Surprised by Joy - C. S. Lewis

This episode looks at C.S. Lewis’s 1955 autobiography, Surprised by Joy, focusing on the influential experiences of his childhood and early adolescence. Lewis describes his upbringing in Belfast, characterized by a "bookish" environment, a close bond with his brother, and a burgeoning imagination that manifested in the creation of a fictional world called Animal-Land. He reflects on the profound emotional shift caused by his mother’s death, which ended his sense of security and began a series of difficult years at challenging boarding schools. The narrative details his time under a harsh headmaster at a school he calls "Belsen," his subsequent move to Campbell College, and his eventual loss of Christian faith during his time at "Chartres." Central to the text is Lewis's discovery of "Joy"—a technical term he uses to describe an intense, unsatisfied longing—sparked by his encounter with Wagnerian opera and Northern mythology. Ultimately, the source provides a personal account of the intellectual and spiritual evolution of one of the twentieth century's most famous thinkers.