That Hideous Strength: Chapter 4

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of That Hideous Strength by C. S. Lewis, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. I recommend you support your local bookseller or public library, and read the book first.

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Mark Studdock, a sociologist and Fellow at Bracton College in Edgestow, left Bracton to take a public-relations position with the N.I.C.E., a scientific think tank that purchased a large parcel of land from the College to set up its institute, including the ancient Bragdon Wood, where Merlin is buried, according to folklore. He travelled to Belbury, the current headquarters of the N.I.C.E., with the influential Lord Feverstone, another influential Fellow and a member of the Institute. There he met several high-ranking members of the N.I.C.E., but none of them seemed to know exactly where Mark fit in the organization or would give him a straight answer about his job description. One interesting character he met was Miss Hardcastle, known as "the Fairy," a burly woman who headed the N.I.C.E.'s police organization. The N.I.C.E. itself wants to re-engineer society along "scientific" lines including eugenics and direct mind conditioning, and Miss Hardcastle was particularly enthusiastic about her job as the enforcers of the Institute's agenda. He also meets another Fellow at Bracton, William "Bill the Blizzard" Hingest, who strongly advises Mark to leave the N.I.C.E. alone and go back to Bracton—as he himself is that night.

Meanwhile, Mark's wife Jane, who is disturbed by clairvoyant dreams, travelled to St. Anne's on the Hill. She was given the address of a Miss Ironwood, whom her tutor, Mr. Dimble, invited her to visit to talk about her dreams. When she spoke to Miss Ironwood, she was disappointed to find out that she could be no help, because there was nothing wrong with her. Jane's dreams are a natural ability inherited from her ancestry in a branch of the Tudor family. She has an ancestor who wrote down an accurate account of the Battle of Worcester despite not being there: he, too, dreamt it. Jane returned home to Edgestow, where she received a phone call late at night from Mrs. Dimble, asking if she could stay the night.

Chapter 4: "The Liquidation of Anachronisms"

First of all, I love the title of this chapter. That's not something I say often about chapter titles. It sounds like the title of a prog-rock album, but in this story, as we'll see, it's literally true.

That Hideous Strength: Chapter 3

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of That Hideous Strength by C. S. Lewis, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. I recommend reading the book first. It's short, I promise.

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Mark Studdock is a Fellow at Bracton College in the University of Edgestow. At a meeting of the Governing Board, the Progressive Element, a clique of which Mark is part, succeeded in approving the sale of some College property, the ancient Bragdon Wood, to the N.I.C.E., a scientific research institution. Afterward, Lord Feverstone (aka Dick Devine), another Fellow and an influential politician involved with the N.I.C.E., told Mark what the real business of the think tank is: human advancement through eugenics, environmental manipulation, and ultimately interplanetary travel. He invited Mark to join the N.I.C.E. to write flattering propaganda.

Jane, Mark's wife of six months, is a graduate student. She was disturbed by a nightmare of a recently executed murderer. She visited Mr. Dimble, her tutor, and his wife, and they suggested she talk to someone they knew in St. Anne's on the Hill. When she returned home, thoughts of her nightmare frightened her, and when Mark arrived, he found her sobbing at the door.

The next day, Mark drove with Lord Feverstone to Belbury, headquarters of the N.I.C.E., while Jane rode the train to St. Anne's, to meet with the Dimbles' acquaintance, Miss Ironwood.

That Hideous Strength: Chapter 2

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of That Hideous Strength by C. S. Lewis, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. Unless you're the sort of person who likes skipping to the last page, go read the book first.

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Mark and Jane Studdock have been married for six months and their marriage is on the rocks.

Jane Studdock is a graduate student, who was married six months ago, and the marriage was already in trouble. She struggles with her thesis, and she resents the life of a housewife. Jane was recently disturbed by a nightmare involving the disembodied head of a recently executed scientist and murderer. When she visited her tutor and his wife, they offered her the address of someone that she could talk to.

Her husband, Mark Studdock, is a Fellow at Bracton College in the University of Edgestow. Amongst the Fellows he is a member of the Progressive Element. At a College Meeting, they successfully leveraged the College's current financial difficulties to win a motion to sell Bragdon Wood, an ancient forest that legend says is the burial place of Merlin. The buyer was the National Institute of Co-Ordinated Experiments (N.I.C.E.), a scientific research institute.

The Progressive Element are:

• Curry, the sub-Warden: The leader of the clique. He enjoys playing politics and wants to be seen, along with Bracton College, as modern and progressive.
• James Busby, the College Bursar (financial administrator): He sees the sale of Bragdon Wood as a solution to the College's money problems, and allies with the other Progressives to push it through.
• Lord Feverstone: Also known as Dick Devine, he is an influential London politician. He uses his influence at the College to recruit Mark and close the sale of Bragdon Wood to the N.I.C.E.
• Mark Studdock: A Junior Fellow of Sociology, elected five years ago. He is ambitious, wanting to belong to the inner circle. He was elected over his chief rival, a man named Denniston, thanks to the influence of Lord Feverstone.

That Hideous Strength: Chapter 1

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of That Hideous Strength by C. S. Lewis, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. If you don't want me ruining the experience for you, put this post down and go read That Hideous Strength now. I promise I won't be offended.

Two weekends ago, I finished a readthrough of Perelandra, the second book in C. S. Lewis's classic Space Trilogy (aka the Cosmic Trilogy or the Ransom Trilogy). Today we continue the series with the third book: That Hideous Strength.

An up-front confession: This was always my least favourite of the three, as indicated by the fact that I have probably read Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra four times, and That Hideous Strength only twice: the first time in 1992 when I read the trilogy for the first time, and the second around 1998 when I bought my own copy. I particularly enjoyed the style of the first two books, which were a deliberate homage to early science fiction by H. G. Wells and Jules Verne. Wells's The First Men in the Moon was a novel I read frequently as a teenager—I remain a fan to this day—and I have no doubt Lewis borrowed Weston's spherical spaceship from Professor Cavor. But the third book was remarkably different, being more of an earthbound supernatural thriller than a Wellsian or Vernian space fantasy.

That said, it's been nearly 30 years since I last read That Hideous Strength, so this is effectively a blind readthrough. I might very well change my mind about it by the end.

September 11, 2001

Today is September 11, 2026. It's the 25th anniversary of the Islamist terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people when hijackers flew passenger jets into the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon. A fourth flight crashed in Pennsylvania when passengers resisted the hijackers.

I've talked about people talking about 9/11. I reviewed conspiracy movies like Loose Change and 911: In Plane Sight, as well as Lawrence Wright's book The Looming Tower, about the failure to prevent the attack. But I haven't talked directly about 9/11 on this blog, even in an anniversary year like 2011, although at that time I was hardly writing, anyway. But in this milestone year, it seems apropos.

9/11 is to my generation what the JFK assassination or the moon landing was to my parents': it's that moment when you can remember exactly where you were and you realized you were witnessing world-changing events.

Perelandra: Chapter 17

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of Perelandra by C. S. Lewis, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. If you don't want me ruining the experience for you, put this post down and go read Perelandra now. I promise I won't be offended.

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The story so far: Our protagonist, Elwin Ransom, was brought to the planet Perelandra (Venus) by the Oyarsa of Malacandra (Mars), whom he encountered in the previous book, Out of the Silent Planet. His mission to Perelandra was, as yet, unknown.

Perelandra was a warm, overcast, ocean planet with next to no solid ground. What passed for land were floating mats of vegetation, where plants grew for food and friendly wildlife dwelt. Ransom also met a green human woman, who initially mistook him for the King, her male counterpart. She was apparently in close communication with Maleldil, the supreme spiritual ruler of the universe, who helped the Green Lady understand that Ransom was from a different world and his ways were different.

Ransom and the Green Lady visited the Fixed Land, one of Perelandra's few true islands. Maleldil had made a rule forbidding the King or the Green Lady from dwelling there, or even spending the night. They saw an object fall into the sea. It was a spherical spaceship, of the same kind in which Ransom was kidnapped and taken to Mars. In fact, they soon meet his abductor, Weston, on the beach.

Weston's humanistic, scientistic beliefs had evolved into a mystical form of emergent evolution. He now believed in a cosmic Force that directed his actions. When the Christian Ransom attempted to refute this belief, he became angry and was possessed by the Force. His own personality was apparently consumed, and he became the Un-Man. He escaped to the floating islands and attempted to persuade the Green Lady to violate Maleldil's law. While Ransom was there to refute his arguments, the Un-Man was relentless and had no need for sleep, and Ransom realized he could not keep up his side of the argument indefinitely.

Science Fiction-Free September 2026

It's September, and that's the month when I declare a moratorium on reading science fiction, usually in favour of something I wouldn't normally just casually pick up.

This year, though, I left the planning too late, and when it came down to figuring out what I might like to read this month, I didn't find myself too enthusiastic. Besides, there was a list of books on my to-read list that I was looking forward to, and I don't really feel like holding them back.

Perelandra: Chapter 16

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of Perelandra by C. S. Lewis, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. You may well have a lot of reading ahead of you.

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In a cave deep underground on Perelandra, Ransom defeated the Un-Man, killing the body of his foe Weston and throwing it into an underground fire. After this, he slowly found his way through the dark, subvenerean caverns, seeing sights there that were not meant for humans. Finally, he fell into an underground river, which swept him back to the surface, depositing him in a pool on the side of a mountain. There, he spent some time recovering from his injuries. One remained: a bite from Weston on his heel that would not stop bleeding.

Once he had recovered sufficiently, Ransom descended to the valley below, then ascended the great mountain on the other side. Though reluctant to continue, thinking himself to be approaching a holy place, he felt himself urged on. At the peak of the mountain was a basin or crater, completely covered in red flowers, with a pool at the centre. A coffin like the one that had brought him to Perelandra lay there, open and waiting to return him to Earth. He also perceived two spiritual presences with him.

Ransom recognizes the two beings as one is the Oyarsa of Malacandra (known here only by "Malacandra"; he explains that "Oyarsa" is a title reserved for one's own sphere) and the other is the Oyarsa of of Perelandra. Today is the day that the latter turns the rule of the planet over to the King and Queen. Such had not been possible on Thulcandra (Earth), but here Ransom has made it possible.

The Oyeresu decide it is time to show themselves, and after a few terrifying manifestations, they settle on humanoid figures, thirty feet tall, expressionless and sexless, and glowing white.

Perelandra: Chapter 15

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of Perelandra by C. S. Lewis, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. I recommend you support your local bookseller or public library, and read the book first.

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Ransom's battle with Weston, the Un-Man who came to Perelandra to corrupt it, took place over land, on the sea, and then deep underground, before Ransom finally won, bashing Weston's head with a stone and throwing him into the subterranean fires. Exhausted, he slept.

When he awakens, Ransom starts exploring the caverns, trying to find his way out of them. The sights he sees are indistinct and surreal, as though he is delirious from fatigue and unsure what is real. He sees many strange things underground: a vast, cathedral-like vault with two giant thrones, clearly not intended for Pereldandra's human inhabitants. Deep below him he sees more insectoid creatures like the one that had emerged from the depths with Weston, but there are harnessed to a cart carrying an upright, cloaked form.

After falling into an underground river and being whisked by the strong current through what appears to be a giant ice cave, he finds himself deposited on the edge of a large pool, in daylight. Ranson guesses himself to be atop a high mountain. He finds fruit to eat, and again falls asleep. On this ledge, he rests and recuperates from his fight for what seems to him to be only a day or so, but could have easily been weeks—he is unaware of the passage of time.

Perelandra: Chapter 14

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of Perelandra by C. S. Lewis, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. I recommend reading the book first. It's short, I promise.

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The final battle between Ransom and the Un-Man that has possessed the body of Weston began with a brutal fistfight on one of Perelandra's floating mats of vegetation. It continued on the ocean, as the Un-Man escaped on the back of a large fish, with Ransom pursuing. In the midst of the ocean with no floating islands or solid land in sight, Ransom began to have doubts about his mission to stop the Un-Man from corrupting the unfallen Perelandra.

In the dark, Weston approached Ransom again, his own personality apparently having resurfaced. He is terrified: possessed by the malevolent cosmic Force that he served, he had had a glimpse of the afterlife that awaited him, and was utterly terrified. However, when Ransom admonished him to pray to God and set things right, Weston pulled him off his fish and dragged him into the depths of the sea.

Perelandra: Chapter 13

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of Perelandra by C. S. Lewis, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. Unless you're the sort of person who likes skipping to the last page, go read the book first.

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To prevent another Fall on Perelandra, Maleldil instructed Ransom to kill the body of Weston, who became possessed by an evil spiritual Force and attempted to introduce evil to the green Queen of Perelandra. Maleldil put all the living creatures of Perelandra into a deep sleep, and after his own night's sleep that left him refreshed and spiritually renewed, Ransom confronted the Un-Man, beginning hand-to-hand combat, presumably to the death, between them. Ransom relied on his boxing skills while the feral Un-Man preferred to claw at Ransom's skin. After a time Weston escaped and rode out to the sea on one of the giant fish that the Perelandrians use for transportation; Ransom mounted another fish and pursued him.

In this chapter, the sea chase continues, with Ransom realizing just how far his pursuit of the Un-Man has taken him from anything like solid ground. He's out in the middle of the sea with no land or floating islands in sight. He spies some mer-men and tries to eat some of the seaweed they are eating, but the seaweed affects his mind, making him feel disoriented and forgetful of his mission; he throws the rest of it away. After a day and night of his fight with, and pursuit of, Weston, he is beginning to have doubts about his mission and the goodness of Maleldil.

Perelandra: Chapter 12

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of Perelandra by C. S. Lewis, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. If you don't want me ruining the experience for you, put this post down and go read Perelandra now. I promise I won't be offended.

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Elwin Ransom, Cambridge philologist, has been brought to the planet Perelandra (Venus) by Maleldil, the supreme spiritual ruler of the solar system. Here, he met the Venusian "Eve," a green lady, and his enemy, the physicist Weston. Weston became possessed by a demonic entity, and although his own personality apparently ceased to be, the entity inhabiting his body persistently tried to tempt the Green Lady to break Maleldil's one law, which forbade dwelling on Perelandra's lone fixed island.

Ransom soon determined that his own reason for being on Perelandra was to cofront the Un-Man, the thing inside Weston, and prevent Perelandra's Fall. However, he had neither the persuasive power nor the sheer persistence of the Un-Man, who did not require sleep. Maleldil revealed to him that his only recourse is to kill Weston's body. It was no accident that he was called Ransom: he was the one responsible to stop sin from entering Perelandra.

When Ransom awakens, after bathing and eating, he searches for the Un-Man. He finds him in the act of maiming a bird, and starts the fight by punching Weston's body in the jaw. Though they are evenly matched, man to man, their fighting styles are different: Ransom is a superior boxer, while the Un-Man claws and tears. In his mind, the fight's outcome boils down to whether he could pummel Weston's body to death before losing too much blood.

Perelandra: Chapter 11

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of Perelandra by C. S. Lewis, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. You may well have a lot of reading ahead of you.

Ransom, brought by the Oyarsa of Malacandra to the planet Perelandra, encountered his enemy, the physicist Weston, there. Only Weston was no longer himself, having become possessed by the "Force" he reveres—really Satan or one of his fallen angels—and become what Ransom termed the "Un-Man." Weston was there to tempt and corrupt the Green Lady, the unfallen Eve of Perelandra. He did this by relentlessly trying to appeal to her sense of vanity and to persuade her that the one law on Perelandra, against dwelling on its fixed island, was made to be broken. Ransom attempted to dissuade her from heeding Weston. Fortunately, the Lady seemed resistant to the Un-Man's persuasive skills.

After days of this, Ransom sits against a tree and questions divine justice. He has made no headway against the Un-Man. If the Enemy was there in person, where is the representative of Maleldil to counter him? The answer that comes back to him in the dark is that, of course, he is Maleldil's man: an idea that he almost dismisses as blasphemy. But he realizes that Maleldil has been with him all along. His own arrival on Perelandra was as miraculous as Weston's. The fate of Perelandra is left in God's hands—and he and the Green Lady are those hands.

Perelandra: Chapter 10

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of Perelandra by C. S. Lewis, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. I recommend you support your local bookseller or public library, and read the book first.

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Philologist Elwin Ransom, brought to the planet Perelandra (Venus) by Oyarsa, the spiritual ruler of Malacandra (Mars), encountered his old enemy Weston who had abducted him to Malacandra, while exploring Perelandra's sole fixed island with the Green Lady, the planet's only woman. Weston's personality is gone: Ransom believed he had become an Un-Man, an animated corpse possessed by the malevolent spirit Weston had called the Force, but which Ransom believed to be one of Satan's allies, if not Satan himself.

Ransom later found the Un-Man by following a trail of tortured animals. He was trying to tempt the Green Lady, into violating the one law decreed by Maleldil, the ruler of the universe: not to live or spend the night on the island. After Ransom dissuaded the Lady from listening to the Weston-thing, that was Weston, it engaged in psychological torture on him, calling his name for no reason to keep him awake all night.

Perelandra: Chapter 9

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of Perelandra by C. S. Lewis, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. I recommend reading the book first. It's short, I promise.

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Ransom and the Green Lady of Perelandra were exploring the Fixed Land, the one solid island on the planet, when they encountered Weston, who had abducted Ransom to Mars in Out of the Silent Planet. Weston tried to persuade Ransom of his newfound belief in emergent evolution, directed by an impersonal, spiritual "Force." In doing so, he allowed himself to become possessed by this Force.

Ransom followed Weston off the Fixed Land back to the mats of floating vegetation that comprise most of the "land" on Venus. There, in the dark, he overheard Weston trying to persuade the Green Lady that the ban on staying on the Fixed Land, imposed by Maleldil, was not as severe as she assumed. It was permissible for her to imagine living there, as it would make her wiser.

When Ransom awakens, he walks along the "shore" of his island, where he encounters one of Perelandra's native animals. However, something or someone has torn the colourful frog-like thing apart. With difficulty, Ransom puts the still-living animal out of its misery. He then continues his walk, following a trail of mutilated frogs, until he comes across Weston in the act of gutting one before he escapes again.

Perelandra: Chapter 8

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of Perelandra by C. S. Lewis, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. If you don't want me ruining the experience for you, put this post down and go read Perelandra now. I promise I won't be offended.

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Ransom and the Green Lady were exploring the Fixed Land, Perelandra's only solid landmass, when they observed a spherical object fall into the sea. On the beach, Ransom was surprised to find his nemesis Weston, who had abducted him to Mars (in Out of the Silent Planet); likewise, Weston was surprised to see Ransom. Maleldil, the spiritual ruler of the Solar System, has forbidden the Green Lady and her male counterpart, the King, from spending the night on the Fixed Land. Therefore, Weston allowed her to leave, but he kept Ransom on the beach at gunpoint.

Weston told Ransom that his philosophy had changed since they were on Mars. There, he had been a materialist and a colonialist, believing that it was humanity's destiny to expand to the stars. Anything that stood in their way, including the rational inhabitants of Mars, was expendable. Since then, his beliefs had evolved to embrace emergent evolution directed by an impersonal, amoral spiritual essence he called the Force. In spite of Ransom's warning that all spirits are not good, Weston called this Force into himself, apparently allowing himself to be taken over by it, before lapsing into a coma. Left alone on the Fixed Land, Ransom slept on the beach.

Perelandra: Chapter 7

So, as I was saying…

You might be a flat-earther if...

I see a lot of flat-earth stuff on Facebook. I don't know how if any of it is sincere, or if most or all of it is just engagement farming or flamebait. I just know I can't look away. The amount of utter ignorance apparently on display astounds me.

It's been well understood for millennia that the earth was spherical. Simple observation proved that: ships leaving port didn't just appear to get smaller as they sailed away; they disappeared from the bottom up as though going over a hill. The shadow cast on the moon during a lunar eclipse was always a circle; only a sphere casts a circular shadow from all angles.

In the third century BC, Eratosthenes measured the circumference of the earth using a couple of sticks and high-school geometry. Some of his assumptions were off (for example, the exact distance and bearing from Alexandria and Syene), but his methodology was sound. Columbus wasn't trying to prove the world was round; that was understood. The dispute was over its size, and whether Asia wa reachable by sailing west from Europe. (Obviously, it wasn't. It was fortunate for Columbus that North America was in the way. He thought the globe was much smaller.) Enlightenment intellectuals in the 18th and 19th centuries concocted the myth that the ancients believed the world to be flat, in order to portray religion as anti-reason. In reality, educated people knew the earth was a sphere. That people today will seriously entertain the notion that we live on a planar surface just goes to show how un-educated we have become.

And now ... this (Sept. 24/25)

Did anyone get raptured yesterday? Anyone?

According to Joshua Mhlakela, a South African pastor, the Rapture was supposed to take place yesterday. Mhlakela claims he had a visit from Jesus, who personally revealed that he would come for his church on September 23 or 24, aligning with this year's Rosh Hashana. The Rapture prediction got traction on social media, mainly TikTok.

Mhlakela claimed to be "a billion percent sure" of his prediction. Perhaps he should have exercised just a little more skepticism.

At least he just outright lied and claimed Jesus told him. So we can be thankful we didn't have to wade through something like the late Harold Camping's impenetrable math proofs to find out he was full of bull.

No Perelandra chapter this week

I mean, you may have noticed.

Basically, between some personal matters and the news cycle of the last week or so, I've found myself either too busy or too preoccupied with other things to get beyond reading chapter 7 of Perelandra. So with next Sunday now closer than the last, I've decided just to leave it until this weekend rather than effectively double up. It's a significant chapter, anyway, and the extra time will be beneficial. It's worth doing right.