A friend and I have been reading Mere Christianity together book by book. She's a devout Christian and I'm agnostic; the experience of being able to discuss this book with her was far better than the book itself (which is not to say the book is not good).

Lewis begins (in "Book I: Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe") by trying to lay out a rhetorically sound argument for Christianity from outside Christianity. I disagreed with him at almost every turn in Book I, sometimes because I disagreed with him and sometimes because he has a tendency to use analogies which don't quite hold up to close reading. This tendency (and a habit of not quoting sources (particularly the Bible) when doing so would be very helpful) made it sometimes difficult to follow him (and made me very glad of my friend, who could explain some Christian precepts and with whom I could suss out a salvageable meaning in some of his more frustrating analogies), even when I found I probably agreed with him. A good book in that it made me think and engage, if one with which I am at odds because of my views and because of some of Lewis's failings in his discussion. There are also some moments in which Lewis enlightens some Christian beliefs elegantly. Guardedly recommended for anyone interested in Christianity, religion, or C.S. Lewis. ( )