All My Road Before Me: The Diary of 1922–1927: The Diary of C.S.Lewis, 1922-27 - Softcover

The diary of C.S. Lewis from 1922-1927; a rare glimpse into the early life of one of Britain’s greatest writers of the 20th century.

When C.S. Lewis was 23 years old and an Oxford undergraduate, he began a diary. At the time he was living with the new ‘family’ he had acquired; Mrs Moore and her daughter, Maureen. Mrs Moore was the mother of Lewis’s room-mate, Paddy. When they were called up the two young men had apparently promised to care for each other’s parents should one of them fall in battle. Paddy had been killed and Lewis began an intimate involvement with the Moores which was to continue until Mrs Moore’s death in 1951.

In his diary Lewis tells of his diligent work to achieve First Class degrees in Classic and English and his search for an academic position. At this stage Lewis was an atheist and expresses his objections to faith.

All My Road Before Me provides a fascinating insight ‘inside the skin’ of the brilliant, young academic with a complicated, and often tiresome, domestic situation. The hum-drum details of daily life are interspersed with startling observations and reflections, and many personal revelations of Lewis’s thought-life and relationships.

Friday 4 June (1926): . . . A beautiful misty warm morning, the mist all transparent and luminous with concealed sunshine, wood pigeons making a noise in the grove, and a heavy dew. It suggested autumn and gave me a sudden whiff of what I used to call 'the real joy'. C. S. LEWIS

C. S. Lewis made several short-lived attempts to keep a diary when he was a boy. At the age of 23, now an undergraduate at Oxford, he begins a new diary which will span five years. 'All My Road Before Me' gives a rare glimpse into his private life. He is living with his newly acquired 'family' consisting of Mrs Moore, the mother of his room-mate who has died in the War, and her daughter Maureen. It is a domestic situation open to question and 'Jack', as he is known, conceals the arrangement from his father.

The diary chronicles the daily events of Lewis's life – his friendships, his likes and dislikes, his country walks, his books and his college work. The details of everyday life are interspersed with startling observations and reflections. The diary gives a fascinating insight 'inside the skin' of this brilliant young academic, still an atheist, who is later to turn to the Christian faith and become one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.