The Screwtape Letters

By C. S. Lewis

Catholic-ometer: 4.5 of 5

Enjoyability: 5 of 5

Apart from the chronicles of Narnia, if I could have only one of the books of C. S. Lewis, the Screwtape Letters would be it.  It's vibrant, exciting, colorful and very precise and clever in the points it makes.

The book centers around two demons; the young, inexperienced Wormwood, and the elder demon named Screwtape, who writes him letters of advice and encouragement.  These letters are much needed, as poor Wormwood keeps screwing up, and letting his human do things like become a Christian, make some new friends when his old ones become a bad influence, take a relaxing walk to clear his head so that he can think straight, etc...  Why, there's a very real danger that Wormwood might even let this particular human make it to Heaven, if he's not careful.

Every perspective in this book is cleverly inverted.  Screwtape praises the ability to sew confusion in the mind of a human being, the use of tiny slogans instead of rational explanations, to convince people of a point, the use of the word "democracy" to discourage people from excelling and so forth.  His advice to his young demon friend reveals, very cleverly, the things that we must avoid, and the kinds of traps we can easily fall into if we're not careful, as well as precisely how to stay on the right track for our lives, and all in a sort of backwards, underworld style of writing which, to be honest, I found very humorous; even largely tongue-in-cheek.

Of course, we know that demons don't really come in "older" and "younger," nor do they learn anything, and they don't really -devour- humans or one another.  Their motives are pure spite.  Still, those slight deviations from actual theology make the story more fun and easier to tell, and perhaps even better.

The mini-sequel, also included in most editions, entitled "Screwtape Proposes a Toast" is just as good as the original book, though it does, of course, have a slightly different premise.  The particularly excellent quotes and points made would simply take too long to outline.  If you haven't read this book yet, check it out.  Even if you've made the mistake of not being a Christian, you'll probably still get a kick out of Screwtape and his bungling "nephew."