Perelandra

Ransom Trilogy, Book 2

By: C. S. Lewis

Narrated by: Geoffrey Howard

Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

C. S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy, of which Perelandra is the second volume, stands alongside such works as Albert Camus’s The Plague and George Orwell’s 1984 as a timely parable that has become timeless, beloved by succeeding generations as much for the sheer wonder of its storytelling as for the significance of the moral concerns.

Readers who fall in love with Lewis’s fantasy series The Chronicles of Namia as children unfailingly cherish his Space Trilogy as adults; it, too, brings to life strange and magical realms in which epic battles are fought between the forces of light and those of darkness. But in the many layers of its allegory, and the sophistication and piercing brilliance of its insights into the human condition, it occupies a place among the English language’s most extraordinary works for any age, and for all time.

Perelandra is a planet of pleasure, an unearthly, misty world of strange desires, sweet smells, and delicious tastes, where beasts are friendly and naked beauty is unashamed, a new Garden of Eden, where the story of the oldest temptation is enacted in an intriguingly new way. Here, in the second part of C. S. Lewis’s acclaimed Ransom Trilogy, Dr. Ransom’s adventures continue against the backdrop of a religious allegory that, while it may seem quaint in its treatment of women today, nonetheless shows the capability of science to be an evil force tempting a ruler away from the path that has produced a paradisiacal kingdom. Will Perelandra succumb to this malevolent being, who strives to create a new world order, or will it throw off the yoke of corruption and achieve a spiritual perfection as yet unknown to man?

©1944 Clive Staples Lewis (P)2000 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Geoffrey Howard's skilled narration keeps the listener riveted. His scholarly handling of the text minimizes characterization, while easily distinguishing the players. Howard's respect for the subject matter equals Lewis's own and entices the listener to address serious questions of temptation and morality." (AudioFile)

Allegorical masterpiece, not for the uninitiated.

Perelandra is a novel in which C.S. Lewis shows us a great deal of that allegorical prowess we’re al so fond of and remember from ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ and other such excellent writings of his. In this work however, the line between the allegorical, the philosophical, and the simple details necessary for the telling of the story can be somewhat difficult to discern if a fundamental knowledge of the Christian faith and the Genisis account are not at the readers disposal. The musings of the main character throughout the story give Lewis a way of communicating to us many interesting and sometimes complex philosophical and often ultimately theological concepts. Lewis possesses a fantastic ability to explain a concept by laying out a logical thought process that allows the reader to arrive at the conclusion with a full understanding of said concept almost feeling as though he had thought of it himself. In this novel however, Lewis seems to assume a somewhat higher level of intelligence and a greater understanding of basic biblical truths in the the reader than is his usual way. So if you aren’t the type to enjoy really digging into why things are true, why we believe them, what implication those truths may have elsewhere, and participating in a grand speculation by extrapolating the known truths of the universe into a fantastic story of possibilities and metaphors, this book may not be for you. I also suggest that if you are a young Christian, and have little theological bedrock on which to stand in a such a whirlwind of ideas both true and speculative, that you either wait to read the book, or else talk with someone more learned either while or after reading the book in order to avoid confusing speculation with biblical truth.

Hard, but worthwhile

challenging and thought provoking, but worth the time to think through; requires an open mind to broad Christian concepts and attempts at defining the mostly unimaginable

exceptional

thank you the look at religion in this book is very enlightening. onward to the last

Excellent, imaginative, and wonderfully thought-provoking

I really enjoyed Out of the Silent Planet, and while this one is obviously a sequel, it's also quite different in many ways that I found beneficial and inspiring. I've slept on C.S. Lewis for too long, but no more.

Deserves 3.5

Good, but the story doesn't carry the lesson quite as well as in Out of The Silent Planet. There's a lot of telling rather than showing. C. S. Lewis was a master of expressing a holistic Christian worldview, but this one can be somewhat encyclopedic in places.

How beautiful this story has been!

The only thing more amazing than the story woven in this masterpiece is the lessons it holds between its lines.

Lewis was a master story teller.

Well worth a listen, and then another. Listen, think, soak in his tale. I am thankful to have heard it.

A great narration of a delightful story!

I love the trilogy and this narrator did a great job of bringing it to life.

Deep meaning great book

Opened my eyes to so many things that God could be possibly up to in other places.

Script

Audiobooks, such as this would benefit from the opportunity of the listener, to simultaneously read, or have the text available to clarify a word, the pronunciation, the meaning. Why is it that this audiobook cannot have some reference to the text being read, so that a listener can be a reader, I’ll be at temporarily or momentarily.