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. ( )

While not a doctrinal treatise on heaven and salvation, Lewis writes allegorically about a dream of bus trip through heaven and hell. What I appreciated about this work of fantasy was that often it is impossible to lay out difficult realities in non-fictive prose. Some subjects require imaginative scenarios and fantastic use of language to express what otherwise would be inexpressible. My favourite quotation from Lewis in this book (comes from the introduction) is: “If we insist on keeping hell (or even earth) we shall not see heaven: if we accept heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of hell.” In other words, we can’t take anything from earth with us to heaven – whether it be earthly treasures that can be destroyed, or even our sins. ( )

This was a very interesting and insight into life beyond this earth.

One of my favorites for many years, this is the greatest allegory of Heaven and Hell ever written. ( )

Interesting look at the possibilities of heaven. ( )

SO MUCH we can let keep us from the divine or even just our own hopes and dreams. ( )

I've read several books by C.S. Lewis before - Mere Christianity, The Four Loves, The Screwtape Letters, and The Chronicles of Narnia -- and found him a talented writer good at gently guiding the reader through Christian theology. The Great Divorce (1945) is a work similar to The Screwtape Letters in which Lewis uses a fantastical story as a way to break common misconceptions about a concept, in this case Heaven and Hell.

The story is much like Dante's Divine Comedy as we follow a narrator who dreams of visiting Heaven and Hell/Purgatory. The narrator and many others are ghostly beings who by clinging to their own desires condemn themselves to staying in the joyless city that is Hell. The shining figures of those already in Heaven try to convince the ghosts to accept the joy of God and join them in Heaven. At risk of showing that I didn't get it, I have to say I found this book fun to read.

Favorite passages:
Hell is a state of mind -- ye never said a truer word. And every state of mind, left to itself, every shutting up of the creature within the dungeon of its own mind -- is, in the end, Hell. But Heaven is not a state of mind. Heaven is reality itself. All that is fully real is Heavenly. For all that can be shaken will be shaken and only the unshakable remains. - p. 65

That's what we all find when we reach this country. We've all been wrong! That's the great joke! There's no need to go on pretending one was right! After that we begin living. - p. 95 ( )

A great book. I flew through this book in about three days and could've gone through it more quickly had I the extra time. The Great Divorce was written as man who found himself in this town and then went up to this other country. It ended up that the town he started in was Hell and the country he was in later was Heaven. It was very neat to see the conversations that went on of how people who were in Hell would choose to remain there simply because of their lack of desire to sacrifice everything of themselves and rely soley on God. A neat book that I would recommend to others to read ( )

This is my favorite fiction book of all time, hands down. Lewis' talent for articulating spiritual truths in fiction is amazing, as evidenced in his other works, like Narnia. However, The Great Divorce is on a whole different level. I think Lewis has forever altered my perception of the union of Heaven and Hell. ( )

What a great little book! It's something you'd have to read closely or again to capture the whole meaning, but his vision of heaven and hell is certainly plausible, and, I would argue, desirable. ( )

http://cafecomlivro.wordpress.com/200... ( )

This is my second CS Lewis book to read. The first was The Screw Tape Letters. I think that I like this one the most. They both made me think of new things. ( )

One of the best fiction books I've ever read. Just don't go looking for accurate theology here. ( )

Expressive and beautifully-written. ( )

The essense of the human condition captured in a great story. The most re-read book in my library. ( )

This is one of the little known but POWERFUL wonderful books by CS Lewis. He has a way of making you really think about your life and what you're letting control you. It's a MUST read! ( )

I have read several things by the great C.S. Lewis including his children's fiction and some of his theological works, but reading The Great Divorce was my first foray into his "adult fiction." I have to say that Lewis absolutely does not disappoint.
From the back cover:
C. S. Lewis takes us on a profound journey through both heaven and hell in this engaging allegorical tale. Using his extraordinary descriptive powers, Lewis introduces us to supernatural beings who will change the way we think about good and evil. In The Great Divorce C. S. Lewis again employs his formidable talent for fable and allegory. The writer, in a dream, finds himself in a bus which travels between Hell and Heaven. This is the starting point for an extraordinary meditation upon good and evil which takes issue with William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. In Lewiss own words, "If we insist on keeping Hell (or even earth) we shall not see Heaven: if we accept Heaven then we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell."

While I have no doubt that this is not the scenario that I will find after death, it is none-the-less an extremely thought provoking story of God's justice, and man's stubborn inability to let go of earthly things when reaching for the things of heaven. Lewis is brilliant in portraying humanity in it's most redeemable and dispicable forms. On more than one occasion I found myself identifying with those who simply refused to become less themselves in order to become more of God.

" There are only two kinds of people in the end; those who say to God "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says in the end, "Thy will be done." All those that are in Hell choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek, find. To those who knock it is opened."

I am sure that The Great Divorce will invoke either a "love it" or "hate it" response in the reader. It can do nothing else because it's subject matter is so very black and white. Either you see what is True in it and embrace it, or you call what is True utter nonsense and walk away in search of more palatable answers.

It took me less than twenty-four hours to devour this book from cover to cover. My book came away underlined, annotated, dog-eared and the worse for wear. In short, it was a book much loved, and one which I am sure I will visit time and again.

" All Hell is smaller than one pebble of your earthly world: but it is smaller than one atom of this world, the Real World. Look at yon butterfly. If it swallowed all of Hell, Hell would not be big enough to do it any harm or have any taste... All the lonliness, angers, hatred, envies and itchings that it contains, if rolled into one single experience and put into the scale against the least moment of the joy that is felt by the very least in Heaven, would have no weight that could be registered at all. Bad cannot succeed even in being bad as truly as good is good. If all Hell's miseries together entered the conciousness of wee yon yellow bird on the bough there , they would be swallowed up without a trace, as if one drop of ink had been dropped into that Great Ocean to which your terrestrial Pacific itself is but a molecule." ( )

A Little hard to read. ( )

http://www.skepticalchristian.com/br_... ( )

Lewis is so intruiging. Sometimes I'm not sure where his theology comes from, but his perspective is crutial for me. I love it.
I need to reread this book. ( )

Awesome book, one of my all time favorites