A Severe Mercy…
Just finished A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken. Great read. Would highly suggest it for anyone struggling with grief, disappointment, or simply those C.S. Lewis aficionado’s.
here’s a synopsis….
A Severe Mercy is a love story. It is a story of two intelligent, eager, life-loving young people falling in love, deeply in love and giving themselves wholly and fully to one another. What follows is a story of their journey through life together as happy pagans, seeing the world, engaging in deep, meaningful and thoughtful friendships, and seeking to find legitimate answers to their own metaphysical questions. In the process they fall in with some kind, thoughtful, and alive Christians at Oxford where they journey through their difficulties with Christianity and both eventually come to faith. One player in the story is C.S. Lewis who becomes a great friend of “Van” and is an instrumental part of helping him through his questions. Following both of their conversions, the story outlines their less than ten years of marriage, followed by Davy’s (the wife) death. The remainder of the book is a story of grief, struggle, celebration, honesty, and hopeful, though still painful resolution.
It’s a way overused phrase, but it’s a “thought provoking” book that sketches a beautiful and honest search for truth in two intelligent people. It is also a wonderful picture of passion, beauty, friendship, pain, and life. Again, if you’re a Lewis fan, you’ll enjoy reading it, and even if not, this book has much to offer the open and thoughtful.
