishing amounts of literature. It is interesting that a man who seems to have no way of socially connecting with people so exceptionally connects with others on an intellectual level. He then continues on to masterfully translate these connections into words. That Lewis can express himself in words may well be thought of as a product of his expansive readings and his contemplative nature, but how is it that Lewis is able to connect with others so effectively despite his lack of social relationship skills?
posted by Andrew P at 5:31 PM
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In "Suprised by Joy" it has been interesting for me as well, to read what Lewis has said about his “distaste for all that is public, all that belongs to the collective; a boorish inaptitude for formaility,” (end of chapter one). This relates to a similar sentiment he unveils in chapter two when he says: “Hence while friendship has been by far the chief source of my happiness, acquaintance or general society has always meant little to me, and I cannot quite understand why a man should wish to know more peple than he can make real friends of.” (middle of chapter two) Later we see his pleasant surprise upon meeting Arthur, “Nothing, I suspect, is more astonishing in any man’s life than the discovery that there exist people very, very like himself.” I really appreciate the inverted part of Lewis. In the end, I think because he was able to seperate himself from social convention and superficial relationships and replace them with close knit friendships and personal conviction, because of this he was able to have the deep, well thought out view of the human life he needed to write his insightful stories and Christian literature.
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