He is known around the world as the author of the most popular series The Chronicles of Narnia, but few people know that Clive Staples Lewis was also a poet, philosopher, a tireless preacher of Christian values, a World War I veteran and a truly amazing person whose life was full of meaning and supreme joy.
Childhood, youth, young years
Clive Staples Lewis was born November 29, 1898 in the Irish city of Belfast. His father worked as a lawyer, and his mother, a member of a noble Scottish family, was engaged in housekeeping and raised Clive and his older brother Warren. It was the mother who instilled in little Clive a love of literature, folklore, linguistics, he literally idolized his mother, but when he was not ten, she died. A sullen, laconic, drinking father sent the boy to a closed school, and this happy, carefree childhood ended.
After the death of his mother, religious Clive previously lost faith in God. After studying at the school that he hated, Clive went to Oxford, but did not have time to enjoy his student life - in 1917 he was drafted into the army, and he went to the front. One day before the fight, Clive and his friend Paddy Moore vowed that they would take care of each other's families in case one of them dies. In that battle, Paddy died, Clive was injured, and he was found unfit for further service. Clive fulfilled his promise - until the death of his mother Paddy, he took care of her and her daughter.
After graduating from Oxford, Clive received a master's degree and in the same Oxford began to give lectures on English literature. He was destined to work here for thirty-six years.
Creation
In 1930, unexpectedly for all, a convinced atheist Clive Lewis turned to God and returned to the fold of the Church of England. It was during this period that he began to write a lot and fruitfully, as if inspired by his newfound faith. But he was interested not only in religious subjects, Lewis suddenly became interested in the fantastic genre, which in those years became more and more popular. And acquaintance with Professor Tolkien, the future author of the famous "Lord of the Rings", played an important role here. By the way, the prototype of the protagonist of the "Space Trilogy" traveling from planet to planet philologist Ransom, was the same John Tolkien, a friend and colleague of Lewis.
In 1950, Lewis published a children's story, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The success exceeded the author’s wildest expectations, and in six years he wrote six more books from the cycle, which brought him worldwide fame and secured a solid place in the golden fund of science fiction. The Chronicles of Narnia has been translated into 47 languages; more than 100 million books have been sold since the first publication. The fairy tale about the country of Narnia, which can be reached through the door of an ordinary wardrobe, reflected the author’s religious beliefs, and allusions to the biblical narrative were clearly visible in it.
