The Screwtape Letters [With CDs & DVD]: First Ever Full-Cast Dramatization of the Diabolical Classic (Radio Theatre)

This is so great to take a day off from work and listen to it all the way theough to the end, whether you stay in bed all day or lounge on the sofa with a hot brew and a packet of your favourite biscuits.

My husband loves this ebook.

I've always had an idea in my head about what Screwtape would sound like - very reserved and clipped. Andy Serkis does a great job here of putting a whole new spin on things as the under-secretary of a department in hell.The dramatisation brings out the themes and characters in a whole new way. It wasn't cheap, but worth the money and a great addition to my Lewis collection.

Absolutely brilliant and recommended to anyone.

Don't bother trying to read the book. Just play this, maybe whilst on a journey. It is brilliant, as well as entertaining

A fantastic dramatisation of these letters that breathes a huge amount of wisdom into the psyche. A very professional production.

I certainly agree with what has been said so far about this excellent quality dramatisation, with some minor reservations.Some customers may be mislead by the way in which Amazon advertise this product, although the dedicated website setup by Focus on the Family does help clarify what you will actually get when you buy this "audio Drama". It is advertised by Amazon as a DVD, but in practice, it is a multimedia package comprising a DVD and four CD's. The CD's contain the full drama in full stereo, including some suitably spooky stereo illustrations to underline particularly diabolical utterances. The actual drama takes up three full CD's and two to three final scenes spill on to the fourth CD. The remainder of the fourth disc has 10 songs which are supposedly inspired by The Screwtape Letters and four of the songs are used as background music within the actual drama itself. The fourth CD is then concluded by CS Lewis's afterword to the Screwtape Letters written in the 1960's and an afterword from Focus on the family. Right at the very end, there is even a "Ghost scene".The DVD contains short films or trailers for the dramatised Screwtape Letters, with much of the material appearing on the dedicated website set up by Focus on the Family to promote this product. There is also a 5.1 surround sound mix of the audio drama, with the dialogue conforming to the standard cinema audio norms, i.e. most of the dialogue is heard in the centre of a virtual screen with music and effects swirling around you.Although this is dramatised, the text is faithful for the most part to Lewis's original writing, but in some cases, the examples Screwtape uses to amplify some of his points are left out, presumably to keep the drama fast moving. For example, when Screwtape teaches his nephew about attractive traits between men and women, there is a reference in the book to the fact that demons have taught women to dislike men's beards, the drama refers to the fact that the dark spirits have taught the humans to focus on secondary characteristics of attraction which are of no lasting benefit, but leaves out the reference to men's beards and also omits the fact that the preference of men for women who look like boys is partly in keeping with the age of jazz. Also, given that this production is presumably designed for Americans, certain English colloquialisms are translated for their convenience, hence Booby is translated as Idiot.Given that so much effort has been put into trying to maintain an authenticity to Lewis's original text, some of these omissions and translations seem a little strange and the songs associated with this production don't appear to have much relevance other than that some of them are used as backing music in the drama. I am slightly surprised that these songs weren't for example used as interludes in the DVD surround mix providing natural breaks or rest bites from the drama. I therefore can't help thinking that I would have preferred more of the original text if it meant that the fourth disc was better used rather than having these peculiar songs., the songs are not bad songs in their own right, but they don't really add to the drama in my view.To Conclude, this multimedia package appears to have been designed so that a large family can enjoy it individually or all together and it also seems to be designed to appeal to a visual audience who are not used to radio dramas. I don't personally set much store by their reference to cinema sound, so the CD's would be my preferred way of listening to this production and the DVD is perhaps more suitable for those who prefer cinema style presentation.

Screwtape Letters is one of my favourite books, so I approached this production with some apprehension. I need not have feared. Andy Serkis is the personification of Screwtape. Various imaginative devices are used with good effect to bring the letters to life and to locate the action in a real time and place. The edge to the relationship between the two demons builds beautifully, and I thoroughly enjoyed the evocation of the working machinery of hell as a dreary (un?)civil service.

This spiritual classic needs little introduction, unless one is unfamiliar with the excellent works of C.S. Lewis. Read just off the page, the book is brimming with deep wisdom and insight as to how the devils attack us at our weakest points. Each letters is packed to the gills with clues to our truest nature and the pitfalls we all face. An example? These linesfrom letter seven are haunting:"The attitude which you want to guard against is that in which temporal affairsare treated primarily as material for obedience. Once you have made the World anend, and faith a means, you have almost won your man, and it makes very littledifference what kind of worldly end he is pursuing. Provided that meetings,pamphlets, policies, movements, causes, and crusades, matter more to him thanprayers and sacraments and charity, he is ours - and the more "religious" (onthose terms) the more securely ours. I could show you a pretty cageful downhere"This explains so much confusion in the world today-Add Andy Sirkis and Focus on the family and what you have is a tour de force presentation that the whole family can enjoy and be edified by. The sound is excellent as we have come to expect from focus on the family. The added dialogue is perfect, not overdone, but illustrative. It leaves C.S. Lewis' intentions fully in tact while adding another dimension of the experience with Uncle Screwtape.In surprise to a few of the negative reviews of this excellent production and particularly to C.S. Lewis' letters themselves, Midwest Guy said "took 1000 words to say what can be said in 10" If you think you can say in 10 words what C.S. Lewis said in 1000, you are either some kind of genius or you have no idea what C.S. Lewis is saying.This is an excellent production of the Screwtape Letters and more than worth the cost of admission.

While the effects are well done and they put a lot together to make this work, it doesn't fall in line with the original source material, nor the screenplay. It has the right words and Wormwood is quite good, but the humour is completely lost in the producer's attempt to make it dark and scary. So much effort is made to give this a horror jibe that the feel Lewis intended is completely lost. I actually prefer the screenplay to the novel, however this execution of it was not to my taste. I was aghast when I gave this as a gift with some hope they would laugh and learn ("advice not to take" as my father said to me when he gifted me a copy of the book) but instead they went on a horror show.

There is not much else to say that this is very well done. The Screwtape Letters was a hard book to follow in some parts, but Focus on the Family Radio Theatre did an outstanding job again. I love listening to dramatized books in general, and I don't think anyone could have done a better job! The actors did an amazing job! The script writers did a great job making the book into a dramatized audio script!I will say that this is a book that you need to take in sips. I can listen to many things all the way through, but I can't listen to more then a cd at a time with this because it is so deep, and so dark. Which is how it was written and how it is supposed to be. C. S. Lewis's idea of reverse teaching is very affective. I have been waiting a long time for this to be finished and I am not disappointed!

Amazing! Andy Serkis as Screwtape was an incredible, bring to life type performances. All other actors were a strong supporting cast. This is not only entertaining; but Lewis' work is educational as well.Great production quality & the bonus music inspired by 'The Screwtape Letters; was a fantastic addition. I would love to see this become available for digital download so you could listen to it on your tablets, phones, etc. (Are you listening Audible?) . Very happy with purchase...you won't go wrong here.

I absolutely love Andy Serkis (Gollum from Lord of the Rings) voicing Screwtape!! Make sure you play the entire last track - there’s about half a minute of silence, followed by a delightful “post credits” sequence.I’ve purchased several copies of this presentation for friends. I used my computer’s CD player to make a mp3 digital copy for my phone, so I can listen to it whenever I want.