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A review by sarahetc
That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis
5.0
As novels go, this was worthwhile and straightforward. It was philosophical, inspirational, and infuriating in the best way. As a series ending it was all that and... left something to be desired. Or maybe I'll take the stand-alone concept (and Lewis does say both readings are fine by him) and say it feels incomplete, as if there is some significant information missing from the climax. Yet when viewed as the final installment of a trilogy, it still feels incomplete, though worse, because you can understand the parts of Perelandra that it's referencing. So five whizz bang stars because YES, but also-- ungh. Keep writing!
I'll have to look more into what Lewis was really doing with his references to Numenor, The West, and some of the more granular parts of the Arthurian legend near the end. At a glance, it's clearly an homage to Tolkein and maybe even an appetizer. Off the top of my head, I can't situate this book in a particular time in their relationship but it feels like maybe it could have been a conciliatory overature in and around Tolkein's less than whole-hearted welcome of Joy Davidson into Lewis's life, the toothache that wrecked the world, etc. Curious.
I'll have to look more into what Lewis was really doing with his references to Numenor, The West, and some of the more granular parts of the Arthurian legend near the end. At a glance, it's clearly an homage to Tolkein and maybe even an appetizer. Off the top of my head, I can't situate this book in a particular time in their relationship but it feels like maybe it could have been a conciliatory overature in and around Tolkein's less than whole-hearted welcome of Joy Davidson into Lewis's life, the toothache that wrecked the world, etc. Curious.