Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life [VINTAGE 1955]

Lewis, C.S.

Published by Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc,, New York, 1955

About this Item

Fine condition green cloth boards with silver spine lettering contained in a very good condition price-clipped color illustrated and black-and-white photographic dust jacket. Includes List of Other Books by C.S. Lewis; Author Dedication; Preface by C.S. Lewis; and a rear page listing books by C.S. Lewis "available in paper-bound editions from Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc." The upper right corner of the blank first free front endpaper has a 1 inch by 3 1/2 inch neatly cut edge, presumably to remove a previous owner name. The upper jacket spine edges are lightly to moderately chipped with some small scattered bits of jacket edge chips (see photographs). All other pages are in very fine unmarked condition and the spine/binding is in exceedingly tight and square unread condition. (see photographs). "In this book C.S. Lewis tells of his search for joy, a spiritual journey which led him from the Christianity of his early years into atheism, and then, back to Christianity." - from the jacket front. "With beguiling frankness C.S. Lewis here tells a conversion story rare in modern literature. In doing so he recounts how he came to be the kind of person he was, and how, having lost the traditional and nominal faith of his boyhood, he found himself, in early manhood, drawn by the reasoning of his mind and finally by the conviction of his will to a return to Christianity. Lewis did not choose God as a last alternative, nor as a way out of emotional crisis. Here, rather, is a modern man who has THOUGHT his way through to the ultimate answer. And it is for just this reason that this extraordinarily honest book will prove to be of deep significance to most contemporary readers. As autobiography, Surprised by Joy is sheer delight. With uncommon perception, urbanity, and humor, Mr. Lewis tells of his boyhood in Ireland, the books he read, his early schooling, his life in the trenches during the First World War, and finally his undergraduate years at Oxford. These pages in themselves comrpise a remarkable account of the young manhood of a philosopher, scholar, and writer. Yet, above all else, Surprised by Joy is the story of a man who, having lost his faith, by reason regained it." - from the inner front jacket flap.

Seller Inventory # 006197

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life [VINTAGE 1955]
• Publisher: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc,, New York
• Publication Date: 1955
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good