Introduction to a Series on C. S. Lewis' Perelandra

In this series I will offer reflections on each chapter of CSL’s marvelous novel Perelandra, the second story in his science fiction space trilogy. Lewis makes no attempt to hide that this story is his imaginative take on the Adam and Eve story of the Bible. In some ways Perelandra is theological exposition of a Christian version of creation and fall. In other ways, it forms an apologetic for a way of seeing and being in the world largely discounted and dismissed by the modern world Lewis inhabited. In a third way, this story is a profound and searching account of one’s relation to God and Christ (“Maleldil” in the story). Woven together with Lewis’ inimitable skill and immense learning Perelandra is an astonishing achievement. Little wonder it was Lewis’ favorite of all the books he wrote.

I will not be referencing all the various literary and mythological allusions in the story. That is not the focus of these posts and beyond my competence at any rate. I intend these as edifying reflections for those who are serious about pursuing their life with Jesus Christ. Other works do the literary and mythological backgrounds stuff if one is interested in delving into that. David Downing’s Planets in Peril: A Critical Study of C. S. Lewis’ Ransom Trilogy is perhaps the best resource to consult on that score as well as many others related to the space trilogy.

Ch.1 will set the table for us introducing us to Lewis himself who is a character in the story, Elwin Ransom, a philologist from Cambridge and friend of Lewis, and the Oyarsa of Malacandra, a creature I’ll explain m0ore about in the first post.