C.S. Lewis - An Inspiration to my Life as a Writer…and a Man

Daniel Hietala

C.S. Lewis was my gateway drug to reading—and the spark that ignited my hunger to write.

The fact that Lewis was a Christian, that his Narnia series brimmed with biblical allegory, seemed almost too good to be true. Growing up in a Christian home where my identity in Christ formed early, I had few cultural or literary heroes outside pure theology and church history. Lewis's Narnia books revealed something startling: I actually enjoyed reading.

This was quite the discovery for a preteen navigating a tumultuous, if memorable and character-building, childhood. There was little structured space—or even thought—for reading beyond the Bible. Books were library things, school things, adult obligations I had to endure. I struggled with reading comprehension, plodded through pages slowly, and had the attention span of—well, someone extremely ADD.

Then came sixth grade and those dreaded monthly book reports. No avoiding the monotonous task now. That's when the door opened to true magic.

A magic built through humorously insightful descriptions of children discovering mythical worlds. Creatures behaving in the most heroic or devious ways. A distorted but true looking glass of our actual world. I devoured the Narnian adventures and eagerly moved to his more verbose sci-fi trilogy, starting with Out of the Silent Planet.

The impact an author can have on you as a human being is quite amazing. Just as I grew out of children's stories (though I've re-read Narnia multiple times as an adult with nearly equal pleasure), I grew into his nonfiction works that exposed the "mere" logic of Christianity against the secular perspective on Truth. His books calcified my faith and provided one of the main anchors that helped me weather the assault of college—where books and professors, even unintentionally, have a way of making your values feel childish and insignificant.

No, Lewis was just as brilliant as any academic who ever lived. But his imagination and unapologetic pleasure in poking holes in secular academia made him a literary and philosophical giant. What grounded him, though, was his authentically pious Christian attitude—his kindness and grace toward his fellow man.

I can honestly say I wouldn't be the person, writer, believer, professional, father, or man I am today without an author named Clive Staples Lewis.