Book Review: "Out Of The Silent Planet" by Autumn

Hello! In this blogpost today I'm going to share a few thoughts about a book I recently read. Out of the Silent Planet was written in 1938 by C.S Lewis after he and his good friend, J.R.R Tolkien, had made a deal. Both of them had discussed what they desired in literature and, after lamenting for a bit on modern writings, came to a conclusion. C.S Lewis told Tolkien that since there were no more books with what they desired, they would just have to write some themselves. 

It was decided that C.S Lewis would try to write a story about space travel while Tolkien wrote a story about time travel. Tolkien never ended up finishing that story, but it was from this arrangement that Out of the Silent Planet was written.

Now before I go any further, I am going to warn you that this blogpost will probably contain some spoilers. I will keep things somewhat vague, but in order to explain some of what I thought from the book I do have to go into the plot a bit. So, with that warning, let's get onto the story.

Elwin Ransom, a philologist from England, was drugged by two scientists and finds himself aboard a spaceship traveling from Earth to Malacandra (Mars). In overhearing his two captors talking, he comes to the conclusion that they are planning to give him up to the strange inhabitants of this new planet. Ransom, however, has no desire to be sacrificed to the sorns of Malacandra and, at the last moment, makes a daring escape on the new planet. The rest of the story involves Ransom's discoveries on Malacandra, and his eventual journey to find Oyarsa, the sovereign of the planet. 

There are two interesting thoughts that I want to touch on. The first is the background of each of the planets and the amazing way that C.S Lewis tells this allegorical tale. In Out of the Silent Planet, we learn that Malacandra is a planet that was created by Maleldil, the maker of all the worlds and beings, and overseen by a powerful being named Oyarsa. Oyarsa is an eldil, which is a being that was made by Maleldil, but is on a higher level than humans or other creatures. Ransom equates them with the angels of Earth. 

During his talks with Oyarsa, Ransom discovers that Thulcandra (Earth) is referred to as the Silent Planet. The planet used to be united with the other planets created by Maleldil, but the Eldil of the planet sought his own will over that of Maleldil and the planet eventually became corrupted. Now it is cut off from the other planets, which is why it is sometimes referred to as The Silent Planet. 

The way that C.S Lewis uses his story to bring to light truth really inspires me. I think that it makes the entire concept of creation and the fall a lot easier to imagine. 

The second thought that I wanted to share is about Ransom’s arrival on Malacandra and his journey to Oyarsa. When Ransom arrived against his will on Malacandra he was frightened for very good reason. All he knew what that some mystical being was summoning him. So at his first chance, Ransom ran away. He went to great lengths to hide from and to avoid the sorns who wanted to bring him to Oyarsa. But when all was said and done and Ransom made it to Oyarsa, he found out that there had been nothing to be afraid of the entire time. 

When I finished the book I realized that the way Ransom ran away reminds me a bit of C.S Lewis’s own journey to Christianity. Like Ransom, for years C.S Lewis ran away only to find in the end that he had gone to so much trouble to avoid his destiny.

If you want to learn further about an ending world that never fell, you’ll have to read the book!

-Autumn

A drawing I made inspired by the book