Book Review: Jack's Life by Douglas Gresham

Date March 29, 2006 Posted by Amy Hall

Last year, Douglas Gresham (C.S. Lewis's stepson) was kind enough to meet with me in his home when I was visiting Ireland.  He had a quote by C.S. Lewis (”Jack”) tacked to the bulletin board above his desk.  I didn't write it down at the time, but in searching for it later, I believe it was this:

 

The great thing
is, if one can, to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as
interruptions in one's “own” or “real” life. The truth is, of course,
that what one regards as interruptions are precisely one's life. 

 

I couldn't help but see for myself how much of an influence Lewis had had on Gresham,
for here I was, a random interruption welcomed into his home as he
tried to live out what had formerly been modeled to him by his
stepfather.

 

Gresham was, indeed, greatly influenced by Lewis, and in writing Jack's Life,
his goal was to present a picture of C.S. Lewis, the man–his goodness,
personality, and integration of Christ's teaching into his daily
living–a picture that Gresham felt had not been fully described by previous works on Lewis's life and writings.

 

Because of the personal nature of the material, Gresham's writing in Jack's Life
sounds less like a written biography and more like a man sitting on his
front porch, telling the story of someone he admired and loved.  This style has its strengths and weaknesses.  While Gresham's
connection with Lewis does bring a sense of reality to Lewis's life,
this same connection makes it difficult for him to separate himself
from the telling of his story.  Hence, you
have the man on the porch, telling the story from his point of view,
inserting his thoughts and opinions on details of interest to him,
jumping back and forth in time, explaining customs or offering advice,
and occasionally following rabbit trails or repeating himself.

 

Rather than attempt to tell about all of Jack's life as any average biography would do, I would have loved for Gresham to have focused completely on his strength–the personal, colorful vignettes of life with Lewis.  The obligatory facts about Lewis seemed forced, and instead, it felt as if these personal stories were the stories Gresham really wanted to tell.  I would love to read a book made up only of these; no one else living today could write such a book.

 

Jack's Life also comes with a DVD of an interview with Douglas Gresham.  While
the DVD is an interesting addition, I would still have to say that
overall, if you're looking for a personal account by Douglas Gresham,
you should instead read his first book, Lenten Lands.  As
an autobiography, his style works much better with the subject matter
because he has personal experience with all the events discussed
(rather than just a small portion of Jack's life), and, reading LL, one can still get a sense of Lewis and all the characters who surrounded him in his life.

Related posts:

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  3. Audio Book Review: The Good Life by Charles Colson & Harold Fickett
  4. Book Review: Further Up & Further In by Bruce Edwards
  5. Book Review: 5 Paths to the Love of Your Life edited by Alex Chediak
  6. Book Review: A Reader�s Guide Through the Wardrobe

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