They Stand Together: The Letters of C.S. Lewis to Arthur Greeves (1914-1963)

They Stand Together: The Letters of C.S. Lewis to Arthur Greeves (1914-1963) [Hardcover]

Product Details

Hardcover: 592 pages
Publisher: Macmillan Publishing Co (December 1979)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0025536605
ISBN-13: 978-0025536609
Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 1.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds

Customer Reviews

I looked for this book for quite a while before I finally got a library copy. I read it all, but was glad I hadn't actually bought it. (Note that I own more than 20 books by Lewis, including Letters and Letters to Children, and have read about 30 of his books; so one could safely say I am a fan.)
The book's idea is very interesting--letters from a man who wrote good letters, written to his lifelong best friend. Since Lewis greatly valued friendship (as I do), I wanted to see what he said. But the introduction was disappointing: Hooper spends pages telling Lewis's brother's faults in detail to the world, and only God knows whether he has done so honestly. It was also disappointing that Hooper chose to "scientifically restore" passages in the letters that talk about the correspondents' youthful indiscretions, passages that Greeves had carefully crossed out. In other words, the book fails to appropriately respect either Lewis's friendship or his loyalty to his brother--tabloid editing even if the restorations are accurate.
But the letters themselves are interesting and tell Lewis's story from a different angle than his other books. I'd say it's worth 3 1/2 stars.

Why this collection of letters is not in print is a mystery. The writer whose letters this contains (C.S. Lewis)has sold books by now in excess of (estimated) two hundred million copies. And this is a collection of his writings,in this case to a boyhood friend, Arthur Greeves, from the time he was 17 until a couple of months before his death. Like reading C.S. Lewis? Like to know more about his life? This is the ultimate first hand account. Granted, most of the letters are before 1945 and most recount his own own academic and literary interests, and so will be of special interest to those of similar mind; still it is his letters to his lifelong friend that contain autobiographical details one can find in print nowhere else. Read lots of Lewis and want to read more? His letters -- the total number exceeding by one estimate "War and Peace" -- are the place to turn. If you love reading the man, this volume is indispensible. He never shared so much with anyone else in print.