Book Review: “Jack: A Life of C. S. Lewis”

Title: Jack: A Life of C. S. Lewis

Author: George Sayers

Out of all the C. S. Lewis scholars I’ve read, almost all of them agree that Sayers’ biography is one of the best. Many factors contribute to this book’s quality.

1. Mr. Sayers not only knew Lewis, he was in the small circle of friends with whom Lewis shared personal information. Sayers began as Lewis’s student at Oxford, and became a life-long friend.This gives the book, especially the latter portion, a personal feel–almost like one is sitting across the table reminiscing about a mutual friend.

2. Sayers combines first-hand experience with detailed scholarly research, achieving a healthy balance between an obvious heartfelt respect and honor, and the objective recounting of events  necessary for a good biography. One can tell that Sayers loved Lewis, but he does not hesitate to show by documented research that some of Lewis’s perceptions about his own life (for example, as stated in his autobiography Surprised by Joy) were not reflective of what actually happened. This is the value of a good biography. Autobiography will tell you what life looked like through the eyes of the author; biography should tell you what actually happened, for they sometimes may differ.

3. The book is thorough. At 411 pages, notes not included, the work presents a valuable resource for in-depth study. It is filled with interesting information, beginning with Lewis’s paternal and maternal history, and progressing though the different phases of Lewis’s life as a rough outline.

4. Sayers often points out faulty information which has made its way into other biographies on Lewis. As already noted, Sayers does not avoid talking about Lewis’s vices. But some biographies attempt to expose things about Lewis which, if true, would completely damage his reputation as a Christian teacher. Of course, if such things are true, it is best to know about them. But Sayers seeks to correct the false information either by directly challenging its veracity or by providing additional context to expose a false emphasis. (I will not state the particular accusations here. Write me or read Sayers’ book for the specifics.) What I particularly appreciate is that Sayers does not expect his position as one of Lewis’s personal friends to endow him with sufficient authority for such disputation. Familiarity with a friend’s character does lend a strong level of credibility, and Sayers uses that authority where appropriate. But, as any good scholar should, he also uses third party sources to collaborate his point.

4. It is well written. Not once was I bored or bothered by those irritating patterns of bad writing that sometimes creep into texts (I make no exception for myself). I would say, rather, that Sayers’ remarkable writing achievement is that his writing is not remarkable–at least, not in the sense of being positively or negatively distracting. It flows simply and easily.

However, the easy flow of the prose has a consequence worth noting. Many biographical books are boring because they chain themselves to a “in 1945, such and such happened; in 1946 such and such happened” type of pattern. Sayers escapes this by usually focusing on significant events or phases in Lewis’s life and connecting them to past and future causes and effects, sometimes following the ripples of an event through many years. This makes the overall picture more meaningful, but also makes it difficult for the reader to keep track of the chronological flow of Lewis’s life. (It is difficult, not impossible; for Sayers does peg events to clear dates. It is just done more subtly than is typical). I do not count this to be a fault of the book, for the overall effect is positive. But I would advise the serious reader to have in hand a good timeline of Lewis’s life to help properly visualize the sequence of events.

One-line summary: A book absolutely necessary for the serious Lewis enthusiast.