by Eriathwen

 

CS Lewis is one of the most famous Christian apologists of the 20th century and author of over 30 novels, including our beloved Chronicles of Narnia. You may already know who CS Lewis is, but here are some facts you may not know:

 

  • CS Lewis attended the cinema and on one occasion watched King Kong (1933). In a letter to Arthur Greeves he writes, “You will be surprised to hear that I have been to the cinema again! Don’t be alarmed, it will not become a habit.” Later, regarding the film he says, “I thought parts of ‘King Kong’ (especially where the natives make a stand after he’s broken the gate) magnificent.” He commented to a fellow author, “but the New York parts contemptible.”[1]

  • CS Lewis wrote four collections of poetry under the pseudonym of Clive Hamilton. “Lewis’ earliest ambition was to be numbered among the great poets, and he took great pains to write and rewrite, and rewrite his poems, some even after they were published.” [2]

  • When CS Lewis was four, his dog ‘Jacksie’ was run over with a car. Shortly after, he announced his name was now ‘Jacksie’ and would not answer to any other name, but later accepted ‘Jacks’ which became ‘Jack’, the name by which he was known to friends and family for the rest of his life. [3]

  • Lewis was strongly opposed to the creation of live-action versions of his works due to the technology at the time. His major concern was that the anthropomorphic animal characters “when taken out of narrative into actual visibility, always turn into buffoonery or nightmare.” This was said in the context of the 1950s, when technology would not allow the special effects required to make a coherent, robust film version of Narnia. [4]

  • CS Lewis died on November 22, 1963, a week before his 65th birthday and on the same day as Kennedy’s assassination. [5]

  • Lewis cared deeply about people. He gave away much of his income to people in need. Lewis never got rich from his Christian classics, according to Michael Maudlin, executive editor at HarperOne. “His books left him poor,” Maudlin said. “He had all of this money coming in, but he didn’t take those royalties.” Lewis vowed to donate all the money he made from his books on Christianity, Maudlin says. He got big tax bills for his Christian books but struggled to pay them because he had already given the money away. [6]

  • Lewis himself never learned to type, always depending on pens. One reason was because of the clumsiness caused by Lewis’s only having one joint in his thumbs’ preventing him from using a typewriter properly. Yet, it wasn’t just his thumbs keeping him from the typewriter, he chose not to type. “This mechanical mode of writing”, he believed, “interfered with the creative process in that the incessant clacking of the typewriter keys dulled the writer’s appreciation of the rhythms and cadences of the English language.” [7]

References

[1] Christianity Today. C.S. Lewis: Did You Know?

[2] The Christian Post. C.S. Lewis: Top 10 Facts Everyone Should Know About ‘One of the Intellectual Giants of the 20th Century’

[3] Unshakable Hope. Remembering the Other ‘Jack’

[4] The Guardian. C.S. Lewis feared film would ruin
Narnia

[5] The Huffington Post UK. C.S. Lewis Facts: 11 things you never knew about the Narnia author

 [6] CNN Belief Blog. The C.S. Lewis you never knew

[7] Desiring God. Jack’s Typewriter