[Ransom answered,] “Yes. I shall arrive knowing the language. It saves a lot of trouble—though, as a philologist I find it rather disappointing.”
“But you’ve no idea what you are to do, or what conditions you will find?” [asked Lewis.]
“No idea at all what I’m to do. There are jobs, you know, where it is essential that one should not know too much beforehand ... things one might have to say which one couldn't say effectively if one had prepared them. As to conditions, well, I don’t know much. It will be warm: I’m to go naked. Our astronomers don’t know anything about the surface of Perelandra at all. The outer layer of her atmosphere is too thick." [answered Ransom]
C.S. Lewis, Perelandra (1943)
Perelandra is a fascinating novel. I'm still trying to get my mind around the fact that this is C.S. Lewis -- a science fiction novel! In today's quotation, I inserted character names so the dialogue could be followed. Lewis has himself as a character in the book which is also quite fascinating. To say the least, in this scene he has concerns about his friend Ransom taking up this assignment on Venus (Perelandra).
ReplyDeleteI love that trilogy! Very creative - and profound in many places. These weren't his first works as a Christian writer, but they were very early in his career .
ReplyDeleteI think Chad would enjoy them. I found 'That Hideous Strength' the weakest (at least for me).