Rach's Reading Club 2024-And Beyond!

Out of the Silent Planet

C.S. Lewis has been one of my favorite authors since I was a child and read, you guessed it, The Narnia Chronicles.

So, this month, I decided to read one of his more adult books, a science fiction novel called Out of the Silent Planet. The hero is philology professor named Elwin Ransom who has the misfortune to stumble into the lair of two corrupt scientists who are planning a trip to Mars. They've already made the journey once, but now they need to bring back a human at the request of the Martians.

The two scientists are meant to contrast. One, Weston, is an ends justifies the means person who believes that anything is morally acceptable when done for the sake of Science. Devine, onthe other hand, is motivated only by greed, because ther is apparently gold on Mars. In a sense, the latter seems more rational, but the former is probably not quite as evil.

When they get to Mars, Ransom escapes and becomes acquainted with the three races of Mars The first is a sort of intelligent seal called a hrossa. The second is race of giants calle Sorn, and the third is race of dwarf-like characters called Pfifltriggi. *Don't ask me how to pronounce that last one.)

Philology plays an important part in this story as Lewis attempts to explain how Ransom learned their languages. This was, for me, the least interesting part. Still, the real point of the story is theology as Ransom eventually stands before an individual who is apparently the sort of Guardian angel of Mars. It turns out that all of the planets have such a protector except Earth which is why it is now the "silent planet".

Philology and Theology are combined in a scene where Weston is called upon to defend himself to this angel with Ransom acting as translator. Lewis gives us Wewston's exact words, which sound kind of noble in English, and then tells us how Ransom was forced to translate it into the Martian language. The translation sounds much more corrupt and unethical than the original which demonstrates how language can reflect cultural values and the two are tied together.

The book closes with an interesting postscript in which Ransom writes a letter to Lewis supposedly after reading the initial manuscript. In the letter, he closes a plot hole which Lewis supposedly claimed readers would not notice. Lewis was right, I didn't notice it.

Oh well. It's a n entertaining and thought-provoking book if not quite as much fun as Narnia.