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Summary: Nuggets of ideas and imagery; a breath of fresh air
Review: Five out of five is way to high -- the characters are plastic, the narrator has a set of annoying mental habits, and the odd descriptions of a truly odd world are often downright confusing. Three out of five is too low -- the book is original and often paints its colorful world with grace and style. (3.5?)This book IS like Narnia -- a book of Christian ideas told in with almost adolescent simplicity. The reason you'll like it is because, occasionally, it hits home. And when it does, you realize that the world C.S. Lewis is painting, however simple, is one you would like to see more of. If you need a quick idealistic reprieve from your modern world, give it a try.
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Summary: Characterization and Plot
Review: This was a great novel, but it had it's flaws. The plot line of Out of the Silent Planet is excellent, perhaps one of the best sci-fi plots I have come across, but the characterization is something to be desired. Don't get me wrong, the charcters were plenty entertaining and Lewis developed them nicely, but they are a little bit one sided. By that I mean that Dr. Ransom (the main character of the story) is all good -- he has no bad traits. And the antagonist(s) are the same way, they are bad, plain and simple. Personally I like a little bit of ambiguity... just somthing to make the story a little more interesting and a little less predictable. The reason for this aspect of Lewis' characters is probably because of the religous message embeded in the story, for most religons have characteristics of pure love and pure hate rather than ambiguous qualities that I am talking about. (Don't let the religon and deeper meaning thing scare you off, it's still great sci-fi!) Besides the whole religous reasoning, the characters may be a little lacking simply because this is one of Lewis' earlier works, thus he had not likely had much experiance in character development. If you like fantasy and havn't read The Chronicles of Narnia, you may want to read those first (they are also by C. S. Lewis), but otherwise I recommend this novel (despite the negative connotation of this review :). It is, overall, well written and thoroughly entertaining. You definately will not be able to put it down.
Rating: 
Summary: Superb!!!
Review: One of the most exciting books I've ever read. C.S.Lewis makes you feel this is not only a story but the whole truth about what happened to our world centuries ago when God created the universe. If you liked The Chronicles of Narnia, then you'll love this book and the other two of the trilogy.
Rating:
Summary: OSP: Good Fiction: Good spiritual message
Review: I really enjoyed travelling along with Ransom, the unwilling astronaut. The descriptions of the new Planet (Malechandra) are breathtaking and the life and culture of it's inhabitants had me really looking forward to picking up the book every time. The Author did a great job of characterization. The players all have a full range of obvious and hidden motivations.
Rating:
Summary: Superb, Ingenious, science-fiction. But not the best.
Review: If I could realisticly review this book I would give it a 7.5. But 8 is close enough to what I think I guess. Lewis writes a good novel, but it lags in certain areas. One, he gets all his action done near (or at) the beginning of the book. Two, the story seems do sag in the middle, not to interesting. Three, all the alien names are HARD to catch up with, let alone memorize! Other than those characteristics, I thought it was very well balanced, and very well written. Still, a must read!
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Summary: Great Stuff
Review: A friend of mine once described his reading experience of OUT OF THE SILENT PLANET by saying, "This kind of stuff really turns my crank." I, too, really enjoyed reading this novel. Lewis had a great imagination, and even though this book came out over 60 years ago, it still has a feeling of contemporary importance to it (a quality that is characteristic of Lewis's writing).
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Summary: If you liked this book, read. . .
Review: If you like Lewis's theological thrillers, you will like those by his friend Charles Williams. Try All Hallows' Eve, Descent Into Hell, The Place of the Lion, and Many Dimensions.
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Summary: Fascinating tale of Other-worldliness
Review: Mr. Ransom is taking a walk when he helps a man in need, and the next thing he knows, he's in a spaceship heading towards some vague place called "Malacandra." By eavesdropping on his captors, Ransom finds that he is to be sacrificed to the monster Oyarsa. Determined to live, he escapes upon landing on Malacandra, and runs for many days. Haggard and wearied, Ransom wonders whether the Malacandrian water is fit for humans to drink, when a large animal that looks alarmingly malevolent rows to shore... Splendid reading. Impossible to put down.
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Summary: Wanna visit Mars? Go with C.S. Lewis
Review: C.S. Lewis's "Out of the Silent Planet" (the first of the three books in the Space Trilogy) -- in which the narrator is kidnapped by two bad guys and taken on their spaceship -- takes you to Mars, and a surprising visit it is! Mars, the Roman god of war -- Mars, the Red Planet -- scary Martians ready to invade Earth? Far from it all: on the planet Malacandra, as it is known to its inhabitants, in an environment of varied climates and richly fascinating landscapes, you meet remarkable, intelligent, peace-loving creatures, learn their language, discover their spiritual superiority, and find out that the only invaders to be feared are the bad guys from Earth. The visitor makes first contact with the spiritual being Oyarsa, who will re-appear to guide him in the later novels. The technological details about the spaceship and space travel are dated; however, this only adds to the book's charm, without being distracting. While there are theological ponderings, particularly about the moral decay on Earth, the Christian themes as well as the overall tone of this book bear much resemblance to the author's Narnia novels, most especially "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" because it is filled with a sense of wonder at the discovery of a new, different, and more innocent world
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Summary: Approach with caution . . .
Review: Do not read this book if you are simply looking for something to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon; it is not that kind of book. It is the kind of book that forces the mind to perform all sorts of mental gymnastics that are not at all easy at the time but, afterwards, show themselves to be the way through the keyhole of a locked door to a world that could hitherto scarcely be imagined. A wonderful, wonderful book
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