Douglas H. Gresham

A short book by the step-son of C.S.Lewis, Jack's Life is a biography a little different than the usual biography of parents, childhood, adult, and then the inevitable end we see so often. It is instead an insider's view of what C.S.Lewis was to live with and how he was a man of honor such that he was able to take a family, not his own, to adulthood; support another family, again not his own, to their adulthood and meanwhile write and teach and think. Quite a story, but this book is really only a preface for a longer biography that would be worth reading . 3 1/2 stars… (more)

Memoir by a fellow who happened to be the stepson of C.S. Lewis, partly about Lewis while he was married to Joy, partly about Gresham's life. It's entertaining but he has kind of a florid writing style that I don't like, and there are flashes of cranky snobbery - how things have declined since socialism, railway strikes are "the small man's modern method of exerting power for power's sake", etc.

I gave up on this after Joy and C. S. Lewis both died and the griping about the sinister servants began. He cites the cook's remarks like "Wouldn't Mrs. Lewis 'ave loved those roses?" as cruel examples of her power to make Mr. Lewis cry, which is so strange I can't wrap my mind around it. Every grieving person I've known has been delighted to know that others remember their dear one, even if that memory brings tears. Anyway, I realized I wasn't interested in Gresham's life after that and I disliked him. He didn't provide much insight into Lewis or his mother's relationship with him, either. What a prat.… (more)