Post by Ms. Kalmar on May 20, 2013 13:02:12 GMT -5
Review of That Hideous Strength, by C.S. Lewis
Most people know C.S. Lewis as the man behind The Chronicles of Narnia, the classic children's series about a magical and mysterious land populated by humans, a host of mythological creatures, and Aslan, Narnia's leonine equivalent of Jesus. However, fewer people know that Lewis also penned a science fiction trilogy -- also highly allegorical -- about human excursions around the solar system. The first two books of the series, Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra tell the tale of one man's journeys to Mars and Venus, respectively. On Mars he discovers new depths of reality to the world he thought he knew; on Venus, he joins the inhabitants to fight the forces of evil and protect the sinless planet from falling into original sin. Although the worlds presented are often surreal, both of these books are beautifully written and full of engaging ideas about human nature and man's relationship with God.
However, the final book of the trilogy, That Hideous Strength, provides a very different experience for the reader. It takes place back on earth and relates the scheming of a sinister "scientific" organization, ironically abbreviated N.I.C.E., which turns out to be a conduit for demonic forces in the world. The characters must come together to defeat the shadowy forces, with the help of an eclectic group that includes the long-dead wizard Merlin. However, far from awing readers from the start with strange worlds and deep thoughts like the two preceding novels, the book begins with something like fifty pages worth of petty university politics. It is a dry read from the beginning, and only gets worse because C.S. Lewis abandons his love of allegory in favor of straight-up preaching of his beliefs and moral opinions. Even as a believing and practicing Catholic, I felt like I was being talked down to at times, and his characters felt less like real, interesting individuals and more like mouthpieces for Lewis' theology.
I have read almost everything that C.S. Lewis wrote, including his more obscure works about medieval literature and literary criticism, and I hoped that I would get the same pleasure from his Space Trilogy as I have from his other writings. However, although I genuinely enjoyed Out of the Silent Planet and delighted in the weirdness of Perelandra, I was really let down by how preachy and dry That Hideous Strength turned out to be. Often authors struggle to make each book in the series equal to or better than the books that came before it, and C.S. Lewis seems to have gotten lazy or desperate in his attempts to finish the trilogy. The series is still worth a read based on the strength of the first two novels, but don't get your hopes up for a satisfying conclusion.
Most people know C.S. Lewis as the man behind The Chronicles of Narnia, the classic children's series about a magical and mysterious land populated by humans, a host of mythological creatures, and Aslan, Narnia's leonine equivalent of Jesus. However, fewer people know that Lewis also penned a science fiction trilogy -- also highly allegorical -- about human excursions around the solar system. The first two books of the series, Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra tell the tale of one man's journeys to Mars and Venus, respectively. On Mars he discovers new depths of reality to the world he thought he knew; on Venus, he joins the inhabitants to fight the forces of evil and protect the sinless planet from falling into original sin. Although the worlds presented are often surreal, both of these books are beautifully written and full of engaging ideas about human nature and man's relationship with God.
However, the final book of the trilogy, That Hideous Strength, provides a very different experience for the reader. It takes place back on earth and relates the scheming of a sinister "scientific" organization, ironically abbreviated N.I.C.E., which turns out to be a conduit for demonic forces in the world. The characters must come together to defeat the shadowy forces, with the help of an eclectic group that includes the long-dead wizard Merlin. However, far from awing readers from the start with strange worlds and deep thoughts like the two preceding novels, the book begins with something like fifty pages worth of petty university politics. It is a dry read from the beginning, and only gets worse because C.S. Lewis abandons his love of allegory in favor of straight-up preaching of his beliefs and moral opinions. Even as a believing and practicing Catholic, I felt like I was being talked down to at times, and his characters felt less like real, interesting individuals and more like mouthpieces for Lewis' theology.
I have read almost everything that C.S. Lewis wrote, including his more obscure works about medieval literature and literary criticism, and I hoped that I would get the same pleasure from his Space Trilogy as I have from his other writings. However, although I genuinely enjoyed Out of the Silent Planet and delighted in the weirdness of Perelandra, I was really let down by how preachy and dry That Hideous Strength turned out to be. Often authors struggle to make each book in the series equal to or better than the books that came before it, and C.S. Lewis seems to have gotten lazy or desperate in his attempts to finish the trilogy. The series is still worth a read based on the strength of the first two novels, but don't get your hopes up for a satisfying conclusion.