Book Review: That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis (again)
That Hideous Strength: by C.S. Lewis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this book. There was so much that Lewis had to say and show.
The evil was really evil, and the layers were peeled back slowly, slowly to the final climax. The evil is so evil it doesn’t seem possible to defeat.
The good was really good. Waiting, abiding, sojourning, trusting God. That’s generally a good plan.
I love, love, love that Lewis solves SciFi problems grounded in history. In Out of the Silent Planet he used Classical Astronomy. Here we see historical characters and a historical train of thought. We see mythological representations of Mars, Venus, and the other planets. We see that God’s creation waits the freeing of Tellus.
I was left wanting more tying up of loose ends. (view spoiler)
I’m glad I finally tried out the series this year. It was worth the time investment. I think reading an annotated version of this and some of Lewis’ backing ideas and allusions would be fascinating.
2020 Reading on Christian Audio
I finally shared this third book with the kids. We listened mostly on trips to co-op, Bible Study, or other drives where it was just the four of us all together. Sometimes that makes it harder to keep the momentum or to finish and it takes longer. We persist, though.
Still a great story. Three of us loved it, one of us perhaps wasn’t quite ready because “nothing happens.” That is the beauty of the story, though. The protagonists are doing the work they’re called to “planting gardens, marrying, bearing children, etc.” They’re carrying the “normal” in the face of the evil of the day.
I noticed such a comment on nature this time – the Dennistons “love weather” while Featherstone “hates weather.” The very earth and the creatures spit out the evil. The unpredictability of the wind and rain means that life can’t be systematic and has to adapt and trust as it goes on. The NICE wants to destroy natural, normal patterns of life and flora/fauna and even out the weather so there is a constant sameness, while the crew at St Anne’s relishes the goodness of creation and the very joy of earth life. We aren’t living a sanitized systematized life, but a *real* one.
So many philosophical discussions to follow and consider. This is a book to return to yet another time and another.