Tuesday, October 06, 2020
That Hideous Strength
by C.S. Lewis
First read in March of 2001.
on my shelf
Labels: CSLewis, OnMyShelf, OutoftheSilentPlanetTrilogy
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Out of the Silent Planet
by C.S. Lewis
After reading an article about Out of the Silent Planet over at io9, I decided to pull the book off the shelf for a re-read. It's a tale of a man, Ransom, who gets shanghaied onto the world's first spaceship and is taken to the planet Malacandra. Once there, he manages to escape his captors and encounter the native species. Unlike a lot of the commenters on the blog, I was not put off by the religious overtones. Heck, that was the reason I bought it in the first place. But this time through I tried to pay attention to the science fiction of the tale and see how I liked it. Once I got past the obvious scientific errors--it was written by a literature professor in 1943 after all--I found the story enjoyable. I enjoyed Ransom's journey across the Malacandran landscape, and still found the social structures of the natives somewhat interesting. It's far from Professor Lewis' best work, but it offers a nice little escape for a couple hours.
waiting room material
LibraryThing link
After reading an article about Out of the Silent Planet over at io9, I decided to pull the book off the shelf for a re-read. It's a tale of a man, Ransom, who gets shanghaied onto the world's first spaceship and is taken to the planet Malacandra. Once there, he manages to escape his captors and encounter the native species. Unlike a lot of the commenters on the blog, I was not put off by the religious overtones. Heck, that was the reason I bought it in the first place. But this time through I tried to pay attention to the science fiction of the tale and see how I liked it. Once I got past the obvious scientific errors--it was written by a literature professor in 1943 after all--I found the story enjoyable. I enjoyed Ransom's journey across the Malacandran landscape, and still found the social structures of the natives somewhat interesting. It's far from Professor Lewis' best work, but it offers a nice little escape for a couple hours.
waiting room material
LibraryThing link
Labels: CSLewis, OutoftheSilentPlanetTrilogy, WaitingRoomMaterial
Friday, March 30, 2001
That Hideous Strength
by C. S. Lewis
This one surprised me. That Hideous Strength is part of a science fiction trilogy with a Christian worldview, the third volume after Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra. I thought it would be like the other two: part planetary travelogue, part philosophical adventure. (A philosophical adventure is one where the plot of the story is a backdrop for the characters to spout a bit of philosophy. It sells better than just having the characters sit in a bar, coffee shop, college dorm, or what have you and engage in the same discussion.) Instead, the story takes place on Earth. The science fiction aspects are relatively minor for most of the book, and instead we're treated to diabolical intrigue and low level suspense. I was also slightly surprised at how the story unwound. The first two novels hinted that they were headed toward the ultimate conflict between good and evil on Earth. If anyone has read the book of Revelation in the Bible, you know that that will involve a great deal of conflict and destruction. Ultimately, That Hideous Strength is simply another battle in the war and the planet is left pretty much untouched, save for the characters in the book. But even if my assumed expectations weren't met, the book is extremely satisfying. Lewis is a great writer and can bring a much needed touch of the divine to those of us raised in materialistic 20th Century Western culture. (Our culture has moved away from that, so in that respect, the book is starting to show it's age.) I especially loved how he illustrates God's power made perfect in weakness. Despite the Arthurian overtones, our heroes are not strong, valiant warriors. They win the day by the grace of God. Isn't that true for any of us? Anyway, this one's on my shelf.
LibraryThing link
This one surprised me. That Hideous Strength is part of a science fiction trilogy with a Christian worldview, the third volume after Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra. I thought it would be like the other two: part planetary travelogue, part philosophical adventure. (A philosophical adventure is one where the plot of the story is a backdrop for the characters to spout a bit of philosophy. It sells better than just having the characters sit in a bar, coffee shop, college dorm, or what have you and engage in the same discussion.) Instead, the story takes place on Earth. The science fiction aspects are relatively minor for most of the book, and instead we're treated to diabolical intrigue and low level suspense. I was also slightly surprised at how the story unwound. The first two novels hinted that they were headed toward the ultimate conflict between good and evil on Earth. If anyone has read the book of Revelation in the Bible, you know that that will involve a great deal of conflict and destruction. Ultimately, That Hideous Strength is simply another battle in the war and the planet is left pretty much untouched, save for the characters in the book. But even if my assumed expectations weren't met, the book is extremely satisfying. Lewis is a great writer and can bring a much needed touch of the divine to those of us raised in materialistic 20th Century Western culture. (Our culture has moved away from that, so in that respect, the book is starting to show it's age.) I especially loved how he illustrates God's power made perfect in weakness. Despite the Arthurian overtones, our heroes are not strong, valiant warriors. They win the day by the grace of God. Isn't that true for any of us? Anyway, this one's on my shelf.
LibraryThing link
Labels: CSLewis, OnMyShelf, OutoftheSilentPlanetTrilogy
Thursday, May 18, 2000
Perelandra
by C.S. Lewis
Part two of Lewis' space trilogy, Perelandra is an interesting science fiction tale from the forties which incorporates the Christian worldview into the story. (Actually, that was the first volume. In this one, Christianity is integral to the plot.) Dr. Ransom, is transported to the planet Venus (Perelandra, to the natives) on a mission from God. The bent eldil (angel) from Earth is mounting an invasion and Dr. Ransom is called up to stand against him. Of course, Ransom has to spend a considerable time gawking at the alien scenery first, and then take an occasional break to engage in philosophical discussions. (I find it amusing when characters in stories start philosophizing. It's kind of like finding technical flubs in a movie -- you're instantly pulled out of the fantasy world and become aware of the storyteller.) But all in all, it's a nice little book. Check it out, but make sure you read the first book in the trilogy, Out of the Silent Planet, first.
LibraryThing link
Part two of Lewis' space trilogy, Perelandra is an interesting science fiction tale from the forties which incorporates the Christian worldview into the story. (Actually, that was the first volume. In this one, Christianity is integral to the plot.) Dr. Ransom, is transported to the planet Venus (Perelandra, to the natives) on a mission from God. The bent eldil (angel) from Earth is mounting an invasion and Dr. Ransom is called up to stand against him. Of course, Ransom has to spend a considerable time gawking at the alien scenery first, and then take an occasional break to engage in philosophical discussions. (I find it amusing when characters in stories start philosophizing. It's kind of like finding technical flubs in a movie -- you're instantly pulled out of the fantasy world and become aware of the storyteller.) But all in all, it's a nice little book. Check it out, but make sure you read the first book in the trilogy, Out of the Silent Planet, first.
LibraryThing link
Labels: CheckItOut, CSLewis, OutoftheSilentPlanetTrilogy
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