Dear folks,

A couple of people have asked me about That Hideous Strength. 

The book is a science fiction/fantasy novel about how a few relatively
ordinary persons such as you and I face up to the temptations and abuses
of the modern world. Some of the characters handle themselves pretty well,
others less so. None of them are able to make it on their own, but must
eventually trust one another, and trust a higher authority. No hints, but
the novel *does* have a happy ending. 

Lewis was a fellow who lived through World War II, and realized that the
world had become a dangerous enough place that ordinary persons might well
find themselves coming into contact with something that was pure evil, and
then having to do something about it. He also knew that evil usually does
not wear an evil face, and that it's initial power over you and I has to
do with how it tempts us: through our virtues, through our vanities, and
through our smaller vices. Of course, if we succumb to those temptations,
sooner than later we get pulled along by our more base natures. The road
is rapid and smooth, and downhill all the way. 

The bad guys in this novel are bad in a thoroughly modern sense. They
manipulate people, governments, universities, and one another. You will
probably enjoy how Lewis describes them as manipulating the news. Lewis
thought that persons of this sort would organize themselves into some huge
and bureaucratic corporation. By doing so they would be able to put on a
proper face before society as progressive reformers, to pursue their goals
with anonymity, and to have all of the legal protections that the modern
world could afford. 

Lewis based one of the characters on J.R.R. Tolkien (do students still
read Lord of the Rings?), who was a close friend of Lewis's. You'll
probably figure out quickly which one this is. 

The leader of the good guys, Mr. Fisher-King, will be a bit of a puzzle to
you; that is, unless you have read Lewis' other "space trilogy" novels or
unless you have read a lot of medieval romances about King Arthur, Merlin,
the Holy Grail, and the Fisher King. Suffice to say that Mr.  Fisher-King
(known as Erwin Ransom in the earlier novels) is an old hand in the direct
struggle of good vs. evil. He knows that good will triumph, ultimately,
but he also knows that good also gets pretty badly mauled in the process.
That is how he received his wound, in direct and mortal combat with the
tempter itself. 

I hope that all of this muttering about helps you to get into the novel. 
It is more valuable in the long run than you suspect. A couple of people
have told me that, now that they have started reading THS, many of my more
obscure remarks are starting to make sense, and so is a lot more modern
history starting to make sense. That, of course, is why I am having you
read the novel. 

Also, it's a good read. Curl up with some hot chocolate, a bit of popcorn,
and dive right in. In fact, I'll do those very things later this evening.
You see, that will get me into a merciful mood for when I start to grade
the quizzes. 

Happy weekend!

Jace