It seems that often there is a marked dearth of books that manage to be theologically fairly orthodox without also being evangelical or overly conservative. Rather, authors tend to take either an extremely liberal approach to theology, or an extremely conservative one, rarely exploring the vast middle ground between. Fortunately, in 'The Great Divorce', C.S. Lewis managed to get the mix about right. I first read this book in junior high, when it was already a few decades old; it is older now, but the message, since it is not particularly tied to one time or one denomination is ageless. In the short book, denizens of Hell are given the chance to take a bus ride into Heaven. You would expect, with such a premise, that the entire tome would become a treatise on salvation and deliverance. It does not, however. Rather, Lewis uses his story as a metaphor for how we live our own lives- showing those in Hell not as necessarily bad people, but as people who would rather let their shortcomings overcome them, rather than confronting and trying to surpass their own failings. He presents the alternative- recognizing our problems for what they are, and working to rise above them- eloquently, showing we become more 'real' as we search for Truth. While Lewis himself obviously holds to Christian tradition, where Truth also involves acknowledging God, the book is not overly preachy, and could probably be read apart from the faith and still appreciated. In the end, it's a beautiful, well done meditation on sin and forgiveness, on truth and denial, on choosing life (really living) over death (existing). Definitely worth checking out.