Shadowlands, although not written by C. S. Lewis, was excellent! I read it over spring break, and I really really enjoyed it. It is a play written by William Nicholson that depicts Lewis' life, from when he meets Joy (his future wife) until her death later in life. It was a heart-wrenching look into the life of a man that up until now I only knew as a dedicated author and intellectual genius.
I know the play was based on the actual life of Lewis, but one thing I'm very curious about is how much of the dialogue is accurate, or how close to real life it comes. One of my favorite aspects of this play was the periodical speeches that Lewis would make standing in front of the audience. At the very end of the play, one of the last lines Lewis says is, "The pain, now. is part of the happiness, then. That's the deal." I think that is a really beautiful concept. In order to really partake of happiness we have to first understand pain. If you go through your whole life never feeling hurt, never getting sad, never feeling loss or pain, than how can you truly understand what happiness is.
We also watched the movie Shadowlands this evening. I thought they did a very good job of depicting the story, very close to what I saw as I read the play. The only part I really didn't like in the movie was when Joy got angry with Lewis and yelled at him, saying they in fact weren't friends. I don't recall that happening in the script, and I wasn't a big fan. Overall though the film was a very beautiful portrayal of one of the most difficult trials a person can go through in this life.
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