The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis

by Pa Rock

Reader

Back in the mid-1970's when I was working on getting a teaching certificate at what was then called Missouri Southern State College in Joplin, Missouri, I happened into a book sale on campus one day, and, being a reader, I stopped to snoop.  While browsing through the stacks I came across a new copy of a book by C.S. Lewis, the British author perhaps best known for his Chronicles of Narnia series.  The book that I had stumbled upon was called "Perelandra," and it was the second book in what is commonly referred to as Lewis's Space Trilogy.  Not being familiar with the Space Trilogy, and because the copy of Perelandra was priced at less than a dollar, I snatched it up.  Eventually I came up with the other two volumes, the first being "Out of the Silent Planet," and the third "That Hideous Strength," and proceeded to read my way through the set.

I enjoyed the three books of The Space Trilogy back in the seventies, and a few months ago I decided, quite by chance, that I would like to re-read the series.  This time I had to order the three as one volume, a heavy tome that proved difficult for my aged hands to hold onto while reading - but I persisted and have recently finished my second flight through the outer space created by C.S. Lewis in the 1940's.

My memory from forty-some years age was that I had liked "Perelandra" better than the other two, but that I had enjoyed them all.  This trip through, "Perelanda" was easily my least favorite volume of the three.  I'm not sure why, except that there is more actual story involved with the first and third books than there is with "Perelandra," which basically describes the Book of Genesis as it would have played out on Lewis's version of the planet Venus.

(As those familiar with the works of C.S. Lewis - including the Narnia books - already know, the author is all about religion.  Scrape off the fluffy frosting, and the cake is always an overdone mixture of philosophy, ethics, and Christianity - with heavy emphasis on the Christianity.)

The main character in all three of these books is Dr. Elwin Ransom, a linguistics professor from Cambridge, a confirmed bachelor who liked to spend his free time by himself.  Ransom, a World War I vet, was alone on a walkabout in the English countryside when he inadvertently came across Professor Weston whom he knew on a casual basis prior to that encounter.   Professor Weston and his friend drugged and kidnapped Ransom who awakened hours later in a strange environment - and soon learned that he was on a spaceship with his abductors heading toward a strange planet which they called Malacandra.  The professor and other kidnapper had been to Malacandra before and were making a return trip to conclude some type of business there.

When the ship arrived on Malacandra - which was the planet that people on Earth called Mars - Ransom learned that he was to be given to the inhabitants of Malacandra as part of an effort to secure something of value from them.  He quickly managed to escape his captors and lead them on a long chase.  During his flight from captivity, Ransom discovered more about Malacandra than his captors had learned in multiple trips to the planet, and Ransom, an expert in linguistics, even mastered the language of the Malacandrians.

While on the run across the fantastical landscape of Malacandra, Ransom also met of some of the Eldils, the God-like creatures who controlled life on the planet and beyond, and he even met the Oyarsa who was the ruler of Malacandra.    Through those experinces Ransom learned something of the spiritual history of the universe.  Eventually he was able to make his way back to England in the 1940's and to resume his life as a Cambridge professor.

In "Perelandra" Professor Ransom was visited at his country home in England by the Eldils.  They brought a coffin-like box for him to travel in to another planet, this one called Perelandra - which the inhabitants of Earth knew as Venus.  Ransom disclosed the plan to a colleague who would care of his residence while he was gone, and then he climbed into his box and was promptly transported to Perelandra.

The first creature that Ransom met on Perelandra was a green lady who appeared to be still orienting herself to the planet.  It became apparent that she was the first woman on the planet, or the "Eve" character.  She and Ransom moved about going from one rolling, shaking island to another before finally coming to a solid continent, a place where the woman told him they were forbidden to stay.   While they were moving about on the planet, Ransom saw a spaceship descend and land, and a passenger climb out.  The traveler turned out to be Professor Weston, one of the men who had kidnapped Ransom and taken him to Malacandra.

Professor Weston joined Ransom and the green lady and he became the "tempter" of the Eve character, encouraging her to do things that she instinctively knew she must not do.  Ransom soon saw Weston as the satanic influence on the virginal new world, an influence that must be destroyed.

The third book, "That Hideous Strength," took place in and around a small college community in England.  The college owned a wooded area which it had protected for centuries, but a financial crisis and some dishonest players convinced the school to sell the woods to a scientific concern which promised much income for the college and many jobs for the community.

But things went to hell in a hand basket when the scientific corporation began destroying the wood and the local community, forcing many residents to flee.  The corporation was planning a major revolution in how life was to continue on Earth.  One woman, Jane, a professor's wife who had visions - usually when she was asleep - became the focal point of the story as the corporation rushed to bring her into their fold, and the opposition forces, headed by Dr. Elwin Ransom, struggled to align her with their efforts to thwart the efforts of the corporation.

Add to that mix, Merlin, the Druid "magician" from King Arthur's time, who had been asleep in a tomb beneath the protected woods for centuries, a cast a colorful characters, both good and bad, and even a friendly bear, and a rollicking tale ensued - one that helped to insure the survival of the planet and the human race on a solid, moral basis.

Of the three separate novels in this collection, "That Hideous Strength," the final one, is definitely the easiest to read and the most enjoyable.  The second, "Perelandra," promotes Lewis's interest in Christianity in the clearest terms, and the first, "Out of the Silent Planet," had an interesting science fiction tale draped in religious vestments and was perhaps, of the three, the one that came closest to being what the author was trying to capture and convey to his readers. 

The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis has held up well over the years, probably better than this aging reader!