C.S. Lewis was a man who sought Christ and wanted to share Him with others all over the world. He did this by writing about Christ, and has been known for some great works such as Mere Christianity, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Screwtape Letters. I am myself a Lewis fan, so when I saw that I had an opportunity to read Surprised by Laughter: The Comic World of C.S. Lewis, by Terry Lindvall, I was quite excited. I will be honest in saying my hopes were dashed upon the books arrival: it was a whopping 454 pages long! The introduction explains how the author wouldn't want to read a book explaining what makes humor humorous, but that is what the book is about. It is repetitive and not an easy read.
While the author of the book seems to know a lot about Lewis and his life, the book read more like a textbook than a biography. It was very repetitive, and I feel like it could have been written in 200 or even 150 pages. The whole book consists of many (too many, in my opinion) long quotes from Lewis' books as well as other people who have studied his life. It was almost as if the author wrote this book using others' words.
I enjoyed some of this book, but this book is more of a textbook read, and I wouldn't suggest it if you are looking to learn more about the life of Lewis. It seems to focus more on different styles of humor.
I received this book free from the Booksneeze book blog program.
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