If like me you grew up opening wardrobes and cupboards in trepidation just in case a magical world or fantastical beast was waiting behind, the chances are you were raised on Clive Staples Lewis’s books. Lewis was not only one of the most famous names in fantasy, but arguably in the whole world of literature. And when it comes to novel series, everyone knows his Chronicles of Narnia books are second to none. He was perceived in different ways by different groups, but they would all agree that he was a tremendously intriguing character. This is why I chose to compile five interesting facts about the man himself…
1. His death
The 22nd November in 1963 was certainly a red-letter day in modern literary & political history. It was the day that C.S. Lewis sadly passed away, just one week before his 65th birthday. Coincidentally, he shares the anniversary of his death with another writer. Author of Brave New World, Aldous Huxley. But neither of these literary giants received much press coverage around that time due to the death of PUSA John F. Kennedy who was famously assassinated in Dallas, Texas on that dark fateful day.
2. His influence
It’s fairly common knowledge that Lewis was bosom buddies with none other than the great Tolkien himself. But did you know that he was instrumental in the writing of LOTR? Tolkien went through periods suffering the dreaded writer’s block that believe it or not often lasted years at a time. To get through this barren spell, they created a writing group called The Inklings and Lewis geed up his pal by meeting with him every Monday morning to talk about the craft of writing. The group increased in size to 19 and before too long they changed the meeting to a Thursday night. And no doubt imbibed a cheeky drink or two.
3.His kindness
As the authors among you will probably know, earning money through your books isn’t an easy task. Lewis was no different and even though he was on just a modest wage from his job tutoring at Magdalen College, he demonstrated his generosity by setting up a charitable trust in order to give away whatever royalties he received from his books. Although, it came back to bite him years later when he was shocked to learn that the government still expected him to pay taxes on the money he had earned!
4. His inspirations
One of Lewis’s lesser known works was a short essay called ‘it all began with a picture.’ And this is exactly where it all started. From the age of 16 and for the following 24 years, Lewis had a recurring vision of a ‘faun carrying an umbrella and parcels in a snowy wood.’ Then at the ripe old age of 40 he took the plunge and finally decided to write a story about it. Also at the start of WW2, three young girls were evacuated from London and went to live with Lewis in the countryside. Yep, obviously this was the inspiration for the Pevensie children’s predicament in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.
5. His legacy
I’m sure a good number of us will have seen the most recent Hollywood version of The Lion the Witch & the Wardrobe with Tilda Swinton. It was ok. But for me (aside from the book), it’s the 1979 animated film that sticks in my memory. But, funnily enough it was only after his passing that C.S. Lewis’s literature saw the light of day in any form of live action. Back in the 50’s the technology wasn’t even close to what we take for granted today which meant Lewis was scared his characters would be misrepresented in some way. As a result, Lewis opposed any attempt to recreate his work in a film or movie version.
If this fantasy thing is your bag (you probably wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t), then be sure to grab the free prequel novel origin story (book 0) from this website or start at book 1 and follow William’s epic journey in the wondrous land of Syan…