Halfway through this book, I had decided that I wasn't going to write a review for it - mainly because my thoughts would stray from it at times because it would not always hold my interest and I didn't think that I could do the book justice. I probably still can't do the book justice, but I did realize that I was writing down quite a few quotes from this book, so there had to be something there!
What Lewis has done here really is a beautiful piece of work. It is a meditation on love. He discusses his "four loves": affection (love shared between a parent and child), friendship, erotic love, and charity. He discusses these from a Christian philosophy point of view which normally might dissuade me as it may be too preachy, but I felt safe in the hands of Lewis, an author that I love. He balances his thoughts well and discusses the subject of love in a way that certainly appeals to Christians, but would not be unreadable to non-Christians.
After reading for awhile, I figured out what was making my mind wander. When it comes to philosophy and one's views on love (especially when mixed with religion), you're never going to agree 100% of the time. Not that my mind drifts when I disagree, in fact, most of the time, I become more interested when I disagree with something. But with this book, I found that at times Lewis was a bit long winded on topics that didn't hold my interest. There were other times however where I thought that Lewis did a marvelous job of writing on a very personal level with an almost conversational tone.
This one's been sitting on my shelf for about 3 years now, and thanks to the Classics Challenge, I finally got to read it. I'd like to leave you with my favorite passage from the book. This passage jumped out at me and really struck a chord with me, especially considering all that Megan and I have been through since the hurricane. Anyone who's ever loved anyone can relate, I'm sure:
"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. but in that casket - safe, dark, motionless, airless - it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell."
