The difference

"There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it."

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - CS Lewis

"His name unfortunately was Eustace Scrubb, but he wasn't a bad sort."

The Silver Chair - CS Lewis

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!"

2 Corinthians 5v17

Getting old

When I first read CS Lewis's Out of the Silent Planet as a teenager, Ransom was quite old - middle aged.

Last time I read it, he was ages with me (35-40).

Just read it again, and he's younger than me.

That Hideous Strength

Picked up a copy of That Hideous Strength by CS Lewis in a charity shop.

That hideous cover

I first read his Cosmic Trilogy when I was a teenager, and have read the first two (Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra) many times since. But I thought That Hideous Strength was weird. Will be interesting to see what I think this time round.

I remember very little, though I have read some stuff about it since.

This is what I think I remember:

• Happened on earth, in an English college, not another planet (less interesting, didn't fit with series).
• Ransom, the main character from the first books, who was a realistic, ordinary man, became this unrealistic, almost symbolic, character with a golden beard (not an improvement).
• Merlin came alive again and put everything right. There was some stuff about King Arthur coming back to rule England and how that was a good thing (silly and out of place)
• Although the two main characters were married to each other, it was wrong for them to have sex because they weren't Christians yet (this seemed completely nonsensical - I assume I had misunderstood, because if not I agree with my teenage opinion.)
• I thought of the books as an 'adult Narnia', and therefore expected to series to finish with the end of the world. Was rather disappointed that the very mild apocalyptic events near the end simply resulted in a return to the status quo.
• These included a tower of Babel-like incident when all the evil conspirators, who thought they were so wise, lost the power of speech and began to make animal noises. That bit was good).
• Evil scientists. Was there a head in a jar?
• One of the good guys was tortured by being put in a room with a pattern of dots on the ceiling, and a pattern of dots on the table which almost, but not quite matched (I really appreciated this - I would say it is my main memory of the book.)

Human

King Caspian has just discovered he had some pretty dodgy and disreputable ancestors:

'I was wishing that I came of a more honorable lineage.'

'You come of the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve.' said Aslan. 'And that is both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth. Be content.'

C.S. Lewis, 'Prince Caspian'

Another quote

'Aslan,' said Lucy, 'you're bigger.'

'That is because you are older, little one,' answered he.

'Not because you are?'

'I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.'

C.S. Lewis, 'Prince Caspian'

Quote

Peter did not feel very brave; indeed, he felt he was going to be sick. But that made no difference to what he had to do.

C.S. Lewis, 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'

50th anniversary of CS Lewis's death

If we discover a desire within us that nothing in this world can satisfy, also we should begin to wonder if perhaps we were created for another world.

C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity