Out of the Silent Planet (The Space Trilogy, #1) in Generation Joshua

Sep 25, 2009 Amy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: c-s-lewis

A bit heavy on the adjetives, but I enjoyed it!

What would it be like to sit in on one of the conversations between C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien? Today they are some of the best loved and well-read authors. In their day they were leading British faculty members at Oxford University. Perhaps one of the most fascinating conversations to hear would be the beginning of C.S. Lewis鈥檚鈥淪pace Trilogy鈥�.
According to A.N. Wilson, Lewis鈥檚 biographer, it began when J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis lamented th A bit heavy on the adjetives, but I enjoyed it!

What would it be like to sit in on one of the conversations between C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien? Today they are some of the best loved and well-read authors. In their day they were leading British faculty members at Oxford University. Perhaps one of the most fascinating conversations to hear would be the beginning of C.S. Lewis鈥檚鈥淪pace Trilogy鈥�.
According to A.N. Wilson, Lewis鈥檚 biographer, it began when J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis lamented the state of contemporary fiction and decided to each write a book. Tolkien鈥檚 time-travel story (joining Middle Earth mythology with the modern world) was never completed, but C.S. Lewis鈥檚 space-travel series has easily become one of the most interesting and favored books able to rival even H.G. Wells. The first book, 鈥淥ut of the Silent Planet鈥�, is a space time adventure you won鈥檛 soon forget.
When college professor Dr. Elwin Ransom offers to help an old woman by sending her son home from a local estate where the boy works, he is surprised to find the owner, Professor Weston, and one of his old schoolmate, Devine, attempting to force the boy into the 鈥榳ash house.鈥� Intervening, he is drugged by the two men and wakes up to discover he has unwittingly become the third member of space exploration to Mars! Upon reaching Malacandra (as the natives call their planet), he learns that he is to be given as a sacrifice to a fearful 鈥榮orn鈥�. Unwilling to meet an unknown fate, he flees into the strange wilderness of the foreign planet and ends up meeting one of the natives, a furry 鈥榟ross鈥�. After living with the hrossa, tragedy forces him to flee to the god-like ruler of Malacandra, Oyarsa, where he meets and connects with the other two alien species of Mars, the fifteen-foot-tall s茅roni and the frog like pfifltriggi. Trying to avoid the chaos created by Weston and Devine, Ransom faces the possibilities of never being able to return home and sudden death on a strange planet even as he is drawn by the beauty and simplicity of their way of life.
Though I disagree, many people have speculated that 鈥淥ut of the Silent Planet鈥� might be allegorical; indeed the resemblance to the Christian religion is strong. 鈥楳aleldil the Young鈥�, ruler over everything, easily could be a representation of Jesus and the 鈥極ld One鈥�, creator of everything, God the Father. The nearly invisible servants of Oyarsa, called eldila, could represent angels and Oyarsa himself an arch-angel. Earth鈥檚 bent-Oyarsa is identifiable as Lucifer. The word bent in Malacandra stands for evil or sin. While these generalities may be drawn, Lewis consistently seemed particular about pointing out whether his books were allegorical.
Another identifiable theme in C.S. Lewis鈥檚 writing is a strong objection to interplanetary genocide as a justified act for racial survival. Near the climax of the book, Professor Weston debates with Oyarsa the rights of humans to take over Mars for survival. A common assumption before space probes explored Mars was that it was a dying planet and that the enormous canals seen through telescopes were the Martians attempt at survival. Using this idea, Lewis鈥檚 Oyarsa asks what interest humans would have with a dying planet. When Weston remains obstinate that humans will just take another planet, Oyarsa states that the bent-Oyarsa of earth had made humans 鈥渨ise enough to see the death of their kind approaching, but not wise enough to endure it.鈥�
Though the writing has a tendency to get a little slow and irritatingly descriptive, the plot is fascinating, the writing is good, and C.S. Lewis has once again pulled off a masterpiece of literature. Ransom is an interesting character who I found easy to relate to, and the debate between Weston and Oyarsa was well written and leaves lots to think about. Space will never lose its allure and 鈥淥ut of the Silent Planet鈥� will find readers in generations to come.
I would recommend the book to teenagers and adults as a tour de force. In spite of the fact that it was published in 1943, the charm and excitement is not lost on twenty-first century readers. Science fiction of today has a tendency to be 鈥榦ut there鈥�. With all the discoveries in space and science, we know there are no Martians and that logically three humans wouldn鈥檛 be able to survive on Mars. And yet, 鈥淥ut of the Silent Planet鈥� still holds the appeal and catches our imagination. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and hope you will, too.
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Oct 15, 2009 Tori rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: for-genj-book-club, fantasy

Written for book club:

I'm sure everyone would agree if I said that being kidnapped would not be enjoyable. If that is true, then being kidnapped and taken out of this world onto another planet for unknown reasons has to be worse. I'm sure Ransom thought the same thing; but, unlike all of us, he had to go through it.
This is what takes place in Out of the Silent Planet. The author of this interesting, though somewhat strange novel, is C.S. Lewis. Though I wouldn't say it was as good as his other Written for book club:

I'm sure everyone would agree if I said that being kidnapped would not be enjoyable. If that is true, then being kidnapped and taken out of this world onto another planet for unknown reasons has to be worse. I'm sure Ransom thought the same thing; but, unlike all of us, he had to go through it.
This is what takes place in Out of the Silent Planet. The author of this interesting, though somewhat strange novel, is C.S. Lewis. Though I wouldn't say it was as good as his other books that I have read, it certainly holds an originality that keeps the reader curious.
Ransom, the main character, gets kidnapped by an old school mate and a physicist. After being knocked out, he wakes up not only in a strange room, but a strange room that is on a spaceship. What a surprise that would be! He is told that it will take a while to get to where they are going, but not where they are going. He rightly figures that all attempt to escape right now would be futile. Running the ship and steering it back to Earth would be impossible, seeing that Ransom didn't know how to control the ship.
Besides the control room, he can come and go as he pleases. In one of these moments however, he stumbles onto something important. He was brought because something wanted him. A sorn, is what he overheard from his captors. He would know too soon what these were.
They landed on a strange and tall planet, if tall could be used. Everything was taller. The waves of the lake, the trees, everything. Then Ransom saw them: sorns. They too were way out of proportion, standing on the far shore of the lake. They would scare anyone who was not used to those creatures.
Ransom ran. He ran hard and fast past his captors and past the spaceship, and into a strange and unknown land.
Everyone can all imagine being lost in a strange place. What did Ransom have to comfort him? He couldn't get out, and he couldn't go back. He wandered, and he discovers things about the planet he is on, which is called Malacandra. That is the entire plot of the story.
The book pricks the readers curiosity, but it doesn't go deeper then that. The plot, though full of potential, lacked the twists and excitement that makes novels hard to put down.
Ransom as a character is also mediocre. In this book the reader can watch him grow a little, but it isn't easily seen. I also found him hard to relate with. Realistically, anyone would be terrified at finding themselves on a strange planet, but Ransom was only a slightly frightened.
Overall, the book was disappointing. The potential it had was just that; potential. It never went any farther. If I had to sum the book up in one word, I would use the word okay. It's not great, it's not terrible, just okay.
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Aug 22, 2022 Sara Horn rated it it was amazing

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Nov 23, 2009 Lily rated it it was ok

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Jan 04, 2018 Tabby marked it as to-read

Shelves: wtr-fantasy

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