Most fans of JK Rowling should know that one of her main influences often quoted is the Irish writer CS Lewis. Born in Belfast, Ireland in 1863 Lewis is perhaps best known for his book series 'The Chronicles of Narnia' - which, like Rowling's Harry Potter books - was a 7 book series of fantasy. He was also a scholar and leading figure of the English faculty at Oxford Univerity.

I've looked into Lewis' works and I have found him to be a really interesting person. He converted to Christianity after being an atheist until he was 35 I believe, having become one at the age of 13. Speaking of his conversion, he said;

"You must picture me alone in that room in Magdalen, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England".

I am currently reading two of his books: "Mere Christianity" and "The Problem of Pain". Both are so far great reads and I'd recommend them to anyone.

Has anyone else read any of CS Lewis' books, any fans of his, anyone planning on picking up a copy of one of his books, the man who influenced the wonderful JK Rowling, who gave us the world of Harry Potter?

I have read all of the Chronicles of Narnia and i loved them. C.S. Lewis is a brilliant writer and i love his story plot and characters.

I've read two or three of his Chronical or Narnia books... The Magician's Nephew and The Lion the Whitch and the Wardrobe I think. They were pretty good

I read the first three books in the Chronicals of Narnia, and I also read "The Screwtape Letters", which was a very fasinating book. I would recommend it to anyone who likes Lewis, except that the entire book is about demons and the devil, so if that would bother you then don't read it.

I am planning on reading "Mere Christianity". I thought that looked pretty interesting. Actually, I think all his books seem very interesting.

I really enjoyed the Chronicles of Narnia books that I read. One of these days I may finish the series. I especially enjoyed "The Horse and his Boy". Of the ones I've read, that was probably my favorite.

I have just read the hole Chronicles of Narnia series, and they all are great, he has a lot of influence by Tolkein being his friend for many years, for me he creates just another magical world just like tolkein but much more easy to understand by yunger people, not needing so much background as you need for TLOTR.

CS Lewis is a great writter even when the chronicles are quite short he is able to make them apear real in your mind with uot too much description. I love his work.

I heard that CS Lewis was actually one of the first people to read the Lord of the Rings. They were in a group called "The Inklings" and they met to discuss books and read each others manuscripts. There's a book about about Lewis and Tolkein, I think it's called "CS Lewis and JRR Tolkein: The Power of Friendship" in which it tells that "without Lewis, there would have been no Tolkein, and without Tolkein, there would have been no Lewis". Both men influenced the other greatly. Two truly awesome minds.

Ive read '''The Magicians Nephew'' and Im currently reading ''The Boy and His Horse'', C.S.Lewis is fantstic author. Killian, Ive also heard of ''The Inklings''. That was really awesome that Tolkien and Lewis word together.

Really the only books I've read by C.S. Lewis are the Chronicles of Narnia. That happens to be one of my favorite series of all time. Every now and then I read one of the books aloud to my younger siblings. We all love the world of Narnia he created. There are many times in the past where we've gone out into the woods behind our house and pretended we had been pulled into Narnia.



I absolutely agree. They both did have truly amazing minds. J.R.R. Tolkein is another of my favorite authors. The Lord of the Rings is a family favorite along with Narnia. Some really great series.

Chelsea

I've read all of the Chronicles of Narnia multiple times. And I think my favorite of those is either The Last Battle or The Silver Chair. Although I like them all. I just particularly love those two for what happens and the lessons contained within. Especially The Silver Chair, what happens when they don't listen to Aslan and they haven't been reciting the rules, and how it all works out for the best, anyway. *hopes that didn't give anything away*

I also read The Screwtape Letters, which I found utterly fascinating. It's true it's about demons and the devil, but...wow. Actually, I want to go reread it now.

I actually think JK Rowling's main influence are the authors of King Arthur legends. I just turned in a ten page research paper on the parallels presented between worlds and it was simply incredible how many there were. I actually enjoyed writing the paper because I was already familiar with part of my topic and I came up with my own parallels. However, I also looked into parallels between and the Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter, and there were lots there but many more in Harry Potter and King Arthur.