The Great Divorce

"No, there is no escape. There is no heaven with a little of hell in it - no plan to retain this or that of the devil in our hearts or in our pockets. Out Satan must go, every hair and feather."

George MacDonald

-----------------------------

One of the books on my 2010 reading list was C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce. I finished it yesterday, and all I can say is... WOW.

~

Being a mere 146 pages, one might assume that The Great Divorce is one of those quick-reads one can sit down and finish in an hour or so. Right? Wrong. If there were an award for being able to skillfully pack 300 pages worth of information into 150, Lewis would get it. Think of an energy bar - it's small, but after you've eaten it, you feel like you just ingested a three course meal.

~

That said, I must say I thoroughly enjoyed Lewis' novella about Heaven and Hell. His talent for fable and allegory is formidable to say the least. The premise is brilliant and original, and you're not likely to find another one like it.  In the story, the writer finds himself in Hell boarding a bus bound for Heaven. The amazing thing is this - anyone who wants to stay in Heaven, can. Thus begins a thought-provoking meditation on good and evil, grace and judgment. And the idea behind it all is that the gates of hell are locked from the inside.

~

As usual, Lewis' writing is lucid, convincing, and eminently readable in The Great Divorce. I don't pretend to understand everything he wrote (one reason why I'll be reading it again). And there were things I did understand which I didn't necessarily agree with. Nevertheless, Lewis made some very profound points about human nature, heaven, and hell which I had never fully considered. Here are a few of my favorites:

~

"I think earth, if chosen instead of Heaven, will turn out to have been, all along, only a region in Hell: and earth, if put second to Heaven, to have been from the beginning a part of Heaven itself."

~

"Don't you remember on earth - there were things too hot to touch with your finger but you could drink them alright? Shame is like that. If you will accept it - if you will drink the cip to the bottom - you will find it very nourishing: but try to do anything else with it and it scalds."

~

"The choice of every lost soul can be expressed in the words 'Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.' There is always something they insist on keeping even at the price of misery."

~

"I know it has a grand sound to say ye'll accept no salvation which leaves one creature in the dark outside. But watch that sophistry or ye'll make a Dog in the Manger the tyrant of the universe.'

~

"...a damned soul is nearly nothing: it is shrunk, shut up in itself. Good beats upon the damned incessently as sound waves beat on the ears of the deaf, but they cannot receive it. Their fists are clenched, their eyes fast shut. First they will not, in the end they cannot, open their hands for gifts, or their mouths for food, or their eyes to see."

~

I read recently that Mpower Pictures and Beloved Pictures are teaming up to co-produce a film version of The Great Divorce. Nate Wilson (Leepike Ridge, 100 Cupboards) is supposedly attached to write. Hmmm. This is gonna be interesting. I honestly can't imagine a more difficult book to make into a movie.

~

In conclusion, I simply give this warning: The Great Divorce is a masterpiece, but do not try to read it quickly. Seriously. You won't understand things well, and... your brain might combust.

* * *

Persevero,