Home ➨ As One Devil to Another: Critical Acclaim
Richard Platt writes with … the same elegance, felicity, and sarcastic wit as Lewis did over seventy years ago. In addition, Platt reveals a theological sagacity and psychological acumen that almost matches Lewis's own.
You'll have a hell of a time … C. S. Lewis Scholar Walter Hooper compares Platt's work to Lewis's Screwtape Letters and the association is well deserved … delicious use of the English language. Highly recommended.
As One Devil to Another updates The Screwtape Letters in a manner that would have delighted Lewis. … With both savage wit and deep compassion, Platt … never loses his step and even surprises us with an ending that will leave readers with an impish grin on their lips.
Armed with thorough knowledge of Lewis' work and a deft, creative touch, Richard Platt uses keenly edged satire to slice through the sham in our human failings and posturing, and the form those take in modern culture. In the winsome tradition of The Screwtape Letters, this immensely entertaining and deeply instructive book uses irony to cast a positive vision of the truth about human destiny and potential …
Does Platt succeed in making his letters worthy of comparison to Lewis? Yes!
Most who come to As One Devil to Another, Richard Platt's homage to The Screwtape Letters, will already be devotees of C. S. Lewis. They will not be disappointed… There is even a Narnian cameo at the end … ventriloquism on behalf of devilry is not easy, as is clear from attempts by others … It is impressive, therefore, that Platt has been able to maintain a high standard over 31 letters, the same number as in the original … it forces us to ask those questions which, as individuals, we need always to ask …
Working within the tradition that the master perfected, Richard Platt brings a signature all his own to the genre of diabolical correspondence: social satire and psychological incisiveness that are timely, timeless, and telling. If you are skeptical, then skip ahead to letters VII and XVII (among my favorites) for a taste of what Platt serves up, but only a taste, for the story and its final surprise must be enjoyed as they emerge from the whole.
To cap my Lenten reading I chose As One Devil to Another, an inspired choice. It is a wonderful book—vastly intelligent, perceptive, inspirational. This book definitely fulfills a need; everyone should read it who can read. Those who can't should have it read at them. I am better for having read it…sparking metaphors… It is a wise book as well as a tremendous read. It insists on being read.
A witty and amusing insight into the wiles of fallen angels. Most enjoyable.
… reading As One Devil to Another one feels you are reading the lost Screwtape letters. … the narrative voice sounds just like Lewis. … Other authors have tried, and in my opinion failed, to create a "modern" Screwtape Letters. If the goal is to create an updated version of Screwtape, then As One Devil to Another is the winner.
… witty and entertaining… skillfully reproduces the style of C. S. Lewis and opens up the fiendish correspondence in valuable ways!
Not many would have the guts to take a modern twist on a C.S. Lewis classic, but author Richard Platt has done just that with his first novel As One Devil to Another. … At the end of the read, you have to tip your hat to Platt, because As One Devil to Another is enlightening and causes any reader to look inward … For obvious reasons, this book will appeal to ravenous C.S. Lewis fans …
My Dear Uncle Slashreap,
You ask my reactions to the letters published by one Richard Platt entitled As One Devil to Another … a meretricious work of imagination after the fashion of the same detestable Lewis whose witty barbs at our expense we had thought finally to be rid of. What makes it dangerously insidious is that unfortunately all of it is true. Rest assured, however, that we have done our work too well to have it undone by this resurrected Lewis. We have little to fear from the exposure of your letters and can look forward with relish to the day when we partake of this author — as our Platt du Jour!
Your loving nephew,
Scardagger
[With thanks to Dr. Sanford Lakoff, Emeritus Professor of Political Science, University of California, San Diego for discovering this communication.]