In this fantasy tale, Lewis explores the nature of heaven and hell and the ramifications of salvation and redemption. In the introduction, he points out that this is an imaginative exploration of these locations, not to be taken as gospel or even as his own beliefs, but a simple fantasy that explores what could be.

Hell is a drab place, where fights break out and people are drawn into deeper and deeper solitude. It is always gray, that fading light that just precedes night time, and the weather is damp and drizzly. The narrator, presumably Lewis himself, isn't at first aware of the true nature of his surroundings, and neither are we. Through vivid descriptions and cryptic dialogue we piece together an idea that this is hell that he is traversing (which is later confirmed by an angel). By chance he sees a queue, and for want of anything better to do he joins it, later discovering that it is a bus line, and he hops on board. The bus, however, is no ordinary means of public transport: it flies.

The dull gray drops away, light percolates through shut window blinds, and the bus approaches cliffs that loom over the riders. The top of the top of these sheer rock walls reveals a lush green valley, and beautiful mountains in the distance. The light is the soft brilliance of early dawn, just before day breaks. Of course, this is heaven.

While the physical settings of heaven and hell are, in themselves, fascinating, Lewis's inventive mind has more to offer. The denizens of hell become mere ghosts in the bright land, so insubstantial that even the smallest stalk of grass pierces them, water is solid, and an apple weighs a ton. The angels that descend upon the bus riders have come with a purpose, one angel to one ghost, in a last attempt to break through their worldly walls and win them to repentance and salvation. The exchanges between the angels and the ghosts, still stubbornly clinging to their flawed ideas that placed them in hell in the first place, become philosophical debates where Lewis has a chance to refute some common criticisms of Christianity.

I've always liked Lewis, because he has a touch for explaining theological conundrums in simple terms, and because he has a rich imagination. This book combines both. Clearly, the fantasy is just a vehicle to delve into those philosophic exchanges, but since his intention is clear from the introduction I didn't feel like he was playing a trick. On the contrary, I thought it was a clever way to make subject matter that could otherwise be dry become very entertaining. ( )

Very interesting book. It is a quick read. The author is having a vision/dream about purgatory? hell and heaven. The way he describes the detail I can believe he really did have this dream. Fascinating. I'm sure I will have to read it again to fully understand it. ( )

Fantastic allegory of heaven and hell. Lewis presents here a plausible explanation of why heaven's exclusivity is not unjust: those not receiving the gift of eternal life don't even want it. ( )

The Great Divorce is Lewis' supposal of what would happen if a busload of souls from Hell was given an excursion to Heaven. Lewis is quick to point out in his foreword that the book is not supposed to be a theological work speculating on what really happens in the afterlife. The setup of the story is just a frame to contain the ideas. People in Hell do not have the ability to suddenly repent and choose Heaven after a field trip to the latter!

The book is a little confusing at first if you go into it, like me, without knowing much about it. Is the narrator in Hell with the others? He doesn't seem to know what is going on, but why else would he be there, and in the same state as the other Hell-dwellers? It's somewhat explained at the end, but I found the ambiguity distracting in the beginning.

The narrator observes several conversations between the Hell-dwellers and the people in Heaven who have come there specifically to reason and plead with the tourists.

A recurring idea in Lewis' Platonian mind was the notion that everything we have and are right now is insubstantial mist in light of the real that is perfect, and which we will experience on reaching Heaven. This same idea is in the Chronicles of Narnia, where Narnia becomes sharper and more real than it ever had been in the last book. Every blade of grass is sharper, every mountain is more like a mountain, every tree and sparrow and stream is suddenly invested with a weight and substance they never before possessed. It is the same in Heaven in this book. The people from Hell appear as insubstantial ghosts and hurt themselves walking on the real grass. They cannot lift anything in Heaven; they are too weak. Trying to pick a flower is like trying to pluck a full-grown tree with one hand.

Lewis imagines himself taken in hand by George MacDonald, his literary and spiritual mentor. One thing I found rather unsatisfactory was Lewis' attempt to have MacDonald explain his belief in universalism. The result is a page of near-incomprehensible confusion.

Some of the images that Lewis conjures up in this book will stick with me forever, like the Dwarf and the Tragedian. The Dwarf is a man who is slowly being diminished, word by word, by the tall Tragedian he holds on a chain. The Tragedian does nothing but feel sorry for himself and urge the Dwarf to feel the same. As the Tragedian's hold grows stronger, the Dwarf gets smaller and smaller until he disappears, and then the Tragedian swallows the chain. He has won.

One striking thing about that part was Lewis' discussion of the tyranny of pity. The Dwarf's wife was a denizen of Heaven and had been pleading with him to shake off the Tragedian and stay with her. But when her husband fails to do so, and instead listens to the Tragedian's ridiculous selfishness, the Lady feels no pain for him. Lewis writes that in Heaven, the pain of other people's bad choices will no longer be allowed to torment us. It seems heartless, but should the eternal joy of the saints be marred by the selfish decision of a miserable soul? Should Joy itself be captive to the caprices of a cosmic dog in the manger? By no means.

I thought Lewis' treatment of the apostate and liberal bishop was absolutely word-perfect. He captures the man's arrogance and self-delusion so neatly. Lewis' exploration of the perversion of motherly love — to the point where God Himself becomes nothing more than a means of the mother getting to her son — is also striking. The insights on why people reject God and choose Hell instead are profound.

One thing becomes clearer as the story goes on: the people in Hell are there because they want to be. What did Satan say in Paradise Lost — "Better to reign in Hell than in Heaven serve"? Lewis says that there are only two kinds of people: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, "Thy will be done." I think he's right; people don't suddenly repent when they die. An unrepentant heart can only be changed by the action of the Holy Spirit, and that action will not be taken after physical death.

I enjoyed this book. It was a quick read, just over an hour for me, but I think it will hold up well to rereading. Recommended. ( )

Lewis' depiction of heaven and hell represent spiritual stages within a person's life. Written as an antithesis to Blake's "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell," Lewis argues that good and evil must be separated. Reality dictates this separation. All are not bound for heaven mainly because many have rejected good. Although physically depicted in the book, truth and goodness are often painful. "The Great Divorce" isn't Lewis' understanding of the literal heaven and hell; rather, it is presented as a dream. ( )