The Great Divorce
by C. S. Lewis · first published 1945
50% recommend50% neutral
Why HN recommends it
An allegorical story in which souls are offered a visit from hell to heaven, examining how people drift from good and grow comfortable with it. Suited to readers interested in Christian thought and moral reflection.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
What if anyone in Hell could take a bus trip to Heaven and stay there forever if they wanted to? In The Great Divorce C. S. Louis again employs his formidable talent for fable and allegory. The writer finds himself in Hell boarding a bus bound for Heaven. The amazing opportunity is that anyone who wants to stay in Heaven, can. This is the starting point for an extraordinary meditation upon good and evil, grace and judgment. Lewis's revolutionary idea is the discovery that the gates of Hell are locked from the inside. In Lewis's own words, "If we insist on keeping Hell (or even earth) we shall
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Besides Dostoevsky, there is abundant wisdom and deep truths to be found in the classics of Christianity. The apologetics of C.S. Lewis (Screwtape Letters, The Problem with Pain, The Great Divorce), Augustine's Confessions and City of God, Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton and G.K. Chesterton's Everlasting Man. These are seldom read (or known) by young people today and I see that as a tragedy.…
on “Why read Dostoevsky? A programmer's perspective” ↗…http://www.amazon.com/dp/1585425524 * Getting Things Done - http://www.amazon.com/dp/0142000280 * Simply Christian - http://www.amazon.com/dp/0061920622 * Surprised by Hope - http://www.amazon.com/dp/0061551821 * The Great Divorce - http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060652950 * Mere Christianity - http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060652926 * The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius - http://www.amazon.com/dp/048629823X * Tao Te Ching - http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060812451…
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite books? I'm bored” ↗C. S. Lewis writes along similar lines in The Great Divorce and The Screwtape Letters, two very different books, but both of which of I'd credit as changing my life. The common theme in both is that to be damned is not to sin greatly, but to become comfortable…
on “I Bootstrapped My Side Project to $6k/Month (2017)” ↗If you haven't read C. S. Lewis' The Great Divorce you may like it.
on “How Will the Miracle Happen Today?” ↗…https://uscatholic.org/articles/202212/what-does-the-church-... https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_coun... Nor do they believe hell to be a place of torture, but a state of separation from God. Read CS Lewis's Great Divorce if you are interested in a better metaphor than flames and torture.
on “1948: Catholic Church publishes final edition of “Index Librorum Prohibitorum”” ↗…is the best IMO and few people seem to read it. I also like Out of The Silent Planet and That Hideous Strength, although not the middle book of that trilogy, Perelandra. The Screwtape Letters and The Great Divorce are pretty good too. I am not sure Tolkien's books are accurately described as children's books. The Hobbit perhaps, but not the Lord of The Rings IMO.
on “George Bernard Shaw by G. K. Chesterton (1909)” ↗Reminds me, perhaps ironically, of C.S. Lewis' description of Hell in The Great Divorce. Canadian public domain link: https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20140726
on “Report on an Unidentified Space Station (1982)” ↗…this is an epidemic when it is a problem that seems so easy to solve. UPDATE: based on responses to my comment it seems the core problem may be closer to home than we like to admit. CS Lewis' book The Great Divorce details this misanthropy, where hell is a product of the residents' own making because they choose to live on their own because they do not like anyone else.
on “The Loneliness Epidemic” ↗…included in your list. In fact, the bio says "His most distinguished and popular accomplishments include Mere Christianity ..." but Mere Christianity isn't on the list of books. Or consider that 'The Great Divorce' was originally written as a serial for The Guardian, and at the same time as writing 'That Hideous Strength', so it's not that he worked full time on first one then the other. I hope your project it's…
on “Show HN: Site calculates how long it takes famous authors to write books” ↗We've lost the families and social institutions that once developed those relationships, and in general the ability to put up with people outside our comfort zone. If you've read CS Lewis' Great Divorce, it is his vision of hell, everyone living in their own isolated, make believe houses, ever moving farther away from each other because they cannot stand anyone else.
on “Why is it hard to make friends over 30? (2012)” ↗Anyone read CS Lewis' Great Divorce?
on “A Chemical That Improves Memory (and Cures Loneliness)” ↗The context is that CS Lewis was a devout christian and evangelist, and is referring to spiritual desire. I read "The Great Divorce", and interpreted it as metaphorical, in the "kingdom of heaven on earth" way. How honest work, faith, and openness are uplifting, vs getting trapped in psychological prisons. But this quote refers to…
on “Why are humans never satisfied?” ↗…photography. So long as he is willing to surrender that first hot, bright passion for the quieter longer-burning kind. " I do not recall the work, but it may have been The Abolition of Man... or perhaps the Great Divorce. If someone know better, I would welcome the correction. In either case, It captures well the core of the issue. Lament not the loss of your first fruit, and look to the horizon for yet more harvest.…
on “Ask HN: Where did all the ideas go?” ↗