That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis

[Joshua Jones]

Hi, Joshua! Would it help, with Perelandra, to reconsider whether it is allegory? In an allegorical story such as The Faerie Queene, we may be given an enjoyable story on the level of a literal adventure, something that, before TV, comic books, and smartphones, even youngsters would read, but in which an older reader may perceive also that some figurative level is at work. The youngster enjoys perhaps a retelling (like Hodges and Hyman's) of St. George vs. the Dragon. An older reader can relate the characters and incidents to timeless "abstractions" such as holiness, spiritual integrity, temptation, worldly pride, etc.

Well, I don't think Perelandra is working on an allegorical level, that is, we're not supposed to look for an abstract message hovering over the tale (however entertaining in its own right the tale is). For example, the Lady isn't an "allegory" of, say, Innocence; she is an innocent person. Perelandra is "mythological," but also "historical." Maybe these thoughts will help? Anyway, I hope you can read and enjoy the book. It's a wise, exciting, and beautiful thing, with one of the best imaginary planets ever.

Thanks for the thoughts! I think my problem is that I see too many parallels between Perelandra and the overarching storyline of the Bible. The Queen plays the part of the Church/Eve, Weston the part of the serpent/Satan, and Ransom the part of the savior. Where my problem arises is, as a student of theology, I can usually predict where the storyline is going. The only question that remained after Weston arrived was if Ransom or the King was going to be the Christ figure. So, yeah, it is a little hard to enjoy a story when you already know what is going to happen...

Still, I did enjoy the descriptions of the utopic Venus. It is a clever book, but I read the same source as Lewis...

As an aside, have you read Till We have Faces? In my opinion, this was Lewis' best fictional work.

 

[Extollager]

Incidentally, Extollager, this may be a bit niche but you might be interested in a book called A Paradise Lost: the Neo-Romantic Imagination in Britain 1933-1955. It was published relating to an exhibition of paintings, so a lot of it is about art, but there is some interesting stuff in there about novels, including an article about Wyndham as a sort of SF interpretation of pagan wildness.

I will certainly try to get my hands on that book -- thanks for the tip. I hope it has some things on people such as Paul Nash, who were influenced by Samuel Palmer.

 

[Extollager]

Joshua, yes, I have read Till We Have Faces, which seems to me an outstanding, underrated work of the imagination. If That Hideous Strength was "Lewis's Charles Williams novel," as is sometimes said, TWHF is "Lewis's Ursula le Guin novel" -- avant le lettre, so to speak.

 

[Toby Frost]

Indeed it does! There's a bit about it here:

A PARADISE LOST THE NEO-ROMANTIC IMAGINATION IN BRITAIN 1935-55 | Current | Exhibitions | British Council − Visual Arts

 

[Extollager]

I have sent off an interlibrary loan request -- having been tempted to buy the book outright -- but no, let me take a look at it first.

A related book might be the one by Anne Anderson et al., Ancient Landscapes, Pastoral Visions: Samuel Palmer to the Ruralists.

 

[Extollager]

Toby, you wrote, "Did Lewis have any interest in conservation and the like? I’m also wondering about how close these tough-minded moralists, with their links to serious Christianity, were to New Age-type ideas – the appeal The Lord of the Rings had for the 1960s generation springs to mind."

For Tolkien, see the excellent, though not, I think, happily titled book by Dickerson and Evans, Ents, Elves, and Eriador: The Environmental Vision of J.R.R. Tolkien.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0813129869/?tag=id2100-20

Dickerson and O'Hara have what might be a comparable book on Lewis, but this is one I haven't caught up with. The book on Tolkien was really good. Narnia and the Fields of Arbol: The Environmental Vision of C. S. Lewis.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0813125227/?tag=id2100-20

I wrote a review essay some years ago on the Tolkien book and some others. It was fascinating to see the ecological/conservation interests of noted fantasy writers ranging from CSL and JRRT to Rider Haggard, William Morris, and Beatrix Potter.

I think the "New Age" term would be apt to mislead, so the less familiar term "sacramental ecology" would be preferable. An early use of the term was in an essay in Mythlore by E. Chapman, "Toward a Sacramental Ecology: Technology, Nature and Transcendence in C. S. Lewis's Ransom Trilogy" (3:4, whole number 12, 1976), pp. 10-17. It is available for free download here. I'm sure I read this years ago, but would need to return to it in order to comment.

https://dc.swosu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1469&context=mythlore

 

[Extollager]

Related to the previous posting, but not about Lewis and Tolkien -- so just a tangent here if anyone's interested:

Orthodox Ecology

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1608998886/?tag=id2100-20

 

[Extollager]

...I'm still gnawing that bone about Lewis and conservation, etc., and wondering what things might have caught his eye in his day. So far as I know, he had no awareness of Lord Northbourne and organic farming:

Lord Northbourne - Look to the Land [Review]

However, Northbourne (eventually, at least) was linked with the "Traditionalists" who got going in the 1970s or so -- years after Lewis's death. Well, Lewis had at least two acquaintances who were connected with that group, namely Martin Lings (who was a pupil of his) and Kathleen Raine (who might have attended his lectures -- at least, they had some correspondence -- I remember he affectionately called her an "incorrigible Platonist" in connection with her Blakean researches). But that's probably quite a tangent, as I don;'t know that Lings and Raine were involved with organic farming. Still, if either of them knew of Northbourne in time to mention it to Lewis, perhaps he or she did so.

Maybe someone who knows more about conservation, ecology in Britain, etc. can help us with this. Without question, as readers of That Hideous Strength know, such matters mattered to Lewis.

I find his conception of the St. Anne's household fascinating. It's noteworthy that he makes a point of mentioning the raising of pigs -- excellent creatures from a sustainability point of view -- cf. John Seymour

John Seymour (author) - Wikipedia

 

[Extollager]

I remember he affectionately called her an "incorrigible Platonist" in connection with her Blakean researches).

Now I'm not so sure. I make note of this in case someone would be doing an online search and come across this reference to a remark supposedly said by C. S. Lewis to Kathleen Raine. I might find it yet, but it doesn't seem to be in the letters he wrote her nor in her contribution to Light on C. S. Lewis, so caveat lector.

 

[Extollager]

Another possibility was that Lewis called Stella Aldwinckle an "incorrigible Platonist" -- but no, she doesn't seem to have been the recipient of the remark either.

Someone kindly informed me that something by Santayana refers to Dante as being an "incorrigible Platonist." Possibly Lewis picked up the expression there. But I'm almost certain he did use the expression, and that he was using it, in a playful way, probably to a woman.