Perelandra

Rating:
Summary: I wish I could have given it 10 stars.
Review: Awe inspiring, beautiful, clear, logical and emotional. Magnificent praise of God! Words are inadequate to describe its effect on me when I first read it and when I read it again -- and I've lost track of how many times I've reread it. Read it! I can't recommend it enough.

Rating:
Summary: The pitfalls of human nature
Review: In this, the second book of CS Lewis's Space Trilogy, we find Dr. Ransom off on another interplanetary adventure, this time to Venus. Instead of finding himself on an 'old' planet, like he did on Malacandra, he finds that life on Perelandra (Venus) is relatively new; in fact, the woman he meets there is still in an 'unfallen' state. In other words, she is in a state of innocence much like Eve was in the Garden of Eden.

Ransom knows he has been sent to Perelandra for a purpose, but he does not know what that purpose is. He soon finds out. Weston, his old rival and former captor, shows up on the planet. Ransom soon discovers that Weston is possessed by an evil force, and calls him the 'Unman.' He then spends all his time trying to protect the woman and keep her from 'falling,' so that the fate of the new planet will not be like Earth's.

This book continues in the allegorical style set forth in the first part of the series Out of the Silent Planet, though Perelandra takes it one step further. This book is more of a religious work than the first one, though, and the moral implications set forth in Planet are both enlarged and expanded. More than just a story of the fall, this book details the true ramifications of the battle of good and evil. It dares explore such questions as why God allows temptation in the world and why we should make our will subordinate to his.

To fans of Milton, the story will seem somewhat familiar, and undoubtedly Lewis used much of Paradise Lost as a basis for this work. The fact that he published a preface to Milton's work the same year this book was written seems hardly coincidental. Still, this book teems with freshness and a unique insight that only CS Lewis can provide. This is a classic work by the master of Christian apology.

Rating:
Summary: Second and BEST book within Lewis' "Space Trilogy"
Review: I very much enjoyed the mix of C.S. Lewis' ideas of human nature within a sci-fi purist setting. If you can only read one of the three books in this trilogy, this is the one that you should read.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful description but preachy and tedious
Review: I loved "Out of the Silent Planet" and "That Hideous Strength". The only reason I didn't put down "Perelandra' halfway through was because I wanted to finish it so I could read the third book. This book lacks an engaging plot and instead indulges in excessive, tedious, religious evangelicism. The other books get the same message across without slapping you in the face with it.

Having said all that, this book is an excellent example of Lewis's amazing powers of description; it was the prettiest of the three books.

Rating:
Summary: Even Better than the First!
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Certainly the most beautiful read of them all
Review: 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!

Rating:
Summary: Good fantasy work with Christian parallels
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Still Enjoyable And Insightful After Many Reads
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Fun AND allergorical
Review: That wacky C.S. Lewis, thinking he can stick Christian ideals andbeliefs into a science-fictional setting. What gall. You know whatthe funny part is? It actually works, which is something of anaccomplishment in itself. Y'see, this story continues from the lastbook (Out of the Silent Planet) where Dr Ransom is sent to"Perelandra" (Venus) where he finds a fantastic unspoiledparadise populated by strange and quite friendly animals . . . and asingle green woman who seems rather innocent of the world (psst. . . think "Eve"). No sooner do they get to chatting thensomeone shows up who might just be the agent of the Devil, trying totempt "Eve" into disobeying "God" (not called Godbut you get the idea) and Ransom has to figure out how to put a stopto someone who is not only smarter, older and has lots more experienceat 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 wherepeople get that idea from. But really it isn't that much of aproblem, for every couple pages of theological argument (cloaked in SFterms, really) he slathers the page full of absolutely beautifuldescriptions of the planet, you can get lost sorting through all ofthem. He really thought this place out and while it's nowhere nearthe "real" Venus, my first rule of writing is chuck scienceif it gets in the way of a good story. And in the end you have a goodstory, 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 aswell, the fight between Ransom and the Devil's advocate (couldn'tresist . . . sorry) is one of the most brutal fights I've ever seen ina old style SF novel and Lewis manages to contrast the sheer brutalityof 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 inall an entertaining romp. Be prepared if you read the first book andwere expecting more of the same, this is a different tone entirely,more philosophical and searching and definitely more than just ascience fictional retelling of the Garden of Eden story.

Rating:
Summary: A great place for a vacation.
Review: 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 [e-mail]