Surprised by Literature: Broadening Our Love of Fiction with C. S. Lewis

In his autobiographical work, Surprised by Joy, C. S. Lewis states, “I am a product…of endless books.”[1] Through his reading and writing habits, Lewis demonstrated a broad interest in literature, and his spiritual journey to the Christian faith was also a literary one. Commenting on Lewis’s reading habits, one writer points out that “Lewis’s preferred schedule seemed to include seven or eight hours of reading per day.”[2] Lewis’s dedication to daily reading may seem amazing or even overwhelming to us., especially if we have trouble devoting time to reading each day.

Yet, Lewis provides helpful insights about the value of reading all kinds of books—including fictional works such as mythical and “ordinary” literature. Reading all kinds of fictional literature can provide us with new and distinct perspectives on the world and life, and these experiences can transform us both personally and spiritually.

We may acknowledge with Lewis that experiencing something truly epic in mythical or other fictional stories is but a taste of such feelings that we feel before the God of the universe.

Lewis’s Love for Mythology

Describing his journey into classic and epic literature such as Norse mythology, Lewis explains the feeling of “Northerness” that he developed from reading such books.[3] What does Lewis mean by this feeling? Lewis explains that he felt “adoration” when reading these books, and this feeling further prepared Lewis in his journey to the ultimate joy and adoration he would experience in the Christian faith.[4] Lewis’s enjoyment of myth would ultimately lead him to a knowledge of God and the Christian faith. Lewis writes about this encounter with mythological works, “Sometimes I can almost think that I was sent back to the false gods there to acquire some capacity for worship against the day when the true God should recall me to Himself.”[5]

While it may sound quite counterintuitive for Lewis to suggest that his experience with mythological and fictional tales prepared his heart for the worship of the Christian God, Lewis believed that myths could explain reality and point to the supreme truth of the Christian faith. We may acknowledge with Lewis that experiencing something truly epic in mythical or other fictional stories—or something that stirs our heart to adoration and amazement—is but a taste of such feelings that we feel before the God of the universe.

According to Lewis, reading and enjoying fictional literature—specifically mythological and epic tales—can prepare our hearts to accept the claims of the Christian faith and lead us into the worship of God. For example, believers who have read the epic story of Lord of the Rings have noticed the Christian virtues that characterize the protagonists of the story, as well as the story’s climax in the triumph of good over evil. Reading about these virtues in this epic fictional work can inspire Christians to strive for these good qualities, and to hope for the victory of God and his kingdom over Satan and the powers of evil that will take place when Jesus returns and establishes a new heavens and new earth (Revelation 21).

Lewis’s Love for Ordinary Stories

Lewis received the sense of “Northerness” from reading mythological literature, but he also experienced the feeling of “ordinariness” from novels by the likes of Jane Austen.[6] Describing how his friendship with Arthur Greaves led him into reading such novels, Lewis writes, “Under Arthur’s influence I read at this time…all the Jane Austens. They provided an admirable complement to my more fantastic reading, and each was the more enjoyed for its contrast to the other. The very qualities which had previously deterred me from such books Arthur taught me to see as their charm. What I would have called their ‘stodginess’ or ‘ordinariness’ he called ‘Homeliness.’”[7] Lewis explains the sense of Homeliness provided by certain fictional works, “He [Arthur] did not mean merely Domesticity, though that came into it. He meant the rooted quality which attaches them to all our simple experiences, to weather, food, the family, the neighborhood.”[8]

Such literature that captures the simplicity of human drama and experiences may seem boring to some readers, but Lewis loved such stories because it helped him see these mundane activities of life in a new and fresh light.[9] Furthermore, we should not overlook how Lewis’s friendship with Arthur Greaves expanded Lewis’s reading interests. We cannot underestimate the value of good communities and friendships for introducing us to good and formative books.

This point from Lewis is especially challenging for me. I love reading books. However, for a long time, I only enjoyed reading nonfiction and primarily theological works. If I did read and enjoy fiction, it was usually the fantasy works of Tolkien or dystopian literature. Yet, Lewis shows us the practical benefits of reading various kinds of fictional literature. Even seemingly ordinary stories can deepen our love for ordinary life, habits, and routines. Terry Glaspey, a scholar of Lewis’s works, points out how domestic or homely fiction shaped Lewis’s early life in a specific way, “he [Lewis] credits Austen as one of the authors who has taught him about love. With a bit of youthful naïveté, he goes on to suggest that though he has no personal experience of love, he has ‘what is better’-what he has learned from great literature—crediting Austen as one of his tutors in the art of amour.”[10]

Lewis felt that fiction was not merely a way of escaping from life or reality, but that fiction was instructive and could train readers in attitudes and feelings that a person could otherwise experience in personal life. As with mythical and epic fiction, ordinary stories also can show us examples of virtue and common human experiences that we may emulate and relate to as believers.