I finished reading Perelandra, C.S. Lewis’ sequel to Out of the Silent Planet.

The religious aspect comes much more to the fore here, as well as an idea you’ll see a lot within Lewis, that of this war between God and the Devil (though still not so explicit).

Also, you can draw a straight line, I think, between Lewis’ Space Trilogy and Madeleine L’engle’s trilogy, beginning with A Wrinkle in Time. I believe that L’engle was also a devout Anglican, too, though that’s not what I’m talking about. And Lewis isn’t writing children’s/YA fiction here, though the style is very similar to Lewis’ books for young people (which maybe is testimony to his not talking down to children or a testimony to a certain childlike nature in his writing in general).

Out of the Silent Planet was a more subtle book, in a way. Perelandra is far more theological, by which I mean that it expressly advocates for and against some specific theological positions. Rather unexpectedly, Lewis (or his stand-in, Dr. Ransom) fiercely opposes, on theological grounds, the idea of humans colonizing other planets. In the context of this system he’s created, it makes sense. Planets and species are born, grown old, and die. This, it is implied, should be accepted as part of God’s plan. But it was surprising and pulled me up short when Ransom was so vehemently opposed to the idea. I thought of 2010, when the alien intelligence told humanity not to colonize one of the moon’s of Saturn, because that was intended for new, burgeoning life. But, in 2010, humanity did the go ahead to spread across other planets and moons in the solar system. Lewis doesn’t think we should be leaving earth, at all.

He also makes an argument against… I would call it evolutionary deism. But a certain kind of non-denominational spirituality. I’m sure it’s referring to something of particular vogue when he wrote it (was Bergsonianism big at the time?).

The idea of God, Jesus, and the Devil are much more explicit here. There’s even a some very real demonic possession (which Ransom is irritatingly slow to wise up to).

The most interesting bit actually occurs fairly early on, when Ransom intrudes upon an edenic moment and appears as if, unwittingly, he will play the role of the serpent, introducing death and evil into the paradise that is Perelandra (better known as Venus). The edenic theme continues, but with a more traditional antagonist.

When I wrote about Out of the Silent Planet, I noted its debt to planetary romances like Burroughs’ beloved John Carter of Mars novels, where half the pleasure is the author’s development and the reader’s discovery of a new, amazing world. But the world of Perelandra is less joyfully explored than that of Malacandra (Mars) and the book itself is far more grim for it. Theology trumps discovery.

As a Catholic, the idea of the devil has always been hardest aspects of dogma for me to wrap my head around. But C.S. Lewis is determined to remind readers of his existence.

Did you ever see the movie, The Usual Suspects? If you haven’t, shame on you. It’s a great movie. I saw it with my friend Ryan in Minneapolis in 1995. Kevin Spacey’s character has a line: ‘The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.’ Or something like that.

He might have been quoting from Lewis.

This was on my mind when I went to confession the other day. The priest behind the screen was not my usual confessor, but a more experienced, but perhaps also stricter and less forgiving (though, of course, he granted me absolution) priest. He said that what I was attributing to my own laziness actually had a deeper cause: the devil attempting to keep me away from God. His discussion with me very much focused on the devil, the idea that, lifting up the skin of our faults would reveal a very real and evil spiritual presence (not that this excuses us for not resisting and doing what is right).

I won’t get anymore into what goes and happens in there, but C.S. Lewis would have appreciated my confessor’s words. He was someone who truly believed, in a way I still struggle to do, in the reality of the devil and the evil that emanates from him and infects the world.

Perelandra is ultimately about the reality of evil and the necessity of resisting it.

There is a lot of didactic dialogue, characters going back and forth over the universe, God, God’s plan for things, creation, evil, necessity, freedom, predestination, etc., etc., etc., etc…

Then. After a ton of that, there’s a fight scene and a climactic chase. Then there’s some more theological discourse. Then, a Burroughs-esque exploration of a strange, underground realm within Perelandra, lovingly described – alien, frightening, and beautiful.

Then, there is a lot of talk by some angels (okay, eldila is what Lewis’ calls them here). Then he safely goes home (which we already knew would happen, because the opening is by a character named Lewis who is helping Ransom on this end, making sure someone is there to open the crystal casket, which is the device by which he travels from earth the Perelandra, who notes that he helps Ransom out of the casket after his return back, but that’s actually okay, because did you really think Ransom would die, because it’s not that kind of book).

Next up, That Hideous Strength. But not just yet. I’m a little tired of this trilogy and don’t intend to start on the final volume for a bit. I’m reading Knife of Dreams, the final Wheel of Time wholly written by the late Robert Jordan (and it already looks an improvement on the last couple of books; it opens with a sword fight and looks like people are going to get down and dirty indulge this fantasy loving boy’s desire for things like battles and magical duels), and Mary Jo Bang’s poetry collection, Elegy, is looking lonely and ready to read in my study.