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In the first of his Space Trilogy C.S. Lewis explores what might happen if there was life in space and how many might be seen or viewed by these other life forms. Who lives right? He explores the vastness that could be the universe which was yet to be explored. In Out of the Silent Planet Lewis creates a new world that is untouched by human faults and flaws. The world that is Malacandra has different peoples, or hnau, dwelling in harmony unlike that of earth where a war was being fought at the time Lewis was writing, it was around WWII. Lewis’ science fiction builds a world unlike that of his Narnia but none the less intriguing and real. The reader desires to understand who are the characters of Devine, Weston, and most certainly Dr. Ransom.
One thing to note is that while Lewis knew of the works such as that of H.G. Wells he chose not to fully follow in that vein going so far as in the forward note ( Lewis, 1996) to state that “[c]ertain slighting references to earlier stories of this type...have been put there for purely dramatic purposes.” The opening note is not the only thing that makes this book unique but it is the style in which it is written. Unlike Narnia which makes no reference of being written by the characters within Out of the Silent Planet (Lewis, 1996) proposes to have been written by Dr. Ransom and an acquaintance to warn of what is coming. In a way similar to that of Journey to the Center of the Earth the work is to be viewed as a type of travel log to some unknown world written by the adventurer for the benefit of the readers. The work closes out with a Postscript which notes that it is supposed to be “...extracts from a letter written by the original ‘Dr. Ransom’ to the author” (Lewis, 1996, 153). This adds to the excitement of the story drawing the reader into the world, that while similar to our own is completely foreign in other respects (I.e. personal space travel in the 1940s).
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| Back cover: C.S. Lewis |
Lewis’ (1996) Dr. Elwen Ransom is first met while on a walking holiday from his position as “...a philologist, and fellow of Cambridge college” (10). Ransom is on holiday with little aim except to leave society behind for a time until he must return to the college to resume his position and teaching. However, this holiday is interrupted when he cannot find a place to stay so is forced to venture further in the night than he wanted. During this walk he meets a woman whose son is late in returning home, upon listening to her story Ransom offers assistance in finding her son. If only he had not stopped and continued on perhaps none of the rest of the ill-fated journey would have taken place, at least for him nothing to say about the poor boy.
Down the road Ransom hears an argument between two men and a boy or teen. He suspects this is the boy he was looking for. This is where his journey takes a turn for the worse, while the gate is locked, he chooses to assist the boy and goes through the hedge, only to encounter an old acquaintance. The acquaintance is Devine, a man out only for his own improvements. Devine, along with Weston, are seeking a way to make a fortune and “save” mankind forever. Their plan, a spaceship and travel to a strange world of Malacandra where they will take an unwitting Ransom as prisoner to speak to or be eaten by the sorn locals of the planet.
Once aboard the ship and on the way, Ransom is informed of the treachery that has befallen him. During the voyage he learns little of the people of the planet they are going to, and even less of the intentions that brought him there. His travel companions are not forth coming with any information. As the journey nears its end Ransom comes up with a plan to escape the first chance he gets from his captors and his presumed murderers upon landing.
Shortly after landing the trio settles into a camp that has been set up for them. At first Ransom thought it was by the locals but then realizes almost too late it was from a previous visit of his companions. In the following days they are visited by the locals, whom Ransom believes will harm him, so in a moment of confusion he escapes running further into the wilds of this foreign world. During his flight he encounters another life form, which only because of his background does he realize is intelligent and able to speak a language. Ransom reveals himself to this creature and is welcomed into its boat after learning that he is called a hross.
Ransom learns to live among these creatures and discovers many surprising things, such as they are not enemies, speak an intelligent language, and are poets. But most surprising to him is that there seem to be two fully developed intelligent species on this strange planet. After some time Ransom learns another thing about these hnua (people) they have a belief in something above them called Oyarsa, a spirit being, who controls and rules over all the world. Next, he is told to go see this being in Meldilorn, a city far away through the realm of the sorn.
After tragedy strikes in the form o the two bent men, Weston and Devine, Ransom is sent on a treacherous path to find Oyarsa. ON this journey he meets an elder sorn who guides him on his way and explains some of the ways of the hnau on the planet he now shares. This sorn takes him to the banks fot he lake in which the city of Meldilorn sets but goes no further with him, instead sending him on a boat once again piloted by a hross. At this time Ransom begins to see that none of the three intelligent beings serve or control the other but each work willingly for Oyarsa.
In the ciy Ransom meets the final race of the planet, a pfifltriggi, a frog-like creature who is a skilled artist and metal worker. At this time Ransom discovers that there is much more to the planet and the universe than he assumed. He encounters an illustrated mural showing the history of the planet, Oyarsa, and even a planet known only as “the silent planet.” He even realizes that they had not traveled as far as he had presumed but were still within his own solar system.
The next day he is summoned to Oyarsa, where he first believed he would be harmed but now is not a certain. During his conversation with Oyarsa Ransom learns of the purpose of the summons, to share more about humanity and what has taken place on his planet since it fell silent many years before. Much information is exchanged but none as devistating as the return of WEsten and Devine in the hands of the Hrossa. The two men had not only killed one hross but three. THis made Oyarsa angry and he would kill them if they belonged to his planet but since they did not he would banish them to earth without a means of returning. AFter this pronouncment he offeres Ransom a place on Malacandra, should he take it. HOwever, RAnsom refuses and chances the return with the two who had captured him in a ill-advised bet for wealth and preservation of the human race.
This book is well written and an easy read. I do not typically enjoy science fiction but picked it up years ago because of the author C.S. Lewis, whom I knew from titles such as The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Screwtape Letters. Lewis shares his commentary on what the world has become, which he would develop more in his many future works, both fiction and devotional. For readers of modern science fiction who are seeking information about fantastical futuristic technology this book is not for you. But if you are interested in the human condition, world building, or languages and philology this book may be for you. I found it good this second read, but mostly because it was familiar and simple to read. The first time I read it I enjoyed it as a good work of fiction but did not catch the many intricate details left by the author that pointed to the true condition of the human heart. Lewis’ is a remarkable world builder, though not as memorable as his friend J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth, this first world in the Space Trilogy is remarkably well constructed and detailed in every way. Overall, a well thought out and presented journey to another world.
Lewis, C. S. (1996) Out of the Silent Planet. New York: Scribner Classic.
Images taken by me of the above book from the Shasta Public Libraries collection.
