Book Review: The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis is not the type of book to stay with me, but it is rather thought provoking. It’s an extremely quick read, and I think it helps readers gain self-awareness, whether they are Christian like Lewis or not. 

Lewis presents a really interesting take on temptation; he did a good job at highlighting the sneakiness of temptation, how it creeps up on you rather than making itself obvious. He explores how people react to the smallest annoyances and the largest milestones, and spectacularly displays his understanding of human nature. As always, Lewis created a genius narrative to relate his message, rather than preaching or writing a didactic series of articles. 

I was particularly interested in Lewis’ explanation of humility. I’ve always assumed humility involved thinking yourself inferior to others to some extent. Not necessarily equitable to low self-esteem, but definitely not thinking highly of yourself. Lewis presented the idea that you should think highly of yourself, because you think of everyone else the same way. Lewis gave more meaning to the self-love movement that’s been gaining traction in society. It seems really simple, but Lewis had a way of expanding his basic ideas into well thought-out explanations. I think the perspective of the devil was helpful in understanding the folly of human nature, and how we arrive at some thoughts. 

Another point that I’ve never thought of is ambition as the devil’s influence. Lewis claimed that ambition is a type of temptation that takes us out of the present, and blinds us if we are consumed by it. Again, this isn’t necessarily a new thought, but Lewis twisted it in a way that was intriguing. 

I don’t think anything can ever beat Milton’s Paradise Lost when it comes to a compelling narrative about devilish temptation, or human fallibility toward temptation. But The Screwtape Letters is a much easier read, more philosophically-minded, and probably a more original narrative. I think I might have to re-read it at a later date to fully appreciate it and take notes. 

I also just realized that this book is dedicated to Tolkien, and I just read the LOTR… by Tolkien. Weird coincidence.