CS Lewis Space Trilogy

[thalberg]

Who has read this?  Thoughts?  I think it's the greatest.  Loved it.

[Derek]

I adore it also. "That Hideous Strength" is one of many C.S. Lewis books which has led to me considering myself a Christian. C.S. Lewis was God's gift to stubborn modern intellectuals. Especially his book "Miracles"

[ted]

The first two I did not like very much. I found the first part of "That Hideous Strength" brilliant but the ending rather twee, although that could have been due to an uncanny parallel between circumstances and atmosphere in the story and the New Zealand political reforms of the eighties, when I read the book. Certain of his characters are unforgettable - Withers, Frost, Pinkie and so on - and I found almost precise equivalents in our government of the time. I dare say that is not quite what the author had in mind though.

Aside from that I have not read much Lewis. I thought "Through the Shadowlands", in its original television version with Joss Ackand and Claire Bloom a superbly acted little film and far superior to the Hopkins/Winger effort. The only place I could buy it was on the internet, with the result that I am now bombarded with emails, letters and advertisements from a place called Christian Books. This is proving a source of great amusement for my wife and friends.

[arensky]

A friend recently told me to read them, he feels that they are relevent to my current mental state and that I would get a lot out of them. I bought the first two and intend to start reading them soon. I'll report back when I'm done with them.

[thalberg]

A friend recently told me to read them, he feels that they are relevent to my current mental state and that I would get a lot out of them. I bought the first two and intend to start reading them soon. I'll report back when I'm done with them.

Fascinating!  What is your current mental state?  You can PM me if you want.

[arensky]

Fascinating!  What is your current mental state?  You can PM me if you want.

L

LOL that sounds rather dramatic, "current mental state" 

I'm OK, just at a crossroads in my life and not quite sure what to do next. What I do now will influence most of the rest of my life and so naturally I want to do the right thing. I'm not sure what that is and it's not making itself readily apparent. There are several options, don't want to screw up...

Oh well. This too will resolve, like all the problems before it. 

[thalberg]

L

LOL that sounds rather dramatic, "current mental state" 

I'm OK, just at a crossroads in my life and not quite sure what to do next. What I do now will influence most of the rest of my life and so naturally I want to do the right thing. I'm not sure what that is and it's not making itself readily apparent. There are several options, don't want to screw up...

Oh well. This too will resolve, like all the problems before it. 

I am at the same sort of crossroads.  Decisions are so hard!  Especially when they're major.  Perhaps you and I should go to the chat room sometime and discuss decision making methods.  I found a great article on decision making in wikipedia.

[arensky]

Just finished "Out of the Silent Planet". Definitely one of the best books I've read in a while; part philosophy, part comic book sci fi.  Lewis seems to be addressing humanism vs. religion through the characters of Weston and Devine (humanism) and the Malacandrans and Oyarsa (religion). Ransom is everyman, caught between the two and forced to make a choice, as we all have to evantually. It's also about "civilised" man vs. the natural world. Great stuff, thought provoking. I've started "Perelandra". A good read too, so far.

[thalberg]

Just finished "Out of the Silent Planet". Definitely one of the best books I've read in a while; part philosophy, part comic book sci fi.  Lewis seems to be addressing humanism vs. religion through the characters of Weston and Devine (humanism) and the Malacandrans and Oyarsa (religion). Ransom is everyman, caught between the two and forced to make a choice, as we all have to evantually. It's also about "civilised" man vs. the natural world. Great stuff, thought provoking. I've started "Perelandra". A good read too, so far.

Wow!  I'm so glad you liked it.  I absolutely loved Out of the Silent Planet.  Yet I still must say Perelandra was my favorite.  I just could not put it down.

I thought Silent Planet was, as you said, part philosophy etcetera.  But it also dealt with the arts in an ingenius way, especially music.  Ransom could not understand their music at first, but after hearing a lot of it and then having a deep emotional experience on their planet (the death of his friend) then it suddenly made sense to him.

Anyway I look forward to your thoughts on Perelandra.  Are you still at a crossroads in your life?  Is it more of a philosophical one that will determine in what manner you live, or is it more of a directional one that will determine lots of future activities and locales? 

[arensky]

I thought Silent Planet was, as you said, part philosophy etcetera.  But it also dealt with the arts in an ingenius way, especially music.  Ransom could not understand their music at first, but after hearing a lot of it and then having a deep emotional experience on their planet (the death of his friend) then it suddenly made sense to him.

I think Lewis uses music in this instance to show the universality of grief and suffering and the role that music has in communication, and as a healing catharsis. I'm not sure what's going to happen in the next two books but perhaps music is part of a puzzle that Ransom (a philologist) must solve. We shall see what happens.

Are you still at a crossroads in your life?  Is it more of a philosophical one that will determine in what manner you live, or is it more of a directional one that will determine lots of future activities and locales? 

 
Yes, and it's both of those. Manner, direction; it's hard to differentiate the two, seems that they should go hand in hand. The philosophical aspects are becoming clearer. The physical direction I should go in is still not clear. Fortunately the light at this crossroads is a flashing yellow one and there's no traffic (like early in the morning) so I can pull over and think about it for awhile. The answer will come eventually. 

[ted]

I'm afraid I am very dull when it comes to major decisions. My type of psyche finds it next to impossible to understand people like Lewis, who by his own admission seemed to have no idea why he made life choices, but just made them instantly in quasi mystical fashion - "diving into water" or "while riding a motorcycle to the zoo". I am closer to the Huxley mentality, which finds solutions best under conditions of deep intellect, stasis and serenity rather than emotional chaos and crisis. Everything about me is slow (except my musical creation !) , and I seem to require prolonged contemplation in order that insight may occur. I have tried the other way, of course, you try everything when you are younger, but I brought sufficient discomfort on myself to learn that it just doesn't work for me. Also, I deeply distrust anything which does not promote a syncretic whole in all of life's aspects. I like everything to be connected to everything else while still evolving dynamically. Rather an alarming number of my friends persist in making life decisions which essentially negate their previous deeply felt states of mind, thus cutting off bits of their past consciousness, as it were. The trouble is that they seem to keep on and on with these drastic changes, each of which negates the last. Consequently many of them , now in their fifties and sixties, are very restless and unhappy, although in some cases materially successful. Of course, they may see me as a singularly dull individual. If they do they are probably too polite to say.   

[thalberg]

Wow!  Two great replies here and I missed them.  I was taking a little break from the forum.

Arensky, how is your reading going?

And Ted, that was a really fascinating response.  When I read it I wanted to pick up the phone and call you!  Haha......

The reason why it struck me so much is because I have made decisions that negated my previous states of mind, and it has made my life very,very difficult at times.  I'm now trying to reconnect with those things and integrate my life and it's very hard.

When I read your response I wanted you to elaborate on it and tell me about these friends, and I also wanted to know how you arrived at that insight.  Very interesting.

[Bob]

What else did CS Lewis write?  Did he do Narnia?  I know I read something by him.  I recognize the name.  It wasn't about space though.

Or the tripod trilogy?

[gerry]

Thank you Ted for another fascinating and illuminating commentary. I wish more forum postings were as well thought out and cogently written as yours often are.

[Bob]

What else did CS Lewis write? Did he do Narnia? I know I read something by him. I recognize the name. It wasn't about space though.

Or the tripod trilogy?

It's Narnia.

[arensky]

Arensky, how is your reading going?

I finished Perelandra about a week ago, but have been rereading the last chapter since then. It's incredible, and pretty much how I have always conceived of the universe. Like the "Great Dance".

I've misplaced "That Hideous Strength"    wish I could find it. It's in here somewhere....