Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life is a partial autobiography published by C.S. Lewis in 1955. Specifically the book describes the author's conversion to Christianity. An autobiography (from the Greek auton, self, bios, life and graphein, write) is a biography written by the subject or composed conjointly with a collaborative writer (styled as told to or with). The term dates from the late eighteenth century, but the form is much older. ... Clive Staples Lewis (November 29, 1898 – November 22, 1963), commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis, was an author and scholar. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The neutrality of this article is disputed. ...

The book overall contains less detail concerning specific events than a typical autobiography. This is because Lewis' purpose in writing about his life was not primarily for historical purposes; instead, his aim was to identify and describe the events surrounding his accidental discovery of and consequent search for the phenomenon he labeled "Joy". This word was the best translation he could make of the German idea of Sehnsucht, or longing. That is not to say that the book is devoid of information about his life. Lewis recounts and remembers his early years with a measure of amusement sometimes mixed with pain. However, while he does describe his life, the principal theme of the book is "Joy" as he defined it for his own purpose. Sehsucht could refer to Sehnsucht, German, longing Sehnsucht, an album by Rammstein Sehnsucht, the first track on that album Sehnsucht, a film directed in 1920 by F.W. Murnau, which has since been lost. ...

The book's last two chapters cover the end of his search as he makes the leap from atheism to theism and then from theism to Christianity. Lewis ultimately discovers the true nature and purpose of Joy and its place in his own life. Atheism, in its broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of any deities. ... Theism is the belief in one or more gods or goddesses. ... The neutrality of this article is disputed. ...

The book has no connection with Lewis' unexpected marriage in later life to Joy Gresham. This marriage occurred long after the period described, though not long after the book was published. Lewis' friends and contemporaries were not slow to notice the coincidence, frequently remarking that Lewis had really been "Surprised by Joy". Helen Joy Gresham née Davidman (November 1915 - 1960) was a poet, a politically radical Jewish convert to orthodox Christianity, mother of David Gresham and Douglas Gresham, and wife of C. S. Lewis. ...

External link

Notes on Quotations & Allusions in Surprised by Joy

Index to authors and works quoted in Surprised by Joy