Unseen CS Lewis letter defines his notion of joy | Books | The Guardian

Unseen CS Lewis letter defines his notion of joy | Books | The Guardian

Lewis discusses joy in a letter found tucked into a copy of Lewis's The Problem of Pain which was bought in a used bookshop.

"Real joy seems to me almost as unlike security or prosperity as it is unlike agony...."

"It jumps under one's ribs and tickles down one's back and makes one forget meals and keeps one (delightedly) sleepless o' nights. It shocks one awake when the other puts one to sleep. My private table is one second of joy is worth 12 hours of Pleasure. I think you really quite agree with me."

In a postscript, he added:

"Don't you know the disappointment when you expected joy from a piece of music and get only pleasure: Like finding Leah when you thought you'd married Rachel!"