C.S. Lewis published his autobiography Surprised by Joy in 1955. The book traces major stages of his intellectual and spiritual development, from childhood through his return to Christianity.
The title refers to Lewis’s distinctive idea of “joy,” a sudden and often painful longing triggered by experiences of beauty, literature, or imagination. He presents this feeling as different from ordinary happiness and uses it as a thread connecting episodes from his education and reading life. The narrative includes his childhood imagination, years of atheism, service in the First World War, and academic experiences.
Surprised by Joy is not a complete chronological record of every event in Lewis’s life. It concentrates on the formation of his mind and beliefs, and it ends before several important later events, including his marriage to Joy Davidman. Readers seeking a fuller personal chronology often compare it with letters, biographies, and Warren Lewis’s accounts.