That Hideous Strength
Summary
The final entry into C.S. Lewis’ The Space Trilogy is an author-described “fairytale for adults”. That Hideous Strength is part Arthurian legend, part dystopic nightmare, part study on the intricacies or both human nature and spiritual warfare, pulling no punches on any of these topics.
Assessment
That Hideous Strength is, for C.S. Lewis, a bit of a chaotic mess of genre, message, and characters. The story takes place after WWII, where an atheist couple navigate the world of careers, marriage, prophetic dreams, and evil, dictatorial organizations run by demons attempting to resurrect Merlin from the Arthurian legends. The story is surprisingly coherent, but in general lacks a solid, overarching cohesiveness that other pieces of C.S. Lewis’ writing have. It initially focuses on the cerebral and political more than the spiritual, but then dissolves into the fantastical and supernatural by the end of the tale.
The dystopic part is somewhat anticlimactic, being emphasized mostly in media manipulation (which may have been more shocking in previous decades but is much less surprising in modern society). The insight into a rocky marriage feels incredibly realistic, specifically how the differences in how men and women perceive things can interfere with good communication, and how, ultimately, marriage is incredibly difficult to maintain without God.
The story’s ultimate message appears to be something along the lines of “human logic and reason are blind to the supernatural elements of this world”, however, that doesn’t begin to cover the entire book. There is a plethora of other messages that Lewis seems to be trying to convey on top of this overarching concept. These include Biblical gender and sex, the foolishness of pride, the strength of the natural world, and how easily media can be manipulated. All of these are excellent topics to cover, however, they become very chaotic when thrown into one, single novel.
Light-o-Meter
Writing Style: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Plot: 4 out of 7 Little Lights
Worldbuilding: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Characters: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Theological Message: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Overall: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Talk
For me, this book was as close to a miss as C.S. Lewis can get — which, admittedly, is still not very far. It’s a solid piece of fiction and in a lot of ways a timely read with its realistic dystopian features and familiar, media-related horrors. However, it seems to be trying to bite off more than it can chew (and I can handle a lot of genre-mixing). It’s part dystopia, part martial spat, part fairytale, part apocalypse, and spends most of its time simply talking. I was a solid 8 hours into the 15-hour audiobook before I realized “oh, the story really has started”.
This said, where the book shines, it shines. C.S. Lewis is, as always, a master of the character. A master of crafting and populating his stories with characters that are important, well-developed, key to the plot, and carry their own distinct personalities. Not only that, but the characters are true to themselves in how they interact with the plot. The main characters, a married couple named Mark and Jane Studdock, are perfectly articulated examples of two people trying to navigate a marriage, careers, and direction in life without God. They can somewhat sort of make it by with the cultural norms of the society they were brought up in, but it's all on shaky ground, waiting for just the wrong sort of pressure in the wrong location to make it all come crashing down.
Theologically, I felt the book didn’t have as much of an impact as Perelandra, but I think that may have simply been how I was interpreting the story. Every so often I caught glimpses of the deeper symbolism and metaphor — and towards the end, the spiritual warfare side of things really began to stand out with all of Lewis’ fantastic theological insight — however, as a whole the story was mostly just a cluttered jumble of genre, characters, and purpose. This is not completely a bad thing, as I did still enjoy the book and the simultaneously wild and boring ride it took me on, but it is definitely my least favorite of The Space Trilogy.
Wrap-up
That Hideous Strength is C.S. Lewis’ “fairytale for adults”. Combining a dystopic, a domestic squabble, media manipulation, the ancient wizard Merlin, and the supernatural realm that permeates all of the cosmos, this novel is certainly his most chaotic and intriguing. Full of scattered wisdom, metaphor, and featuring an absolutely delightful bear, this story is among the more interesting pieces of fiction Lewis ever wrote.
Where to Enjoy
Abebooks: That Hideous Strength by Cs Lewis - AbeBooks
Amazon: That Hideous Strength (Space Trilogy, Book 3): Lewis, C.S.: 9780743234924
Audible: That Hideous Strength by C. S. Lewis - Audiobook
Barnes & Noble: That Hideous Strength (Space Trilogy Series #3) by C. S. Lewis, Paperback
Christianbook.com: That Hideous Strength, Space Trilogy Series: C.S. Lewis: 9780743234924 - Christianbook.com
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