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Perelandra
"Perelandra"
continues the sometimes thrilling, sometimes mystical, but always
sublimely evocative adventures of Dr.Ransom first explored in “Out
of the Silent Planet”. In this second volume of C.S.Lewis’
acclaimed Cosmic Trilogy, Ransom is called to the beautiful paradise
planet of Perelandra, or Venus, which is in grave peril from his
old adversary Dr.Weston. Ransom encounters floating islands and
bubble trees as well as an all-powerful female ruler, an Eve figure
who undergoes temptation at the hands of a Satan figure in the form
of Weston. Ransom must engage with Weston in a desperate struggle
to save the purity of Perelandra.
“Perelandra”
was first published in 1943, and again demonstrates the matchless
imagination of the man who was later to create the Narnia books
in delivering an exhilarating adventure which also attempts to answer
some of life’s great mysteries. Lewis’ evocation of
alien landscapes is rich and brilliantly imagined, demonstrating
his flair as a craftsman of classic science fiction. The Cosmic
Trilogy was inspired by Lewis’, then in his late thirties,
involvement with an informal writing group known as the Inklings,
which included his lifelong friend and fellow Oxford academic J.R.R.Tolkien.
Not only are these books where Lewis first explored many styles
to which he would return in his later, better-known fiction –
from religious allegory, to the similarities between certain Venutian
aliens and Narnian characters – but it is arguable that a
cross-pollenation of ideas took place between Lewis and Tolkien:
for example, the eldils could be said to be cousins to the elves
of “The Lord of the Rings”.
“Out
of the Silent Planet” received high praise on its publication
in 1938. Hugh Walpole said in his review: "Here is a very good
book; it is of thrilling interest as a story, but it is more than
that; it is a kind of poem, and it has the great virtue of improving
as it goes on. It is a unique thing, full of stars, cold and heat,
flowers of the planets and a sharp sardonic humour." Of “Perelandra”
Edwin Muir said: “Brilliantly managed … the description
of Venus, in its endless age of innocence, is delightful”.
With his Cosmic Trilogy, Lewis showed he was a pioneer in science-
as well as children's fiction. For example, its influence can be
seen on Ray Bradbury's better-known "The Martian Chronicles"
and arguably Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials”
trilogy.
Born and bred in Ulster but spending most of his life as an academic
in Oxford, C.S.Lewis (1898-1963) is famous as the author of the
Chronicles of Narnia ("The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"
and its six companion novels) which were published during the 1950s.
He has been portrayed on stage, TV, film and radio by actors as
diverse as Nigel Hawthorne, Joss Ackland, Anthony Hopkins ("Shadowlands")
and most recently Geoffrey Palmer ("The Northern Irishman in
C.S.Lewis"). Less well known is his lifelong friendship with
another Oxford don, J.R.R.Tolkien; their informal writing group,
the Inklings, was the spark that led to Lewis writing his highly-rated,
but less well-known, science-fiction or “Cosmic” trilogy,
comprising "Out of the Silent Planet", "Perelandra"
(a.k.a."Voyage to Venus") and "That Hideous Strength".
Alex
Jennings, the reader, is one of the most acclaimed English stage,
screen and radio actors of his generation. Most recently he has
appeared at London’s National Theatre in David Hare’s
“Stuff Happens” and opposite Zoe Wanamaker in “The
Front Page”, a.k.a. “His Girl Friday”, and also
at the Drury Lane Theatre as Henry Higgins in “My Fair Lady”.
His numerous other stage credits include lead roles in “The
Recruiting Officer”, “Ghetto”, “Much Ado
About Nothing” and “Hamlet”. His film work includes
“The Wings of the Dove”. He is a veteran of radio drama
(which includes “The End of the Affair” and “Eroica”)
and unabridged readings (which include “Oliver Twist”
and “Crime and Punishment”).
The
producer Lawrence Jackson’s other unabridged readings for
BBC7 include work by C.S.Lewis, G.K.Chesterton, Algernon Blackwood
and Sheridan Le Fanu. His drama credits for BBC Radio 4 include
three series of “Baldi” and Classic Serials of Stendhal’s
“The Charterhouse of Parma” and Thackeray’s “Barry
Lyndon”.
Synopsis
Ransom is transported between planets not by spaceship, as to Mars
in ‘Out of the Silent Planet’, but in an eldil-borne
wax coffin to the planet Venus, or Perelandra. Here the beautifully
imagined floating islands on a golden ocean prove to be the scene
for a revisitation of the temptation in Eden. Perelandra’s
first-created Green Lady is the Eve figure to the amoral scientist
Weston’s tempter and Satan figure. Weston has returned as
a puppet of dark eldils to coax ‘Eve’ to disobey divine
prohibitions, and Ransom has been sent to Perelandra to stop him.
Ransom tries to argue the case for the defence of this Eden-like
world, but the former Weston’s alternating persuasive skill
and childish nastiness (eg. torture of animals) results in Ransom
ultimately confronting and disposing of this “serpent”
by means of physical violence. Perelandra remains unfallen, angels
join in a celebration and Ransom returns to Earth healthier, wiser
but wounded in the heel from his vicious fight with Weston.
(Ransom,
the villainous Weston and Devine reappear in the final novel of
the trilogy, ‘That Hideous Strength’)
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