Surprised by Joy

Surprised by Joy
C. S. Lewis

For many years an atheist, C. S. Lewis vividly describes the spiritual quest that convinced him of the truth and reality of Christianity, in his famous autobiography.“In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God … perhaps the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.” Thus Lewis describes memorably the crisis of his conversion.‘Surprised by Joy’ reveals both that crisis and its momentous conclusion that would determine the shape of Lewis’s entire life.

C. S. LEWIS

SURPRISED

BY JOY

THE SHAPE OF MY EARLY LIFE

‘Surprised by Joy – impatient as the wind.’

WORDSWORTH

Copyright (#ulink_53d27a57-1aa4-5448-af7a-5b4590e8656a)

William Collins

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.WilliamCollinsBooks.com (http://www.WilliamCollinsBooks.com)

First published in Great Britain by Geoffrey Bles 1955

Copyright © C. S. Lewis Pte Ltd 1955

Cover design and illustration by Kimberly Glyder

The right of C. S. Lewis to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780007461271

Ebook Edition © OCTOBER 2010 ISBN: 9780007332311

Version: 2015-12-05

Dedication (#ulink_4233b321-bdef-5c07-9a05-cfcd01c94c27)

To Dom Bede Griffiths, O.S.B.

Contents

Cover (#ue562b35d-9ba5-52f0-a958-c97824fe2626)

Title Page (#u18ccbfed-e070-5a08-bc30-e5fd30d57352)

Copyright (#u1e0a846a-229f-5f12-af12-c9743c650427)

Dedication (#u89616f55-96cb-5edb-98c8-e99e85bda58f)

PREFACE (#u2550e70c-5f16-570f-a580-a91edf5e9ff5)

1 THE FIRST YEARS (#u13392d5b-7b90-5cf6-a428-be9b677c84d3)

2 CONCENTRATION CAMP (#ufaac3cd0-939c-5106-8c9a-14cd01c37f7e)

3 MOUNTBRACKEN AND CAMPBELL (#u08807b49-2fa8-50ad-a56f-8b8b50db86ce)

4 I BROADEN MY MIND (#u0401ba02-269b-5572-b9ea-ce19b25a1cbc)

5 RENAISSANCE (#litres_trial_promo)

6 BLOODERY (#litres_trial_promo)

7 LIGHT AND SHADE (#litres_trial_promo)

8 RELEASE (#litres_trial_promo)

9 THE GREAT KNOCK (#litres_trial_promo)

10 FORTUNE’S SMILE (#litres_trial_promo)

11 CHECK (#litres_trial_promo)

12 GUNS AND GOOD COMPANY (#litres_trial_promo)

13 THE NEW LOOK (#litres_trial_promo)

14 CHECKMATE (#litres_trial_promo)

15 THE BEGINNING (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

Also in This Series: (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

PREFACE (#ulink_d9c0f2e9-6839-5a1e-9b08-ff43f389793c)