The Screwtape Letters: Annotated Edition Hardcover – October 8, 2013

Lewis's insight into human nature and the spiritual warfare we face is incredible. An outstandingly creative work, this annotated version is helpful in understanding his thoughts behind the book. Excellent! Highly recommend!

THIS BOOK IS SIMPLY FABULOUS. I utterly loved reading this book. It is truly profound in its wisdom of the human psyche. You could almost use this as a reference book in a psychology class. Lewis was undoubtedly gifted with a deep wisdom not granted to the rest of us. Frankly, moments of it are a bit difficult to read because you have to constantly invert what the demon is saying to pull away the positive lesson; that said, this book is VERY worth reading for ANY Christian. Lewis was an Anglican but he exposes universal Christian / Human truths here. One might argue that his theology (at least in this work) is nearly Catholic; but the simple fact of the matter is all Christians recognize that Angels and Demons are real and they are waging a spiritual battle around us and we are caught in the crossfire. Lewis exposes the many traps that we, as sinners, fall into and how our minds are often pigeonholed which merely compounds our problems. Lewis also exposes more than once how EVEN GOOD THINGS can be twisted and used for evil purposes if we aren't careful. As I said, every Christian (and frankly, non-Christians as well) should read this book.I cannot recommend this specific version of the letters highly enough. This annotated edition is very well made. The annotations are SUPERB. The author clearly knew Lewis's works in and out and was erudite in his own right. Frequent quotes in the margins from Lewis's other writings bring a wonderful richness not experienced if one only reads the text by itself. There are also helpful notes dealing with colloquialisms of mid-century British English which might be lost on American readers. I took quite a lot away from this book; the margins have sparked a strong desire in me to read his other works. I have half a mind to gift copies to people I know---but this specific version because of the notes. This is a book I will cherish the rest of my life and, in all likelihood, re-read once a year or so. In terms of the physical book itself, it is very well made with fine paper, nice margins, and a beautiful dust jacket. You get your money's worth.(PS- this copy DOES include Screwtape's Toast (epilogue to the letters) at the end, published after the initial letters themselves.)

This is one of Lewis' most spiritually/emotionally perceptive books and also has the benefit of being short and sweet. Maybe too sweet as it's often neglected - a resident of guest rooms and considered weak compared to even the Narnia chronicles. But here is an annotated version which I hate to say is kind of unambitious. The annotator meant to mollify Lewis' adopted son (and copyright owner) by not going through academic maturbation and annotating everything in tedious and over speculative detail. On one level this works. He annotates a lot of queer things original to '30's and 40's Britain few BritIsh and hardly any Americans would recognize. But than he absolutely refuses to go further and the annotations given tend to be quite trivial. This isn't horrible but at the same time it's kind of pointless. The time difference isn't near as remote as say, Tudor, Georgian, or even Victorian Britain. Most readers can get what Lewis said. I read the book as a child and while I never knew what the game "Conkers" entailed, now that I know thanks to this book it provides no added value. A little academic indulgence would have been welcome to expand on what Lewis offered. Even if it was wrong IMO. As it is, I get the feeling the annotator could just as well handed the task off to his great great grandson 100 years hence for when people are really confused by the mid 20th century.

This is a great book. The original material while written in the 1940's is perfectly relevant today. It is very much a work of apologia, meaning that it is very concerned with indoctrinating the reader into Christianity. That said it is humorous and thought provoking and not really pushy but clearly focused on the ideas of good and evil and the role that God plays in defining those concepts. The annotations are very nice, they are mainly about explaining language no longer in common usage or referring the reader to other materials. Sometimes this is simply a reference to another work that lewis is referencing, sometimes this is to another place in the body of writing Lewis himself did that covers the same topic in more depth.I'm an agnostic myself and this book is one of the best read s for someone who wants a primer to Christian thinking. The ideas here are not aggressive, there is abundant wit and humor and the content while clear in it's theology is geared toward addressing questions rather than forcing answers on the reader. It is thought provoking and show s a clearly defined worldview and a way of arguing that shows the thought put into the topic by Lewis.

Although written in a very understandable and entertaining way, screwtape letters and the subsequent toast point out a lot of subtle ways that we can be tempted to either outright sin or at the least not representing God in a way that would be to his glory. This annotated version is great because it explains more archaic language but also cross references the ideas in this work two other works by c.s. Lewis and the people that influenced him.

The very first line reads: 'notewhatyousay. aboutguidingyourpa'. And so it continues, word after word joined together and seldom a sentence beginning with a capital letter. New paragraphs begin in mid-sentence and at least once in mid-word. Sadly your poor presentation of this outstanding literature is a disgrace. But worse from my viewpoint it severely detracted from the enjoyment of a brilliant book. You should be ashamed. I award C S Lewis five stars. Your presentation of his excellent work warrants nothing but the severest criticism.

I bought the Kindle version but it was not the Screwtape letters but some other book about a Winterslip family.However, I was able to get it returned and bought a copy with a different cover, which is the right book.

I have read the rules regarding writing reviews and mine was not published because?I paid for a kindle edition of the Screwtape Letters and I received a random text which had nothing to do with C S Lewis - does that rate as fraud?

Very provocative. ..... Ummmmmmm

I'm not going to review Screwtape because it is too famous. What more can one add?Just want to say I bought the hardcover instead of the ebook because I figured annotations would be awkward in ebook format. I'm glad I did because unlike so many hardcovers nowadays, which use third-rate paper and poor glue jobs for the binding, this one has very decent heavy-ish and almost glossy paper and a SEWN (!) binding. A pleasure to hold in your hand and should last many years. And you will want it to, because it's Lewis.The annotations are quite good. If you love Lewis you will welcome them.

Un clásico para los fans de este autor. Imprescindible —más esta edición anotada y con el extra de "Screwtape Proposes a Toast"— en cualquier librero o estante de quién se diga admirador de Lewis.Una joyita de libro.