The Space Trilogy
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deepspace
New member
Read the Space Trilogy way too young initially to really grasp it all, but was dying for some more CSL and since have re-read it as an adult every few years. Strange, weird, Wellian and lovely stuff. Shameless plug too - I head a music ensemble and have started a few compositions inspired by the trilogy. The first one is actually in the soundtrack of an indie film, "Tears of Bankers." The piece, "Deep Space" was inspired by Ransom's voyage to Perelandra from Thulcundra via coffin. Would love to hear feedback, ideas, etc. Here is a taste if you like - http://www.myspace.com/579434762/music
"The Dawntreaders", eh? Rather an eerie track, but not in a depressing way. I think you caught a good bit of what the journey might have been like.
Copperfox
Well-known member
Here's an idea for you, Deepspace. The character of Merlin the Magician appears in That Hideous Strength; this fact gives the Space Trilogy a link to _dozens_ of other tales that feature Merlin. Medieval storytellers and recent novelists have portrayed Merlin in as many different forms as Biblical movies have portrayed Pontius Pilate.
Stephen Lawhead portrayed Merlin as a skilled swordsman _besides_ being a wizard. Mark Twain portrayed Merlin as a con man. The visions vary widely. What if you were to compose a suite whose movements portrayed the contradictory ways people have imagined Merlin?
Stephen Lawhead portrayed Merlin as a skilled swordsman _besides_ being a wizard. Mark Twain portrayed Merlin as a con man. The visions vary widely. What if you were to compose a suite whose movements portrayed the contradictory ways people have imagined Merlin?
Laurel
Member
In That Hideous Strength, Jane Studdock has this quote come into her mind when she is going into the Director's house for the first time (even though she has never read it): "The beauty of the female is the root of joy to the female as well as to the male, and it is no accident that the goddess of Love is older and stronger than the god." She then goes into the house and reads that passage and a little more following it in a book.
Where is this quote from? When I try to Google it, all I can find are results relating to CS Lewis, so did he make it up or is it from something else?
Where is this quote from? When I try to Google it, all I can find are results relating to CS Lewis, so did he make it up or is it from something else?
TimmyofOz
Well-known member
If your asking me to google Coventry Patmore for you Inkspot, he is a Victorian Age English poet. I got my information from http://www.lewisiana.nl/thsquotes/index.htm.
Thanks Timmy - yah, I was being goofy.
tirian_son_of_erlian
Active member
While only distantly referencing so once, I must confess that recent decisions have inspired me to again explore C.S. Lewis's space trilogy, particularly That Hideous Strength. While I have only read it once, the entry by Colin Duriez in his C.S. Lewis Encyclopedia has helped me to better understand the basic skeletal structure of this work of literature. I will probably be reading it again soon, but I would be glad to know what others have taken from the story. Below is an email I just sent to several friends of mine, containing a summary of the plot. It is merely a highlight; but perhaps some specific moments from the story, for those who have read it, remain deeply impressed upon your conscience. If so, I sincerely say: enlighten me.
Here is my email which includes but a few thoughts of my own:
C.S. Lewis is most famous for his children's series The Chronicles of Narnia as well as his collection of Chrisitian and philosophical examinations. His blend of satire, humor and clearly-expressed truth distinguishes him as one of the wisest writers of the 20th Century. But perhaps it is his least known work, his science-fiction trilogoy, that best highlights how modern society is often eclipsed from the greater, properly-ordered eternal spiritual world amidst an ongoing but ephemeral battle of good and evil. It is with great conviction and without hesistation, therefore, that I am adding That Hideous Strength, the third (and concluding ) story of C.S. Lewis' space saga, to my recommended reading list for the United States Supreme Court.
Please take a brief moment to review this plot summary of That Hideous Strength extracted from the C.S. Lewis Encyclopedia by Colin Duriez (underlined statements are my own contribution):
That Hideous Strength (1945); The final volume of the science-fiction trilogy, which began with Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra. The third book continues C.S. Lewis's presentation of the problem of good and evil. In this "modern fairy tale for grownups," Dr. Elwin Ransom (the protagonist) stays on earth. The setting is the small midland university town of Edgestow just after the war. The "progressive element" among the fellows of Bracton College engineer the sale of a piece of property called Bragdon Wood to the N.I.C.E., the National Institute for Co-ordinated Experiments. According to Arthurian legend, the magician Merlin lay secretly in a trance within the wood, his "sleeping" body preserved from aging.
The N.I.C.E. was a sinister, totalitarian organization of technocrats: scientists given over to the pragmatic use of technology for social and individulal control. Aligned with the N.I.C.E. is the antagonistic Dick Devine who had appeared earlier in Out of the Silent Planet.
This book, as a sequel to the previous stories set on other planets, brings matters "down to earth." The story is set on Thulcandra, The Silent Planet Earth, so called because Earth is cut off by evil from the beatific language and worlds of Deep Heaven. Insomuch as the supernatural world impinges upon the everyday world of ordinary people, Lewis illustrates the point that a world that rejects objective principles of right and wrong, beauty and ugliness, also rejects what constitutes mankind's very nature and, therefore, creates an unhumanity. The new society projected by the N.I.C.E. is the ultimate corruption of mankind.
The human element includes the polarization of Mark Studdock and his wife Jane. While a fellow in sociology at Bracton College, Mark is seduced by the elites of the N.I.C.E. whereas his wife Jane, a research student, finds herself helping the other side, led by Ransom.
The evil Professor Weston's forays into space with evil intent (recounted in the first two books of the trilogy) had allowed the ending of an ancient prohibition. This restriction provided that no inhabitants of Deep Heaven would ever come to the quarantined planet Earth until the very end of things. Now that bent mankind had tried to contaminate unfallen worlds such as Mars and Venus, however, the eldila (good, angelic spirits of Deep Heaven) could unleash their good powers through a suitable human agent: Merlin. It is the innate sophisticated style and gift of C.S. Lewis that is evident here. As in his other main work of fiction, The Chronicles of Narnia, Lewis's underlying objective is to portray the unfolding of sanctity...to elucidate divine sovereignty and to envision how it would transpire in another world, realm or setting. In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (from The Chronicles of Narnia) such is most fundamentally expressed through the sacrifice of Aslan (a Christ-figure) in the stead of a repentant traitor. Here in That Hideous Strength, grace and victory are once again reallocated through a human being.
As a study of evil, That Hideous Strength shows how wickedness sows the seeds of its own destruction. It is plausible as an anti-utopian parable of our times.
While I've never been a philosophy aficionado, the science-fiction trilogy by C.S. Lewis was a challenging but thoroughly comprehensible and rewarding reading experience. I highly recommend it.
Brock
Here is my email which includes but a few thoughts of my own:
C.S. Lewis is most famous for his children's series The Chronicles of Narnia as well as his collection of Chrisitian and philosophical examinations. His blend of satire, humor and clearly-expressed truth distinguishes him as one of the wisest writers of the 20th Century. But perhaps it is his least known work, his science-fiction trilogoy, that best highlights how modern society is often eclipsed from the greater, properly-ordered eternal spiritual world amidst an ongoing but ephemeral battle of good and evil. It is with great conviction and without hesistation, therefore, that I am adding That Hideous Strength, the third (and concluding ) story of C.S. Lewis' space saga, to my recommended reading list for the United States Supreme Court.
Please take a brief moment to review this plot summary of That Hideous Strength extracted from the C.S. Lewis Encyclopedia by Colin Duriez (underlined statements are my own contribution):
That Hideous Strength (1945); The final volume of the science-fiction trilogy, which began with Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra. The third book continues C.S. Lewis's presentation of the problem of good and evil. In this "modern fairy tale for grownups," Dr. Elwin Ransom (the protagonist) stays on earth. The setting is the small midland university town of Edgestow just after the war. The "progressive element" among the fellows of Bracton College engineer the sale of a piece of property called Bragdon Wood to the N.I.C.E., the National Institute for Co-ordinated Experiments. According to Arthurian legend, the magician Merlin lay secretly in a trance within the wood, his "sleeping" body preserved from aging.
The N.I.C.E. was a sinister, totalitarian organization of technocrats: scientists given over to the pragmatic use of technology for social and individulal control. Aligned with the N.I.C.E. is the antagonistic Dick Devine who had appeared earlier in Out of the Silent Planet.
This book, as a sequel to the previous stories set on other planets, brings matters "down to earth." The story is set on Thulcandra, The Silent Planet Earth, so called because Earth is cut off by evil from the beatific language and worlds of Deep Heaven. Insomuch as the supernatural world impinges upon the everyday world of ordinary people, Lewis illustrates the point that a world that rejects objective principles of right and wrong, beauty and ugliness, also rejects what constitutes mankind's very nature and, therefore, creates an unhumanity. The new society projected by the N.I.C.E. is the ultimate corruption of mankind.
The human element includes the polarization of Mark Studdock and his wife Jane. While a fellow in sociology at Bracton College, Mark is seduced by the elites of the N.I.C.E. whereas his wife Jane, a research student, finds herself helping the other side, led by Ransom.
The evil Professor Weston's forays into space with evil intent (recounted in the first two books of the trilogy) had allowed the ending of an ancient prohibition. This restriction provided that no inhabitants of Deep Heaven would ever come to the quarantined planet Earth until the very end of things. Now that bent mankind had tried to contaminate unfallen worlds such as Mars and Venus, however, the eldila (good, angelic spirits of Deep Heaven) could unleash their good powers through a suitable human agent: Merlin. It is the innate sophisticated style and gift of C.S. Lewis that is evident here. As in his other main work of fiction, The Chronicles of Narnia, Lewis's underlying objective is to portray the unfolding of sanctity...to elucidate divine sovereignty and to envision how it would transpire in another world, realm or setting. In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (from The Chronicles of Narnia) such is most fundamentally expressed through the sacrifice of Aslan (a Christ-figure) in the stead of a repentant traitor. Here in That Hideous Strength, grace and victory are once again reallocated through a human being.
As a study of evil, That Hideous Strength shows how wickedness sows the seeds of its own destruction. It is plausible as an anti-utopian parable of our times.
While I've never been a philosophy aficionado, the science-fiction trilogy by C.S. Lewis was a challenging but thoroughly comprehensible and rewarding reading experience. I highly recommend it.
Brock
Last edited:
Copperfox
Well-known member
Well said all through! Mister Lewis was going contrary to sci-fi traditions by sending characters into space early and then ENDING with action ALL ON EARTH. But it was an effective method, showing that the spiritual war between God and falsehood matters more than the wowie-kazowie of space adventures.
I love THS -- sometimes I can't decide if it or Perelandra is my favorite. Some of my best moments/concepts that I like from THS ...
Jane's gradual realization that she isn't meant "for herself," but "for Another," and through Him, for "others," including Mark. When she sees his clothes, at the end of the story ... she knows he has totally screwed up everything, almost gotten them both killed, took part in an evil plot that could have destroyed all that was good in their country and the world ... and she knows he is there, in the room ... and she's filled with pity and tenderness for him. Her encounter with Love has changed her, and changed her heart toward Mark (and everyone).
The Tramp. I love this character. He is used to being kicked around, so even though all crazy things happen to him, he just keeps focused on the food and drink. He's half crazy and still plays an important role in the deliverance of England from the NICE. We don't always have to know what is happening to us, or around us, or why -- and yet we can still make a difference, just by staying the course.
Mark's realization that his sacrifice of substance for style was vain and didn't make him happy! or his realization that he had sacrificed substance for style. He comes to realize that his whole life he has been trying to get "inside" and then when he got there, it was boring and stupid! he'd never been free to be his own man ... I love that he discovers this, and determines, finally, to do make his stand. It's late, and he knows it's all but worthless, but he does it, be breaks free. I love this. And he comes home with humility, fully realizing that he's been a chump, that he has no claim on Jane ... but hopeful, that maybe, there can be a future for them. This is such a picture of all of us! We mess our lives up totally, then crawl home with no claim on God's kindness -- but hopeful that He will give it. And he does!
I also really love Mark's getting swept away in the excitement of engineering the riots, writing the day's news before it happens -- he's thinking about himself as an old man and a peerage, recalling to the youngsters how he made history happen ... and so the moment of his decision to do evil is swept away without ever presenting itself as such. He doesn't even see that he's choosing to be evil because he's so excited about finally getting into the inner circle that he's been longing for all his life. A very good depiction of how "good" people wind up doing evil things.
Oh, there's so much more I love about THS! This will have to do for now.
Jane's gradual realization that she isn't meant "for herself," but "for Another," and through Him, for "others," including Mark. When she sees his clothes, at the end of the story ... she knows he has totally screwed up everything, almost gotten them both killed, took part in an evil plot that could have destroyed all that was good in their country and the world ... and she knows he is there, in the room ... and she's filled with pity and tenderness for him. Her encounter with Love has changed her, and changed her heart toward Mark (and everyone).
The Tramp. I love this character. He is used to being kicked around, so even though all crazy things happen to him, he just keeps focused on the food and drink. He's half crazy and still plays an important role in the deliverance of England from the NICE. We don't always have to know what is happening to us, or around us, or why -- and yet we can still make a difference, just by staying the course.
Mark's realization that his sacrifice of substance for style was vain and didn't make him happy! or his realization that he had sacrificed substance for style. He comes to realize that his whole life he has been trying to get "inside" and then when he got there, it was boring and stupid! he'd never been free to be his own man ... I love that he discovers this, and determines, finally, to do make his stand. It's late, and he knows it's all but worthless, but he does it, be breaks free. I love this. And he comes home with humility, fully realizing that he's been a chump, that he has no claim on Jane ... but hopeful, that maybe, there can be a future for them. This is such a picture of all of us! We mess our lives up totally, then crawl home with no claim on God's kindness -- but hopeful that He will give it. And he does!
I also really love Mark's getting swept away in the excitement of engineering the riots, writing the day's news before it happens -- he's thinking about himself as an old man and a peerage, recalling to the youngsters how he made history happen ... and so the moment of his decision to do evil is swept away without ever presenting itself as such. He doesn't even see that he's choosing to be evil because he's so excited about finally getting into the inner circle that he's been longing for all his life. A very good depiction of how "good" people wind up doing evil things.
Oh, there's so much more I love about THS! This will have to do for now.
Copperfox
Well-known member
The villain characters Frost and Wither were very important as illustrations of how the depraved human will operates in self-deception. Frost and Wither WERE NOT innocently mistaken; each of them had KNOWINGLY rejected truth, because they didn't WANT the truth to be true. They both ended up eternally damned, and it was THEIR OWN fault.
TimmyofOz
Well-known member
A masterpiece, I have studied the book dozens of times. A thriller that truely opens one to true love in all it's forms and the inner evil in us all. Great character development of Mark and Jane, the leading characters. I am glad I have the CD, it is a hard read. We could all be improve if we had a St. Annes to spend time at.