Customer Reviews

Perelandra

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is the second book in C.S. Lewis's amazing Space Trilogy. This book was written as a sequel to the immensely popular Out of the Silent Planet but Lewis also wrote it so that the story can stand on its own. So if you haven't read the first you can start here.

This book takes place some time after the first, but we are not sure how long. Ransom has received a summons to Venus, a planet that is just beginning its inhabited life. This planet's 'Adam' and 'Eve' are on the planet and they must choose to obey God or to reject his law and face a "fall" as has happened on earth.

Ransom must face his old foe Weston, and try to save a planet from great evil. Can he navigate this watery planet; can he negotiate the intricacies of human weakness, temptation and corruption? Can he conquer himself and help others to learn obedience?

This is a great creation story. Try it - you won't be disappointed.

C. S. Lewis is one of those few writers whose works will be read, studied, and enjoyed 100, 200, 500 years after his death. He is both a fantastic story-teller and a brilliant philosopher--thus, his works deal with both the mundane and the sublime, often at the same time.

Perelandra is a good example of Lewis's ability to tell a good story while getting a higher point across. The second installment in his celebrated Space Trilogy (make sure you read "Out of the Silent Planet" first) finds his hero, Ransom, swept away from Earth again on a mysterious mission to the planet Perelandra. Without giving too much of the story away, Ransom finds himself given the seemingly impossible task of preventing evil from Earth from polluting the pristine, unearthly paradise of Perelandra. To carry out this mission, Ransom finds himself grappling, both intellectually and physically, with a force of pure evil.

Let the reader beware: Perelandra is written in a more archaic style than we are used to today, and thus may be a difficult read for someone with a short-attention span. For a reader with an expansive imagination and a patient love for detailed descriptive writing, the book is a treasure and will be highly enjoyed.

When I say 'all,' I am merely referring to the antecedent and latter of the three books that compose Lewis' famed 'Space Trilogy.' I had never considered myself to be a fan of science fiction; however, as I am a fan of Lewis, it was nearly obligatory that I read his famous 'Space Trilogy.' I found myself approaching the first book, 'Out of the Silent Planet,' with a marginal amount of reluctance. But, as I ventured further and further into the core of the book, my heart instantly grew fond of the ever-mesmerising style which has made Lewis a master of the pen. Although very impressed and delighted with 'Planet,' what awaited me within the pages of 'Perelandra' was nothing short of literary bliss. Writing himself into the story as a friend of Dr. Elwin Ransom, Lewis captivates his audience after mere pages as he travels to Ransom's own home. What commences after he arrives is perhaps Lewis' most beautiful work in print. As Dr. Ransom travels to a second distant planet, Perelandra, we (the audience) are assaulted with pellucid imagary and chilling realities that are not easily shaken after the last page is turned. 'Perelandra' is a world of fantasy; a world of fantasy which personafies the struggle of good and evil and offers a lucid and tangible potrayal of the Fall of Man. A MUST read for any science-fiction or Lewis connoisseur. A thrilling book and a truly delightful read!

In Perelandra, Dr. Ransom continues his interplanetary travels, this time to Venus (Perelandra). Unlike his previous adventure, this one has him sent intentionally, on a mission. The sights and sensations that greet Ransom on Perelandra are described with the beautiful imagery characteristic of Lewis's writings. Floating across the Venetian seas on mobile islands, Ransom encounters one of the two human residents of this shrouded planet. Soon after his arrival, however, a sinister force arrives on Perelandra in the form of Weston, the scientist from the previous book. The encounters and conversations following between Weston, Ransom, and the Queen are a fascinating image of what the temptation in the Garden of Eden may have been like. Also, the discourses given in this portion of the book are deeply thought-provoking. For these reasons and for the excellent suspense, I highly recommend Perelandra.

Perelandra is a magnificently documented and narrated story of the beginnings of the new world. The descriptions of the surroundings around the entire planet made me feel as if I were really walking on the islands myself. The book expresses the unbelievable beauty and peace God gave to man, and the horror brought to earth by Satan when he tempted Eve. Now Ransom has been placed with the task of stopping it from happening again to the young inhabitants of Perelandra.

The book flys by very fast (I read the last 120 pages in 4 hours). Lewis' talent to mix biblical events into a fictional tale shine through once again. Recommend this to all your friends!

Check my other reveiws for great Christian CDs, Books, movies, etc.

This is the second book in C.S. Lewis' popular Space Trilogy about the adventures of Dr. Ransom of Cambridge, which includes "Out of the Silent Planet," "Perelandra," and "That Hideous Strength."

Set on the planet Perelandra, which we know as Venus, Dr. Ransom must battle the greatest of all human vunerabilities -- temptation. The story is very similar to the story of the Fall in Genesis, and Lewis twists his story a little bit to add many of his own philosophical and theological views. This book is recommended for all C.S. Lewis fans as it is one of his more important works.

This is the second volume of Lewis's space trilogy (begun in Out Of The Silent Planet and ending with That Hideous Strength) and an excellent one it is. People talk about the books being readable independently, but you'll get more out of them if you read them in their proper order. Lewis has a particular knack for imagining and describing how things would look to a person who had never seen them before, what in effect a "pure experience" would be like the moment when the sensation is trying to become perception, and a knack as well for reaching between soul and spirit to describe the inner subtle workings of human nature at a level most of us are normally unaware of until someone like Lewis describes them to us. The result makes for enjoyable reading, particularly in the context of a trip to another planet. Here Dr. Ransom is sent off by heavenly powers to Venus where another earthman, possessed of some diabolic force, is intent on bringing about the downfall of that race. Ransom is there to stop it. The story of the Original Sin is retold with imaginative variety, and the book has a particularly and undeniably Christian bent which may well affect the reaction of non-Christian readers. Lewis does a lot of philosophizing in this text, but not as much as in the final volume, That Hideous Strength, which is for that reason and others the weakest of the three. But here he is still at the height of his powers and in control of them.

Lewis' Ransom trilogy (OUT OF THE SILENT PLANET, PERELANDRA and THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH) ought to be read with his THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS, if only to get the "inside track" of how the possessed (or rather, dispossessed) Dr. Weston plans to handle the coming human population on the watery planet of love.

And a literal planet of love it is. Since love has its own innocence (which includes ignorance, unfortunately) it is a ripe target for the "Bent Eldil" (i.e., Satan) who has already corrupted Thulcandra (as Earth was named before the Fall).

Lewis brilliantly reinterprets traditional Christian mythology in his system of planetary trials. Malacandra (Mars) was never tempted and never fell; Earth was tempted and fell (but never had an advocate), and now Venus is being tempted --- but the Devil doesn't have a free field this time. The innocent Queen of Perelandra at least gets to listen to Ransom's arguments against the nature of evil.

Another of Lewis' strengths is that he "de-romanticizes" evil, making it an unpleasant, unintelligent malignance bloating itself on sheer nastiness (Ransom following the trail of flayed-but-living Venusian frogs to the possessed shell of Weston is quite chilling). It is an unforgettably repellant portrait of the Devil and his kin.

All of Lewis' re-imaginings of medieval superstition are equally brilliant and coherent, and they almost distract the reader from the sheer loveliness of the new world and its inventive life-forms. Think of the charm of VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER translated into adult terms, and you'll get the idea.

It seems to me that Lewis might have based the central idea of this book on "The Tale of the Indian" in Maturin's MELMOTH THE WANDERER. If he did, he took the idea to a new level and embedded it in a story where it achieves much better expression.

Some critics have complained about Lewis' "proseletyzing", but really it is a minor picky point. As an unbeliever myself, I don't find it offensive, nor is it excessively apparent. Lewis puts it as a matter of common sense ("avoid nastiness") and mostly lets it go at that.

Lewis does have his weaknesses as a writer (who doesn't?) but they are mostly invisible in this novel. The only (minor) flaw is the "Carnival of the Animals" finale, which admittedly is a bit much. But after all the great stuff that came before it, who cares about such a minor quibble?

That wacky C.S. Lewis, thinking he can stick Christian ideals and
beliefs into a science-fictional setting. What gall. You know what
the funny part is? It actually works, which is something of an
accomplishment in itself. Y'see, this story continues from the last
book (Out of the Silent Planet) where Dr Ransom is sent to
"Perelandra" (Venus) where he finds a fantastic unspoiled
paradise populated by strange and quite friendly animals . . . and a
single green woman who seems rather innocent of the world (psst
. . . think "Eve"). No sooner do they get to chatting then
someone shows up who might just be the agent of the Devil, trying to
tempt "Eve" into disobeying "God" (not called God
but you get the idea) and Ransom has to figure out how to put a stop
to someone who is not only smarter, older and has lots more experience
at this, but managed to do it right once before. Arguments ensue.
People who have read Lewis have complained to me that he tends to
"preach" a bit too much, and I can see from this novel where
people get that idea from. But really it isn't that much of a
problem, for every couple pages of theological argument (cloaked in SF
terms, really) he slathers the page full of absolutely beautiful
descriptions of the planet, you can get lost sorting through all of
them. He really thought this place out and while it's nowhere near
the "real" Venus, my first rule of writing is chuck science
if it gets in the way of a good story. And in the end you have a good
story, it's good versus evil in the classic sense, yes, it's from a
"Christian" perspective but it mostly boils down to
"Devil=bad". There's plenty of other stuff to recommend as
well, the fight between Ransom and the Devil's advocate (couldn't
resist . . . sorry) is one of the most brutal fights I've ever seen in
a old style SF novel and Lewis manages to contrast the sheer brutality
of the fight with the beauty and splendor of the planet around them.
By the end it gets a bit on the metaphysical end of things, but all in
all an entertaining romp. Be prepared if you read the first book and
were expecting more of the same, this is a different tone entirely,
more philosophical and searching and definitely more than just a
science fictional retelling of the Garden of Eden story.

Shall we call Perelandra an ecological fantasy? A psycho-drama? A novelized philosophical symposium? An illustrated Bible story? Whatever it is, the undoubted "star" of the novel is the planet Perelandra. There, Lewis creates not one world, but several distinct ecosystems: his unforgetable floating islands, (in Surprised by Joy and his autobiographical allegory Pilgrim's Regress Lewis describes how islands have been his symbol for paradise since childhood), the Fixed Lands, an undersea world of mermaids, an environment of caves, and finally the wonderfully complex world of the hero's shifting consciousness. The inner dialogue before and during the climactic scenes falls nothing short of genius.

I agree with the reviewer below that the beauty Lewis imagines brings it out and makes us notice the beauty around us. As one of Lewis' favorite writers, G. K. Chesterton, put it, "Nursery tales only echo an almost pre-natal leap of interest and amazement. These tales make the rivers run with wine only to make us remember, for one wild moment, that they run with water." As I walk through the bamboo groves of Japan, or remember skin-diving in Hawaii or camping in the Cascades, the effect that the bubble trees and night smells of Perelandra have on me similarly brings out the wonder of the earthly creation.

As in all of Lewis' works, scene and plot are also the vehicle for the expression of philosophical ideas. Lewis plays with speculation about the nature of primitive man, ideas about gender like the Chinese Yin Yang theory, and a scathing critique of monism. (If, like Jim Jones or the Bagwan Rajneesh, his villain were a real person -- if that is the right term for them -- I suspect he too might be quite popular.)

I note with amusement the complaint below that Perelandra is overtly Christian. Imagine that. The famous Christian apologist allowing metaphysics to muddy up his sci-fi novel. I wonder if people make the same complaints about Milton or Camus? Not that I am comparing Lewis to them -- "the same wave never comes twice" and Lewis can stand on his own in any crowd. Lewis may get a bit carried away at the end with his "cosmic dance" stuff; one of the book's few faults. But if you are not interested in ultimate issues of right and wrong, God and human choice, why pick up a novel by C. S. Lewis?

author, Jesus and the Religions of Man d.marshall@sun.ac.jp