History Creator / CSLewis

** The despotic organization that the heroes must take down in ''That Hideous Strength'' is called the National Institude for Co-ordinated Experiments--[[IronicName N.I.C.E., for short.]]

Clive Staples Lewis[[note]]"Jack" to his friends and family[[/note]] (1898–1963) was an Irish-born British author of many sorts of books in the mid-20th-century: scholarship regarding medieval literature, lay Christian theology, ScienceFiction, and {{Fantasy}}.

Lewis was born and raised in [[UsefulNotes/NorthernIreland Ulster]]. [[MissingMom His mother died]] when he was young. He was educated in a series of English {{Boarding School}}s, the first of which was run by a SadistTeacher. He fought in [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI the Great War]]. He was a member of UsefulNotes/TheInklings and a friend of Creator/CharlesWilliams and Creator/JRRTolkien, whose influence partially led him to rediscover Christianity (though Lewis being an Anglican and Tolkien a Roman Catholic led to some friction). He published an autobiography of his early life and conversion titled ''Surprised by Joy''. Afterwards, he met Joy Gresham and [[CitizenshipMarriage married her so she could remain in the UK]]. Then, they [[MarriageBeforeRomance fell in love]] and had an Anglican ceremony after Joy was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer. She died four years later. Lewis himself died the same day as [[Literature/BraveNewWorld Aldous Huxley]] and UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy; this led to his passing being almost unpublicized.

He was born and raised in [[UsefulNotes/NorthernIreland Ulster]]. [[MissingMom His mother died]] when he was young. He was educated in a series of English {{Boarding School}}s, the first of which was run by a SadistTeacher. He fought in [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI the Great War]]. He was a member of UsefulNotes/TheInklings and a friend of Creator/CharlesWilliams and Creator/JRRTolkien, whose influence partially led him to rediscover Christianity (though Lewis being an Anglican and Tolkien a Roman Catholic led to some friction). He published an autobiography of his early life and conversion titled ''Surprised By Joy''. Afterwards, he met Joy Gresham and [[CitizenshipMarriage married her so she could remain in the UK]]. Then, they [[MarriageBeforeRomance fell in love]] and had an Anglican ceremony after Joy was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer. She died four years later. Lewis himself died the same day as [[Literature/BraveNewWorld Aldous Huxley]] and UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy; this led to his passing being almost unpublicized.

Clive Staples Lewis[[note]]Jack" to his friends and family[[/note]] (1898–1963) was an Irish-born British author of many sorts of books in the mid-20th-century: scholarship regarding medieval literature, lay Christian theology, ScienceFiction, and {{Fantasy}}.

Clive Staples Lewis[[note]]Jack" to his friends and family[[/note]] (1898–1963) was a mid-twentieth-century Irish author of many sorts of books: scholarship regarding medieval literature, lay Christian theology, ScienceFiction, and {{Fantasy}}.

[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cslewis.jpg]]

-->-- ''Surprised By Joy''

Clive Staples Lewis ("Jack" to his friends and family) (1898-1963) was a mid-twentieth century Irish author of many sorts of books: scholarship regarding medieval literature, lay Christian theology, ScienceFiction, and {{Fantasy}}.

* AuthorTract: Much of Lewis's work could qualify [[note]](a good reminder that [[TropesAreTools Tropes Are Not Bad]])[[/note]], though there are some exceptions:

** Then there's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirits_in_Bondage that book of cynical, decidedly anti-Christian poetry]] he wrote before his conversion.

* BigCreepyCrawlies: In ''Surprised by Joy'', Lewis writes that his nightmares during childhood were either about ghosts or insects. Of the two, he found the dreams about insects much more frightening.

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: Appears to some extent in practically all his work, but his non-fiction dedicates entire chapters to expounding on how and why humans are bastards, and how the bastardliness can be reduced.
** In one of his essays, he mentions Dark-Gods-of-the-Blood which comes down to how we must always fight off the desire to give into the baser desires we feel as we go through daily life.

* ViewersAreGeniuses: His work geared at adults is often peppered with untranslated Latin or French phrases, under the assumption that his readers will know what they mean.
** Likely enough at the time when large numbers of upper and middle class English would have learned those at school.

* UsefulNotes/WorldWarII: Much of Lewis's fiction (''Literature/TheScrewtapeLetters'', ''Literature/TheGreatDivorce'', five of the seven [[Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia Narnia]] books, and the second book in Literature/TheSpaceTrilogy, specifically) takes place during the War. It's usually not dealt with extensively, but you can catch plenty of references to the Blitz and the subsequent air raids, blackouts, etc. all the same. This is understandable, as Lewis lived in England and did much of his writing during the '30s and '40s.

** Lewis makes very few references to [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI the World War he actually fought in]], probably because WarIsHell.

* AVeryBritishChristmas: In a very humorous piece in ''God In The Dock,'' Creator/{{Herodotus}} visits the island of [[SdrawkcabName Niatirb]] and concludes that the resident barbarians observe two entirely separate holidays on 25 December: Exmas (a commercial racket) and Crissmas (a religious festival). Also, [[SantaClaus Father Christmas]] shows up in Narnia.

* TheStoic: One of his favorite tutors, Kirk, is described in this way. In fact descriptions in ''Surprised by Joy'' make him sound like he had AspergersSyndrome.

* RomanticismVersusEnlightenment: His works are so far down the Romanticism end that one could make a trebuchet by loading whatever one wants to chuck on the Enlightenment side of the scale.

* AVeryBritishChristmas: In a very humorous piece in ''God In The Dock,'' Creator/{{Herodotus}} visits the island of [[SdrawkcabName Niatirb]] and concludes that the resident barbarians observe two entirely separate holidays on 25 December: Exmas (a commercial racket) and Crissmas (a religious festival). Also, [[SantaClaus Father Christmas]] shows up in Narnia.

* BlasphemousPraise: {{Deconstructed}}. One of the letters collected in ''Letters to Children'' is to a young Christian reader of ''Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'' who was concerned that he loved Aslan more than {{Jesus}}. Lewis wrote back to reassure him that this did not count as idolatry because Aslan is a MessianicArchetype, so loving what Aslan does amounts to the same thing as loving what Jesus did.

* JesusWasCrazy: Famously, ''Mere Christianity'' popularized the so-called "trilemma" argument in favor of the deity of {{Jesus}}: if Jesus wasn't {{God}}, then it's fallacious to say He was "[[JesusWasWayCool a great moral teacher]]," since an actual great moral teacher would be humble rather than [[AGodAmI claiming to be God]] as Jesus did. So either Jesus was GodInHumanForm, Jesus was [[ThatLiarLies a liar]], or Jesus Was Crazy. [[note]]Assuming the usual [[UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}} Christian view]] of Literature/TheBible, of course. Let's remember the RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment. And in fact, in the next chapter of that book, he considers other possibilities outside the "trilemma"—such as the possibility that Jesus' words were not recorded accurately.[[/note]]

He was born and raised in [[UsefulNotes/NorthernIreland Ulster]]. [[MissingMom His mother died]] when he was young. He was educated in a series of English {{Boarding School}}s, the first of which was run by a SadistTeacher. He fought in [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI the Great War]]. He was a member of UsefulNotes/TheInklings and a friend of Creator/CharlesWilliams and Creator/JRRTolkien, whose influence partially led to his conversion to Christianity (though Lewis being an Anglican and Tolkien a Roman Catholic led to some friction). He published an autobiography of his early life and conversion titled ''Surprised By Joy''. Afterwards, he met Joy Gresham and [[CitizenshipMarriage married her so she could remain in the UK]]. Then, they [[MarriageBeforeRomance fell in love]] and had an Anglican ceremony after Joy was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer. She died four years later. Lewis himself died the same day as [[Literature/BraveNewWorld Aldous Huxley]] and UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy; this led to his passing being almost unpublicized.

* PerspectiveFlip: ''Till We Have Faces''.

'''Clive Staples Lewis''' ("Jack" to his friends and family) (1898-1963) was a mid-twentieth century Irish author of many sorts of books: scholarship regarding medieval literature, lay Christian theology, ScienceFiction, and {{Fantasy}}.

He was born and raised in [[UsefulNotes/NorthernIreland Ulster]]. [[MissingMom His mother died]] when he was young. He was educated in a series of English {{Boarding School}}s, the first of which was run by a SadistTeacher. He fought in [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI the Great War]]. He was a member of TheInklings and a friend of Creator/CharlesWilliams and Creator/JRRTolkien, whose influence partially led to his conversion to Christianity (though Lewis being an Anglican and Tolkien a Roman Catholic led to some friction). He published an autobiography of his early life and conversion titled ''Surprised By Joy''. Afterwards, he met Joy Gresham and [[CitizenshipMarriage married her so she could remain in the UK]]. Then, they [[MarriageBeforeRomance fell in love]] and had an Anglican ceremony after Joy was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer. She died four years later. Lewis himself died the same day as [[Literature/BraveNewWorld Aldous Huxley]] and UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy; this led to his passing being almost unpublicized.

* {{Corpsing}}: He popularized a parlor game among his students and TheInklings to see who could read aloud from the infamously PurpleProse-filled novels of Creator/AmandaMcKittrickRos the longest before breaking down into laughter.

* JesusWasCrazy: Famously, ''Mere Christianity'' popularized the so-called "trilemma" argument in favor of the deity of {{Jesus}}: if Jesus wasn't {{God}}, then it's fallacious to say He was "[[JesusWasWayCool a great moral teacher]]," since an actual great moral teacher would be humble rather than [[AGodAmI claiming to be God]] as Jesus did. So either Jesus was GodInHumanForm, Jesus was [[ThatLiarLies a liar]], or JesusWasCrazy. [[note]]Assuming the usual [[UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}} Christian view]] of Literature/TheBible, of course. Let's remember the RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment. And in fact, in the next chapter of that book, he considers other possibilities outside the "trilemma"—such as the possibility that Jesus' words were not recorded accurately.[[/note]]

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: This Aesop is particularly prominent in ''TheMagiciansNephew'' and ''TheGreatDivorce''

* ForTheEvulz: Deconstructed in ''Mere Christianity'': although it is possible to do good for the sake of doing good, nobody does evil for the sake of doing evil; evil deeds are merely the pursuit of some good in the wrong way.

He was born and raised in [[UsefulNotes/NorthernIreland Ulster]]. [[MissingMom His mother died]] when he was young. He was educated in a series of English {{Boarding School}}s, the first of which was run by a SadistTeacher. He fought in [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI the Great War]]. He was a member of TheInklings and a friend of Creator/CharlesWilliams and Creator/JRRTolkien, whose influence partially led to his conversion to Christianity (though Lewis being an Anglican and Tolkien a Roman Catholic led to some friction). He published an autobiography of his early life and conversion titled ''Surprised By Joy''. Afterwards, he met Joy Gresham and [[CitizenshipMarriage married her so she could remain in the UK]]. Then, they [[PerfectlyArrangedMarriage fell in love]] and had an Anglican ceremony after Joy was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer. She died four years later. Lewis himself died the same day as [[Literature/BraveNewWorld Aldous Huxley]] and UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy; this led to his passing being almost unpublicized.