Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

Our April book is Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis.
This is book one of his Space Trilogy. We will be reading Book 2 in May and Book 3 in June.

Hope you can join us.

Already bought it and hope to join soon. (I've only got 10 BotMs for April … o.O)

My daughter had all three books on her self. She said I could have them as long as I wanted, which meant I could keep them.

I found that the Baton Rouge Library has ebooks if this. I’ll need to check it out. I’m definitely planning to read it, but today I need to finish Stand on Zanzibar.

Rosemarie wrote: "My daughter had all three books on her self. She said I could have them as long as I wanted, which meant I could keep them."

:D That's perfect!

Samantha, this is a much easier read than Stand on Zanzibar, which I actually really liked by the time I finished it.

These books aren’t very long, either! I’m unsure how I ended up reading so many long books at once.

Thank you Rosemarie for setting it up! I’ll join as soon as time/life allow.

I read this a couple of years ago, so will be back when we talk more about it (only 2 stars for me).

You're welcome, Patrick. Stay safe!

Who has started this yet? I’m into chapter 3 now. It seems to move fairly quickly. I feel like some of Ransom’s tendencies might be reflections of Lewis.

I will be starting this one about mid-week. It will be a reread for me.

Amazingly, this book was written in 1938 and yet still so captivating of a story. I don’t understand how some readers proudly only read contemporary books. I’ll read books from any time period, if the premise and story captures me and the writing interests me.

I find that many classics are more engrossing than modern books, and the writing is often of a higher quality.
I have read many of C.S. Lewis's books, but there are still a few I want to read.
I admire the way he writes.

Not only is the writing of many classics, even those from the roughly first half of the twentieth century of a higher quality, but classics simultaneously bring us back to a simpler time without all of our modern rush of life added into the story. Historical fiction brings us back, but the writing may not be on par with the classic authors of yesteryear.

This is my fourth C.S. Lewis book. In 5th grade we read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe for my English lit class. In recent years I read The Great Divorce and The Screwtape Letters on my own. I enjoyed both as fun writings of religion. I have the omnibus of The Chronicles of Narnia that I plan to read this year in its entirety. The first installment of his space trilogy (at chapter six) feels a little blend of everything else I’ve read from Lewis - otherworldly, being an outsider, morality, etc. Perhaps he had certain themes to revisit throughout his literary career, hoping his readers learn a thing or two.

I found his autobiography Surprised by Joy a very worthwhile read as well.
I first read the Narnia books in my 20s and was hooked!

I read all of his Narnia books with my boys when they were little (I wanted them to experience something else before they would inevitably succumb to the Harry Potter enthusiasm ;) ) and we watched all the movies that were made from the books.
And after having read "His dark materials" the urge to go back to Narnia became very strong. Just before lockdown I discovered that my small library here has all the Narnia books as audioversions. But I was too late to react to hord them in time. Now we have to wait till they open again to get the next one.

That said, I will start reading as soon as I finish my current read of Ursula K. LeGuin's "Lavinia".

Samantha wrote: "Who has started this yet? I’m into chapter 3 now. It seems to move fairly quickly. I feel like some of Ransom’s tendencies might be reflections of Lewis."

I've started it. Up to chapter 7 so far and having fun. I have read H.G. Wells' "The First Men in the Moon" not long ago and it is nice to see the influence.

Do I understand this correct that the eldil are the equivalents of angels?

That is how I see them.

Either angels or some other kind of ethereal spirits.

I finished this last night. I really enjoyed how the ending came full circle. The ebook I had included the first chapter of book two at the end, but I rather wait to read the whole book at once.

That makes sense, Samantha. Otherwise you would probably have to reread that chapter anyway.

I finished it and it turned out way better than I expected! I loved how Lewis depicted a different kind of society, a different kind of living together. One that feels more desireable.
I'm no Christian so I probably missed some of the allegories, but it worked on a pure philosophical ground greatly for me.

Thank you so much for bringing this book to my attention. Even though I read Narnia I never realised that Lewis also has written SF.

Glad you enjoyed it!!

Book 2 next month!

I have just finished the book and am glad I read it again. The stage is certainly set for the next book.
A scene I particularly enjoyed is the one in which Ransom saw the two humans and didn't know what they were at first, but they were short, thick and shaggy-and ugly.

He had been around foreign creatures for so long that suddenly humans looked strange to him. That was enlightening in several ways, one of which was showing how quickly strange surroundings can become a new normal.