The Screwtape Letters: You had me at hello!!
There is a part in the movie ‘Jerry Maguire’ in which after a very long monologue by Tom Cruise, Renée Zellweger tells him in a now very famous line: “You had me at ‘Hello’”. When I started reading the Screwtape Chronicles, that line came to my mind because C.S. Lewis had me floored at the ‘dedication’ section itself. The dedication read – ‘To J.R.R. Tolkien’. When a very famous author dedicates the book to your favourite author then you know that you’re about to read something very special and that’s exactly what the Screwtape letters was - special.
The Screwtape letters is a series of letters written by an uncle to his nephew giving him tips on how to do his job better. What sets it apart is that the uncle (Screwtape) is a senior devil in hell and his nephew (Wormwood) is a junior, just-starting-out-in-life devil. In the letters to his nephew, Screwtape gives Wormwood advice about how to best tempt his human and successfully bring him over to “Our Father’s” (Satan) side.
Right from the start, the Screwtape letters was one book that just couldn’t stop me from smiling and very often made me burst out laughing to the surprise of people travelling in the metro. Such sights have become rare these days when you see someone laughing because of something that they’ve read. At the same time the book equally well brings out the seriousness of certain issues that most Christians face today. After reading the book I can most certainly say that it falls in the Christian literature category as it is mainly addressed to Christians but to all the Non-Christians reading this review I would strongly urge that you read it as well because C. S. Lewis brings out aspects of human behaviour that you would have probably never thought about. If not for anything else, read it for the brilliant sarcasm and wit that the author uses. Even the relationship between the uncle and his nephew is captured beautifully. Screwtape and Wormwood share a relationship that has its ups and downs but is strained for most part of the book. Lewis shows that devils being devils can’t even be expected to have good relations with each other. The way Screwtape often criticises his nephew for not doing his job well is incredibly funny.
In his book C.S. Lewis tackles various issues that Christians and New-Christians often face such as picking the type of church they go to, the type of worship that they have, personal relationships with those at home, the feeling of self-righteousness that Christians have, the art of praying and so much more. Each of these topics is dealt with a depth of insight that I haven’t seen in most Christian literature or most literature infact. At the same time though it isn’t by any means easy-reading. There are two reasons for that. Firstly C.S. Lewis uses words in the English language that novices like me would have a tough time understanding without having a dictionary at hand. That’s not so bad considering that it would only do you good to learn new words. It’s just that it can get a little too much at times. Secondly, to understand the full depth of what Lewis was trying to convey I had to often read each sentence twice. Lewis packs a lot into each sentence and uses long sentences to convey what he wants and what ends up happening is that by the time you’ve reached the end of the sentence you’ve lost the essence of what he talked about in the first part. Even so, I would urge you to keep at it and read on because once you get what he’s trying to say it’s like a light being turned on in your head.
For all Christians out there I strongly urge that you read this book. I assure you that you will have a chance of being a better person by the end of it. You will understand the temptations that you face in life and how best to guard yourself against it. You will understand what it means to be a true Christian and not get swayed by your own ideas of righteousness. This short book by C.S. Lewis is an absolute masterpiece and I will certainly be reading it once again when I can sit in a nice and quiet place and take it all in.
My Rating: 4.5/5