S8E1 – Perelandra – “Welcome to Season 8!”

Hello listeners and welcome to Season 8! This this season we will be returning to the Ransom Trilogy as we read the second book in the series, “Perelandra”.

S8E1: Season Introduction – “Welcome to Season 8!” (Download)

Show Notes

Introduction

Quote-of-the-week

“In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, here goes – I mean Amen.”

C. S. Lewis, Perelandra

Chit-Chat

• Andrew is going to refer to the novel by its “proper name”: Ungit. “Ungit” is the Greek goddess Aphrodite or Venus in the Roman variation. Lewis makes a thematic arc about Venus in “Perelandra”, which carries on through “That Hideous Strength” and “The Chronicles of Narnia”.
• Matt and Andrew will be planning a happy hour since Mary-Margaret has now read “Till We Have Faces”. They talked about the redemptive, yet off-putting nature of the character Orual, who is a composite of humanity’s worst qualities. Matt brought up the hellish visions of St. Catherine of Siena.
• The immersion in this particular novel is on a different level. David described Perelandra as “some of the most elevated prose [Lewis] ever writes”.

Toast

• Andrew was drinking a mug of H-E-B Taste of San Antonio Blend.
• Matt was also drinking coffee.
• David kicked the season off with some Vat 69, and a cuppa green tea, for reasons that will become clear as we dive in. Andrew dropped an Easter egg; the reason the tea is green is because Venus’ medal is copper, and copper turns green with oxidation.

• And today we’re toasting Patreon supporter Rebekah Walton. Cheers!

Discussion

01. “The Silent Planet”

• Lewis explains that while the book can be read on its own, reading “Out of the Silent Planet” probably helps.

This story can be read by itself but is also a sequel to Out of the Silent Planet in which some account was given of Ransom’s adventures in Mars–or, as its inhabitants call it, Malacandra. All the human characters in this book are purely fictitious and none of them is allegorical.

C. S. Lewis, Perelandra, Preface

• Normally, each episode will have a 100 word summary of the chapter being read. But for today, we chose to bring everyone back into focus with a recap of “Out of the Silent Planet” instead.

After going out for a stroll, the character Ransom notices a struggle going on, and is taken against his will to a foreign place called Malacandra. Ransom experiences what Matt called a “density of reality”, as he attempts to orient himself to his new surroundings. Armed with a knife, and terrified of being offered as a sacrifice by the natives of the planet, he is determined to escape his captors.

Ransom makes his way into the Malacandrian wilderness, and runs into a native, who speaks in an intelligible language. A philologist, Ransom begins to learn this new tongue and communicate with the native, with whom he will develop a deep friendship. He also comes to discover that the knowledge of Christianity is known throughout the universe.

He and the native go hunting for a Hnakra, a beast that dwells in the waters. They successfully kill it and celebrate. However, Ransom’s captors reappear, and send him to meet a mysterious figure; a supernatural, archangel-like being that rules over Malacandra. Through this encounter, he comes to learn what the journey was for and what role he played. In “Perelandra”, Lewis will expand upon the spiritual implications and responsibilities for a human from a fallen world if they were to travel to another one.

• C. S. Lewis loved science fiction – or what he called “scientifiction”. In particular, he loved the English novelist H. G. Wells.
• Lewis was especially interested in the spiritual ramifications of space travel.
• Andrew recalled back to an episode that highlighted “A Voyage to Arcturis” by David Lindsay that explored the topic of spirituality and space travel.

Ransom is speaking to the archangel, and Devine, as well as the chief antagonist Professor Weston, are brought there. Ransom interprets for Weston. Weston explains his vision in grandiose terms, and Ransom, translating its bare-bones meaning, inadvertently exposes the ugliness of Weston’s ideology.

It becomes clear that Ransom and his companions need to escape Malacandra. The archangel sends them back to Earth, warning them to never return, lest they die. However, he implies that the war on Earth will continue.

It wraps up with a conversation between Ransom and the fictional Lewis, where they discuss Lewis writing the following events as a kind of positive propaganda.

• “Out of the Silent Planet” was published in 1938, as rumblings of a second world war were beginning. Lewis writes the book with this in mind.

02. “Perelandra Context”

Let’s talk about the background of Perelandra and contextualise it in Lewis’ life… David was going to turn it over to Andrew, but David saw Matt had notes, so over to him!

• “Perelandra” was published in 1943. Its recent predecessors include “The Screwtape Letters” (1942), “The Problem of Pain” (1940), and “A Preface to Paradise Lost” (1942).
• Written in the background of WWII, high-stakes for the entire world was real with Lewis. He incorporated these stakes into the world of Perelandra.
• “A Preface to Paradise Lost” has several overlapping themes:
  • Temptation
  • Free will
  • Cosmic struggle between good and evil
  • The un-man resembles Milton’s Satan. Both characters use Rhetoric and deception
  • Consequences of disobedience vs. obedience
• All of Lewis’ fictional work begins with a picture, then the genre comes after.

The Lion all began with a picture of a Faun carrying an umbrella and parcels in a snowy wood. This picture had been in my mind since I was about sixteen. Then one day, when I was about forty, I said to myself: “Let’s try to make a story about it.”

C. S. Lewis, It All Began With A Picture

• The picture that Lewis had for “Perelandra” was that of floating islands, leading him to settle on a science fiction novel.
• With “Preface to Paradise Lost”, “The Screwtape Letters”, and “Mere Christianity” all being written within a year of each other, it is clear that Lewis is deep in thought about the devil and the problem of evil.
• Jack dedicated “Perelandra” to “Some Ladies at Wantage”, or Sr. Penelope and her community of Anglican nuns. The Portugese translation has the unfortunate translation, “To Some Wanton Ladies”; not exactly how you want to describe a group of nuns! He also wrote the introduction to her translation of the Athanasian Creed, called “On Reading Old Books”.
• Around this time, fellow Inkling Charles Williams wrote a book called “Witchcraft”, about the history of magic and Satan.
• “Perelandra” began as a poem not a novel manuscript.
• Lewis connected with Sr. Penelope after the nun had written “Out of the Silent Planet” fan-mail to him. He gave a talk at the convent as he was working on the second book.

03. “Main Themes”

• Now, we don’t want to explain everything which happens (we are going to try to be MUCH better with spoilers this season), but what are some of the main themes listeners new to “Perelandra” might expect as we read through? What should they pay attention to?
• The best classic stories begin in the middle of matters. Andrew referred to “The Iliad” which took place right in the middle of the Trojan War.
• Matt mentioned “Mystical Perelandra” by James Como, which he read in preparation for this season.
• Matt’s thematic analysis:
  1. Mission: We know the established setting, and Ransom is now attempting to understand his purpose in this journey.
  2. Good vs. Evil: These happen a lot within intellectual dialogues.
  3. Innocence: Shown through an “un-fallen” creation.
  4. Action vs. Dialogue (no spoilers!)

What [Lewis] thought about everything was secretly present in what he said about anything.

Owen Barfield

• Andrew’s thematic analysis:
  1. Love: Analysing it in an un-fallen state. The book is about Aphrodite, after all! Lewis is also on an arc concerning love; “The Four Loves” would be published years later.
  2. Centralisation of women: Two men are fighting over/about a woman.
  3. Fantasy, Intellect and Will: In that order. We need to take fantasy through our intellect, and to the will. Lewis focuses on this heavily in “The Screwtape Letters” around the same time as well.
  4. Vision: How we see and interpret things.
  5. Mary: This is perhaps Lewis’ most ‘Marian’ book. Lewis says that he is interested in the Ava/Eva connection. He also dedicates the book to the community of Saint Mary the Virgin.
• David’s thematic analysis:
  1. Heavenly and Hellish Creatures: The trajectories of the protagonist and the antagonist continue, though their roles shift as the plot thickens.

• Due to a stylistic change in “That Hideous Strength”, Andrew recommended that listeners who are reading or revisiting the Ransom Trilogy read a Charles Williams book after “Perelandra” before moving on. He suggested either “The Place of the Lion” or “War in Heaven”.

04. “Personal History”

• When did everyone first read “Perelandra?” What did they think? Has their opinion changed? What secondary literature have they read about it?

• It’s been a minute since Andrew read the trilogy. The first time was … sometime in the 90s? He raced through the series, thoroughly enjoying it. He even had a book group called “The Silent Planet Society”.
• Andrew mentioned “C. S. Lewis on the Final Frontier”, “The Scientifiction Novels of C.S. Lewis”, and the critical study “Planets in Peril”.

• David read “Perelandra” after going through “Out of the Silent Planet” on the show. He thought that this was some of Lewis’ best writing, and probably read through it a little too quickly.
• Andrew had taken note of most of David’s books, but he had two more; “A Compass for Deep Heaven” by Dr. Diana Glyer, and the previously mentioned “Mystical Perelandra”, whose author he interviewed a few seasons ago. James Como will be a returning guest for this season! Andrew tossed in another title, “C. S. Lewis’s Perelandra: Reshaping the Image of the Cosmos”, which is an essay collection.
• The episode “Perelandra: The Opera” gave the book a new “texture” to David.

• Matt read the series in college. He found it beautiful, and distinctly remembered the good and evil conversations that Ransom had.

05. “Hopes for the Season”

• Matt hoped to have a more immersive experience than ever before, having read the book several times, and being prepared with the scholarly literature.
• Andrew is looking forward to gathering with his two good friends again (aweeee). He also is curious how David and Matt will anticipate “The Great Divorce” in “Perelandra”, which is published four years later.
• Matt suggested that Andrew have a “Till We Have Faces” month, to go over the book in more depth.

Wrap-Up

Concluding Thoughts

• We will do our best to incorporate listener feedback in this season, including reading insights that have been shared with us on the show.
• Some giveaway news:
  • Each month with the news letter, Pints with Jack will be giving away one of the collection of Lewis books for C. S. Lewis Reading Day. If you are subscribed or a Patreon supporter, you are automatically entered into the drawing.
  • David is toying with the idea of giving away memberships to the New York C. S. Lewis Society. Stay tuned through the season!
• Forewarning: listeners might experience some time dilation with the recordings this season, especially early on. Matt will be married when this episode comes out, and Andrew might be moving!

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