Why are the Classic's important? Why read them? Because "in reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like the night sky in the Greek poem, I see with a myriad eyes, but it is still I who see. Here, as in worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do." (C.S. Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism)
Martin said in his introduction to Reading the Classics with C.S. Lewis, "Lewis's mind was nurtured on the study of literature." Literature was so important to Lewis that he spent a great deal of time analyzing how it affected his thinking.
C.S. Lewis's breadth of impact and influence on the literature of our time is significant. His Oxford education, personal character and creativity is only a starting place.
His knowledge of important literature is deep, and his skills as a theologian, poet, fantasy and science fiction writer give him a deep well to dip into for inspiration.
His understanding of what he writes is not just other authors but from his own personal experiences. This connects him to those who also have struggled.
