That Hideous Strength (Space Trilogy, Book 3) by C.S. Lewis Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of That Hideous Strength (Space Trilogy, Book 3)
Book Review: Lewis Shifts Gears!
Summary: 4 Stars
I raved about the first 2 books of this trilogy. I can't about the last.
Lewis makes a very significant change in his voice and approach here in the final book of his "Space Trilogy." Knowing some of the history of its writing, this is in large part due to his closer association with and the influence of the fellow author and member of "The Inklings," George MacDonald.
MacDonald's influence upon Lewis is evidenced by this book being much darker and much less connected to the theme of the first 2 books. It's almost like watching Lewis trying to do a literary exercise.
Still excellent writing and worth the read, but when I read the work I found the feeling to be much more heavy and dark. Even the change in character focus contributes toward the feeling of discontinuity.
That having been said, Lewis very much hits the mark with the ethical and philosophical conundrums that have multiplied and confounded our modern era. It is almost prophetic how the biological ethical issues of today are foreseen and portrayed in a book written in 1945.
Yes some of it can be explained by the context of the times in which it was written (WWII) and the darker influence of the melancholic MacDonald, but some of it comes from the nature of the material and logical progression as Lewis begins to deal not with fantasy worlds, but our own world and all of its far too evident foibles.
Ironic too is the focus upon the National Institute for Coordinated Experiments (NICE). Echoes of Orwell abound.
Do not come to this work expecting more of Ransom and company. This work feels disconnected from the others. "Bent," if you will. Once you get over that and begin to read and digest the very meaningful portrayals of our future world through Lewis' eyes, you will have a fresh appreciation of his unique voice and writing skills.
A very satisfying and worthwhile read. Not quite a rave review, but certainly an endorsement.
Book Review: Well worth looking at
Summary: 4 Stars
Oddly enough, the third book in the Space Trilogy has almost nothing to do with space. It also has very little to do with Ransom, the main character of the first two books.
The plot centers around a young couple named Mark and Jane Studdock. Mark finds himself working for NICE, the sinister organization that gets its work done by not telling anybody (including most employees) what's really going on. Jane, meanwhile, ends up with the good guys thanks to a newfound ability of hers.
For the most part, the book is very well-written (as one would expect from Lewis) and enjoyable. Most of the characters are complex and interesting, especially the Studdocks.
The story's main problem is the ending. The bad guys are all finished off within the space of a few pages, and without anything resembling a struggle. After so much buildup, it leaves one feeling a little cheated. Also, the concluding chapter is strange and seems very out of place.
All of the mythology can get tiresome at times, especially when the planetary eldils (the 'gods') are involved. It slows the book down considerably. An exception to this is Merlin himself, who is a very interesting character. Sadly, he doesn't show up until the end, and leaves right after he's done him job.
The book also very strongly supports a "traditional" role for women in marriage, even going so far as having the good guys tell Jane that she shouldn't join them without Mark's permission. This idea is said to be the will of God himself, not just someone's opinion. This was offensive at times, but did not contribute to the four-star rating, since it's so subjective. A person who agrees with Lewis will probably find that it enhances the book.
With these minor reservations, I recommend That Hideous Strength to anyone who likes fantasy, especially C.S. Lewis fans.
Book Review: "...a tower whose top may reach unto heaven...." Genesis 11:4
Summary: 4 Stars
C. S. Lewis' THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH is nominally the third book in what is described as his "space trilogy," but such a description does not accurately portray the nature of this prophetic work. Lewis himself calls it "a modern fairy-tale for grown-ups," but that also falls short of adequate description. Since science fiction it is not, and a fairy tale it is not, let us see if we can determine what it may be.
It is, of course, allegorical and suggests strongly the same sort of allegory that underlies the Ring series by Tolkien (despite the latter's statements to the contrary). As the scientific research organization N.I.C.E. steadily gains public acceptance, then public support, and then assumption of governmental authority, even as the nefarious nature of its goals becomes more and more evident, the reader struggles to scream a warning to the citizens being caught and enslaved in its encroaching web. Why do they not see through the façade of scientific progress and recognize the dehumanizing goals of this soulless entity? Why do they support this encroaching social cancer? Why do they turn against and attack those few who try to sound a warning? The reader, who has the advantage of an external vantage point, sees the growing evil, the destruction of that which is good, but is powerless to open the eyes of those who are being irretrievably deceived.
Lewis' allegory is, unfortunately, timeless and is as applicable today as it was when it was first published in 1945. It is no stretch of the imagination to equate N.I.C.E. with the spreading multi-national corporations of the 21st century. As president of the United States from 1953 to 1961, Dwight Eisenhower warned of the social and economic dangers inherent in the growing military-industrial complex, but his prescience has been disregarded, or, more sinisterly, has been overwhelmed by the strength of industrialists whose wealth and power seem to place them above control by the people. Yet, had Lewis' warning been heeded in 1945, Eisenhower's would have been unneeded ten years later. Both are still applicable today.
Is there a solution to the encroachment of evil into human affairs? If there is, Lewis did not know of it. True, by the end of THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH, the tools of evil are dead and the N.I.C.E. organization is destroyed, but Lewis warns that this has been only a battle and that the war will continue in other places and in other ways.
Lewis' message is, as I hope I have now shown, as uncomfortably real, urgent, and contemporary as it was when he wrote it. As to the manner in which he wrote it, this book is surely the strongest and most readable of the trilogy, which includes OUT OF THE SILENT PLANET and PERELANDRA. In fact, even though reading the trilogy in order will give the reader a better understanding of Ransom and how he came to be the "Director" of the "good guys," this final book can easily stand alone and, if only one of the trilogy is to be read, would be my choice of the one to read. The other two, while worthy of being read, are, at times, plodding in contrast to this one, which is guaranteed to raise the reader's inner tension and to urge him ever forward in the saga.
If there is a weakness in the plot of this third book, it comes in the means of bringing down N.I.C.E., its minions, and its masters. Readers familiar with Greek drama and its use of a "deus ex machina" to rescue hapless humans from their own foibles will see that Lewis has relied on a similar technique. Literally, several intermediate gods (inspired by medieval concepts of hierarchical levels in the universe) as well as a reawakened Merlin and a biblical "Tower of Babel" solution are necessary to defeat the enemy in this battle, and I'm not at all certain that any of these weapons are available to us in the "real world." Despite this, however, the novel is as gripping as any conspiracy suspense thriller, a comparison I have borrowed from another reviewer because I can think of no better way of putting it. In short, buy the book, read it, and, most importantly, learn from it. I have.
Book Review: Left Behind gets Left Behind
Summary: 5 Stars
Don't want to start out by criticizing another book, but if you are looking for a theological, eschatological work that also manages to be literature, then pick this over LB series. This book is the third in Lewis' Space Trilogy, and the only one that takes place on our own fallen world. As he does in "The Last Battle" in the Chronicles of Narnia; he tackles the question of how will this whole thing end? Our protagonist to answer this question is a somewhat lightweight "modern" academe, whose main goal in life seems to be to achieve recognition in continually less desirable circles. It is one of the many valuable life insights that Lewis works into his stories. Slow starting, the book picks up the pace as the sides begin to take shape, and as the inevitable collision between good and evil, with some highly unusual twists takes place. The last fifty pages or so are among the best that I've read in my reading life. Ten stars would hardly be enough to rate this book. One of my all time favorites.
Book Review: Christian allegory or suspenseful sci-fi? You choose.
Summary: 5 Stars
The masterful culmination of the Space Trilogy, "That Hideous Strength" will certainly raise the ire of feminists and moral relativists alike. They should read it anyway.
Other reviewers have complained that "That Hideous Strength" doesn't seem to fit with the first two books of the trilogy. It's true that the plot of the third book is more complex, with far more characters, than the first two. Ransom, the hero of "Out of the Silent Planet" and "Perelandra," does play a smaller role in this book. But the trilogy isn't about Ransom. It's about good vs. evil, humility vs. pride, obedience, rebellion, and a whole host of other light-dark juxtapositions. For this reason, readers who enjoyed the first two books from a purely science fiction standpoint, may be disappointed that they don't get to see more of Ransom.
The real reason to read "That Hideous Strength" is for the seed of Christian philosophy embedded in it. The apparently "anti-womyn" theme so distasteful to zealous feminists is not degrading or insulting to women at all. Though one of the female protagonists, Jane, is instructed to "go [to her husband] in obedience, and you will find love," there is nothing misogynistic or sexist about the plot. The theme of obedience (both the good kind and the bad kind) runs strong through this book, and is applied to both male and female characters. One of the more interesting ideas to chew on is the difference between the good obedience, and the bad obedience. Members of Ransom's household obey him, and he in turn obeys Maleldil. The exercise of free will is made clear in these relationships, which are good. But the obedience of Professor Frost and Deputy Director Wither of the New-World-Order-esque N.I.C.E. to dark spirits, and the obedience of other N.I.C.E. employees to them, is clearly obedience gone bad.
This book is the stuff of many high school and college English theme papers. But that's not to say it can't be enjoyed for simply being a good fantasy tale. It's that, too.