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

A word of caution to earthly vermin who are not even at the very least interested in Christianity. I have written this review based on how the book has affected me personally and not for its literary merits. Also, don’t make the grave mistake of assuming that I will be taking the viewpoint of an agnostic. I want to make it clear that I am a believer. Still here? Well then good for you. ^_^

This review is free from spoilers.

The Screwtape Letters (My Copy)

The Screwtape Letters (first published in 1942) was regarded as C. S. Lewis’ great masterpiece before he wrote the popular series The Chronicles of Narnia. The book is essentially a collection of letters written by Screwtape, a demon of high ranking in Hell. Screwtape is in correspondence with his nephew, a junior tempter named Wormwood. His task is to mentor Wormwood in securing the damnation of the soul of an ordinary young man living during World War II in England. Interesting premise, huh? I immediately wanted to read this book after I knew what it was about. Lewis also dedicated this book to his friend J. R. R. Tolkien who is… I’m sure you know.

There are 31 letters in all and you can maybe consider them as chapters just like in a regular novel. Even though Lewis said that he had made no effort to clear up the chronology of the letters, their order in the book actually makes sense and makes for a good story of the struggles of a simple bachelor trying to live a meaningful life in this world.

Screwtape’s letters details ways on how the devil can exploit human weaknesses to turn a man (called a “Patient”) away from “the Enemy” (God) and to ensure the safe delivery of his soul to “Our Father Below” (Satan). With this kind of setup, everything is morally reversed. The reader has to constantly remind himself that the Enemy is the Good One and that the suggestions and advices Screwtape upholds will, in most cases, lead the man to total destruction.

Several aspects of life are touched on by Screwtape in his letters. There are letters devoted to the exploitation of the act of prayer, the devolution from innocent spirituality to spiritual pride as well as the various worldly and sexual temptations. There’s even a part where it gives a tip on how the devil will induce a human to regard the Church in negative ways. Like for example, indicating contradictions in the sermons of two preachers.

I have to mention though that the methods Screwtape relays on to Wormwood are not your typical temptations from the devil. They are far from the conventional or obvious ways we humans think the devil will use to tempt us into sin.

You will say that these are very small sins; and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy. It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts,

Your affectionate uncle
SCREWTAPE

Screwtape says that there are 3 areas they focus on to lead a soul into Hell: the World, the Flesh and even the Spirit. The book goes into all these but Wormwood is described as a very incompetent tempter and always does the wrong thing. He is then frequently castigated by Screwtape for his unwise actions.

The only thing about this book which I’m particularly worried about is the fact that it’s not a very accessible read for a lot of people. The style of writing here can be very challenging to an average person especially to those who don’t have English as their native language. Let’s not even talk about those people who don’t even read, at all.

Screwtape must be an English professor in Hell to have written such letters. I, myself, had such a hard time comprehending many statements in it that I experienced rereading a paragraph several times over. (Or maybe it’s just me and the current generation’s short attention span.) For once, the thing that made it hard for me to finish a book was not its dullness but because of the extremely difficult words used in it. I could not count how many times I wanted to check the dictionary to look up an erudite word. (Yeah, like that word.) But I don’t think translations would work very well with this kind of book as that usually takes away the charm of the original.

Having said that, the book is far from being a boring read. Screwtape is one comical devil. Over the course of reading this book, I had to stop several times just because of the funny lines he wrote in his letters. They won’t make you roll on the floor in a laughing fit but they help in adding in a bit of an icebreaker to an otherwise serious-looking book.

I would highly recommend Screwtape Letters to those who are looking for ways to see this world from a new vantage point. I imagine that even non-believers should find the things described here pretty much interesting too. Bottom line is, you don’t need to be a Christian to enjoy reading The Screwtape Letters. If you’re like most people who just wants to live a good and rewarding life, then this book is for you. However, a good life does not necessarily equate to an easy life as you may well know. Just read the book to find out more.

This book ranks quite high now in my “must-read again and again” list. It’s one of those rare occasions when I felt as if the book was specially written for me. It’s a great book that I can just pick up, read a page at random and still walk away with something that I could use to reflect on my life. Truly a classic.