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A review by woahno
That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis
3.0
I plan to keep rolling with some older novels that I have been missing on my TBR. So here we have me finishing a trilogy I started perhaps a decade ago.
What I liked.
I liked the writing, of course. I liked the concept. There are some heady topics and conversation in this book, just like there are with the first two books. I liked how there were new main characters but Ransom was still crucial to the events. And I found the plotting and pacing to be on point.
I was also impressed with how relevant some of the events still were. Perhaps I am just too optimistic in thinking that humans can progress beyond some of these horrible behaviors in 75 years. We certainly have not, and generally throughout history tend toward them but the book felt almost like it was written for some modern conflicts in today's world.
What I did not like.
I think, for me, the biggest flaw in Lewis' fiction can be when he gets too on the nose with themes. That Hideous Strength falls into that category a few times for me. Also, the villains in this one were too one-dimensionally bad for my tastes. I know there were and are actual people who think like that but it certainly does not make for a nuanced story or a compelling antagonist.
Overall, I liked this book. It didn't entirely feel like an ending to a trilogy though. I think this was perhaps the weakest of the three. I say that but mean that I enjoyed all of them but this one just a bit less than the others.
What I liked.
I liked the writing, of course. I liked the concept. There are some heady topics and conversation in this book, just like there are with the first two books. I liked how there were new main characters but Ransom was still crucial to the events. And I found the plotting and pacing to be on point.
I was also impressed with how relevant some of the events still were. Perhaps I am just too optimistic in thinking that humans can progress beyond some of these horrible behaviors in 75 years. We certainly have not, and generally throughout history tend toward them but the book felt almost like it was written for some modern conflicts in today's world.
What I did not like.
I think, for me, the biggest flaw in Lewis' fiction can be when he gets too on the nose with themes. That Hideous Strength falls into that category a few times for me. Also, the villains in this one were too one-dimensionally bad for my tastes. I know there were and are actual people who think like that but it certainly does not make for a nuanced story or a compelling antagonist.
Overall, I liked this book. It didn't entirely feel like an ending to a trilogy though. I think this was perhaps the weakest of the three. I say that but mean that I enjoyed all of them but this one just a bit less than the others.