One of the greatest things about kindles and other electronic readers
is their ability to make books cheaper. Older books, in particular, ones that
have seen better days in regards to a wide reading public can still find
themselves placed before new generations of readers looking for inspiration
from famous authors.
I picked up a copy of
C.S. Lewis’s Out of the Silent Planet,
for under two dollars, on my kindle. I was looking for a quick, inexpensive
read just before Christmas, and the only previously read book on my shelf that
I look forward to reading in the near future is Robert Penn Warren’s rather
large novel All the King’s Men. I was
drawn to Lewis, in particular, I suppose, because I had just been to see the Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (a movie
that does not live up to its sequel series’ adaptation to film, nor to the book
itself, for that matter). The movie had me thinking about Tolkien and his close
friend Lewis, a fellow Inkling. While I had explored most of Tolkien’s writings
about Middle Earth, I had only read a slim margin of Lewis’s most popular
books; I had only read his Chronicles of
Narnia. After consulting with a friend about which of Lewis’s books I
should engage next, I decided upon Out of
the Silent Planet, the first book in the Space Trilogy.
The pithy tale begins
with Cambridge philologist Dr. Elwin Ransom, while he is on a walking tour of
the English countryside between Cambridge terms, stumbling upon the estate and
work of an old schoolmate, and current entrepreneur, Mr. Devine and his
companion, a scientist named Professor Weston. Devine and Weston lure Ransom
into their country house, under the pretext of offering hospitality, but then
they drug him and take him aboard their spaceship. During their journey, Ransom
is unable to ascertain to which planet they are going, but he is able to
distract himself from his situation by reveling in the allure of space, which
is brighter than he ever imagined it could be. Then, before landing, Ransom
discovers that Weston and Devine plan to turn him over to the sorns, who, they
suppose, want a human for some sort of sacrifice. Ransom begins plotting his
escape, and after landing and seeing the sorns, which turn out to be extremely
tall, humanoid creatures, and the shark-like hnakra, he flees.
Ransom soon encounters
another of the planet’s native creatures, the seal-like hross, Hyoi. Hyoi
introduces Ransom to the other hrossa, sentient beings known for their culture
and poetry. Ransom’s skills as a philologist enable him to learn the hrossa’s
language. From the hrossa, Ransom learns that the planet, which he later
discovers is Mars, is called Malacandra by its inhabitants, and that it
supports three races of sentient beings that live in harmony with each other:
the hrossa, sorns, and pfifltrigg. He also learns of the phantom-like eldil,
who bear messages from the god-like, Oyarsa. The hrossa encourage Ransom to
travel to Oyarsa, but he refuses, remembering that the sorns were going to take
him to Oyarsa; he fears that Oyarsa will kill him. Ransom becomes respected
among the hrossa, and he joins them in a hunt to kill the hnakra, which
threatens the hrossa’s peaceful way of life. Along with Hyoi and another hross,
Whin, Ransom kills the hnakra, but only after an eldil appears to him, telling
him to go to Oyarsa. Immediately after killing the hnakra, Hyoi is shot and
killed by Weston and Devine. Whin tells Ransom that Hyoi’s death is the
consequence of disobeying the eldil, and Ransom departs to find Oyarsa.
During his journey to
Oyarsa, Ransom meets Augray, a sorn, and learns that the séroni do not wish to
sacrifice him. His fear of the séroni was based on a prejudice that all alien
life-forms are brutal savages. He learns, instead that, while the hrossa are
the planet’s poets, the séroni are its intellectuals, and the pfifltriggs are
its artists, miners, metal- and stone- workers.
Ransom’s meeting with
Oyarsa is marked by the appearance of Weston and Devine, who have been captured
by the hrossa. Weston declares his belief in man’s superiority to the creatures
of Malacandra, and reveals his plans to perpetuate the human race through
constant planet-hopping. Devine is merely interested in the planet’s stores of
gold, which he would use to make himself rich. Oyarsa determines that Weston,
at least, loves his fellow creatures, even if he is unable to understand how to
love all hnau (intelligent life-forms), whereas Devine is only selfish and
greedy. He determines to allow the three humans to return to Earth, but only
after warning Ransom to keep the other two men in check, and revealing to
Ransom that the Earth, which is called Thulcandra, is the silent planet,
because its Oyarsa rebelled against the spirit of the universe, Maleldil.
Thulcandra’s Oyarsa was contained, but he contaminates his planet’s hnau.
Oyarsa tells Ransom that things may soon change, and the silent planet may soon
be able to rejoin the other planets in accordance with the will of Maleldil.
Lewis presents his tale
against the backdrop of a yet undiscovered universe. He creates the universe
from his imagination, reflecting on the way light could work in space, and
different forces of gravity could create different landscapes and creatures.
(Everything on Malacandra is taller and thinner than its counterpart on earth).
After the advent of the space race, and our current knowledge of the landscape
of space, Lewis’s vision can seem comic and outdated, but no more so than
Vernes’s visions of the deep sea, or Wells’s aliens should. Lewis’s universe is
as complex, though perhaps not as vivid, as Tolkien’s Middle Earth, and it is
equally a product of a creative mind.
The book is also
unapologetically, and at times heavy-handedly, allegorical. In it, Lewis
creates a vision of mankind from an outside perspective. Mankind is a “bent,”
to borrow the hross phrase, bunch. Nonetheless, mankind is not irredeemable;
Oyarsa points out that Ransom is not a bent man, though, throughout the tale,
Ransom often gives in to prejudice. Oyarsa also alludes to better times to come,
times when mankind will join all other hnau in proper duty to Maleldil. Men
will be redeemed.
The narrative is
straight-forward, and not extremely complex; it is an enjoyable tale, and a
rather quick read, but not one that I would recommend unless you have an
interest in Lewis, or particularly enjoy allegorical fiction. The text
certainly caters to aficionados. I am inclined to read the other two books in
the trilogy, but I have no pressing desire to start on them. The book served as
a good filler between more interesting novels, and I enjoyed its rendition of a
pre-space race universe. If you are interested in Lewis, I would suggest
reading the Chronicles of Narnia saga first.
JCM
28 December 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment