Perelandra

On the first day of our vacation I finished reading Perelandra, the second book in C. S. Lewis’ space trilogy. Since I commented on the first book (Out of the Silent Planet), I thought I’d comment briefly on this one as well.

I thought Perelandra was a significantly different type of story from Out of the Silent Planet. It took just a bit to adjust therefore. However, it is a great story. Perhaps one of the most beneficial aspects is the compelling description of the fall. Lewis is not describing the fall of Adam and Eve but the temptation and potential fall of the “Eve” of another planet (Venus). Lewis is masterful in places I thought in portraying the allurement of sin, the trickery of half truths, and finally the ugliness of sin- especially in contrast to the purity of this new world as he describes it. In fact, as I was reading this book I found myself more repulsed by sin than normal. Going along one day, I encountered a typical (for me) tempting thought. I am accustomed to the struggle but on this day, I found myself more disgusted with sin than usual. I was glad for this but surprised. I began to ask myself why this was so. As I thought about it, I traced the increased repugnance back to the reading of Perelandra. Without me consciously thinking about it, the portrayal of sin and evil in the book and helped me to strip away the veneer of sin. Anything which does this is to be appreciated and commended!