The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis: A review

One of the weirder reading experiences I had in 2009 was The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. Not really my cup of tea.
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The Screwtape Letters The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is a weird little book.  Now, I have never read any of C. S. Lewis's fantasy works that serve the cause of Christianity, so maybe, in fact, this is right in the mainstream of those other works, but, to me, this was just a far-out and contrived piece of literature that didn't seem to have much real purpose.

Okay, the premise is that Screwtape, a senior devil in the service of Satan, is writing this series of letters to his beloved (?) nephew, Wormwood, who is something of an apprentice in the art of tempting a human "patient."  Screwtape gives him a constant stream of advice about how to be more effective and how to get around all of the Enemy's (God's) defenses of his subject - who is a Christian.  Perhaps it is because I do not find such creatures as Screwtape and Wormwood believable that I found this religious fantasy very rough going.

But wait a minute - maybe it was unbelievable because I have my own Wormwood on my shoulder whispering false advice in my ear and maybe he's being guided by his own Screwtape.  Hmmm... 

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