That Hideous Strength has, for many a year, flummoxed fans of Lewis, and readers and scholars in general. It is so different from his other writings, and even the first two books in The Space Trilogy, that there is an anxiety of sorts about how to view it, whether to encourage reading it or not.

Indeed, Lewis's playful jibes in his other books at institutions and philosophies that he doesn't like, become full-throated criticisms in this book. The book is a disturbing look at how Lewis feared the world might turn for a time if people allow themselves to get complacent about their freedom, their morality, their very relationship to God.

The story begins with a young university professor attempting to gain entry into a "prestigious" post with a group called the National Institute for Coordinated Experiments, or N.I.C.E. The leaders of N.I.C.E. flatter and woo the young man, Mark Studdock. He is tempted and begins to do one morally questionable act after another, until he is firmly entrenched within the group. By the time he realizes the awful truth of what N.I.C.E. really wants, it is nearly too late for him.

What N.I.C.E. actually wants is Mark's clairvoyant wife, Jane. They desire to use her to find the tomb of a "sleeping" wizard Merlin. They hope to use his powers to cement their hold in England, and then eventually move throughout Europe, and the whole world, consolidating their hold on power. N.I.C.E. is being used by demonic forces... and that is all of the plot that I will mention. If I write anymore of it, I will be in danger of ruining it for people.

This book is, indeed, different, than the other books by Lewis, even the other two Space Trilogy volumes. It is darker, and quite a bit more violent. This often is criticized, to the point where some people who normally enjoy Lewis's books will not read it. This is unfortunate for a couple of reasons.

First of all, it is exceptionally well-written, and enjoyable. At the least, people who do not give it a chance are missing a fun adventure. More than that, it is timely and helpful in understanding the mistakes that we are about to make, and perchance avoiding them. In a day when we are grappling with radical advances in science and biotechnology, and have increasing instability and anarchist movements around the globe, this book seems almost prescient in it's themes.

Lewis wrote the book at a time when WWII was just ended, and the tensions with Communist states were already apparent on the horizon. He had a good grasp of the dangers of utilitarianism, eugenics, the deification of science, the de-valuing of human life, the corruption and expurgation of religion in the public square, and radical revolutionaries. These are all issues that weighed heavily on him, and still weigh heavily today. Today, we are even closer to Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World", a world which Lewis feared and warned against in this book.

But make no mistake, this is not some preachy tome on the dangers of science, or some paranoid rant against "progress", as some have called it. This is a somber, cogent critique of the place our culture has wound up in. We are in the place where Lewis feared we would end up. So much seems lost, so much seems difficult to overcome. There is so much apathy, and moral corruption.

Yet all is not lost. No, all is not lost. I said that I would not comment on the plot any more. I will make a quick exception by giving one more spoiler to the book. God intervenes and the good guys win. Mark and Jane are safely together. In the end, not human intervention, not human ingenuity, not human perseverance, or intelligence, or fighting spirit, or the human soul, not any of that, won the day. In the end, God won the day.

So it may be in our day too. So it will be. God and light will always drive out the darkness. The classic lesson of Augustine that Lewis pointed out is a staple of his stories, and a truth to take from them. Yes, we are increasingly overtaken by the darkness that Lewis feared, but God can win. Good people, used of God, can accomplish great ends. Edmund Burke recognized this, and so must we.

This book has so much in it's pages to think over, and mull over. I am thrilled when I open it, because I know that I am part of Ransom's crew at St. Anne's in the real world. I fight for what they did. Even if it is only kindness and decency, and not any great cosmic issues, I make a difference. This book and it's themes are profound, and should be read with an eye towards those themes. But it should also be read as a rip-roaring good adventure. Putting it down is difficult, as most writers of thrillers today could learn a thing or two from Lewis.

There are mature themes such as demonic possession, torture, perversion, and mentions of rape and sexually-themed torture. They are tastefully done, and not gratuitous, mostly to show the evil of the villains. Yet only an adult should read this book. I highly recommend the book. Come read it and take a trip to St. Anne's. You too, will want to join Ransom's side. ( )

That Hideous Strength takes place back on Earth. This the story of the final battle between good and evil happening under everyone's noses in the guise of the new research institute N.I.C.E. (National Institute for Coordinated Experiments). Ransom and Devine do eventually appear with new names later in the book. The former is easy to figure out, the latter must be explained to us. The protagonists are a young, newly married couple: Jane and Mark Studdock. She is a housewife who thinks she's going to finish her dissertation; he's a young faculty member at a small college. The description of politics in academia is great, and doubtless quite true to life minus the sinister activities of the evil organization masquerading as progress. Actually, this could make a good movie, because the people and conversations and activities at N.I.C.E. are a cross between Jacob's Ladder and The Firm (by John Grisham), or perhaps The Devil's Advocate (the one with Al Pacino). Lewis ties this into the Arthurian legends with the resurrection of Merlin, whom both sides are seeking. I think this story is generally well done and is a fairly convincing presentation of two people who can't accept what's happening to them as part of a rational world, but who also aren't honest with themselves or each other about their motivations and fears. The descriptions of evil intentions masquerading as social progress (or social engineering) in this novel are chilling reminders of the rhetoric of infamous regimes in real life. And the subtle, apparently harmless mechanisms designed to corrupt Mark Studdock are also interesting. So in general, I liked this story. The one point that really annoyed me was Merlin condemning Jane Studdock for failing to conceive the savior, because that really was her purpose in the final battle, after all, to get pregnant at the appointed time. Really. But still an interesting story. ( )

That Hideous Strength is very different from the two earlier books in Lewis's "Space Trilogy," but for the most part I found it enjoyable in a different way. As always Lewis has a spot-on grasp of character and I found it almost painfully easy to empathize with Mark's slow, unintentional slide into terrible company at the beginning of the novel. By choosing flawed, human protagonists, Lewis gets away from some of the problems of Perelandra. The morals are more subtly presented, and there is less pervasive hero-worship of Ransom since he has become a secondary character in this book. I continue to admire the sincere empathy with which Lewis exhibits towards the sinners in his novels; it is a far cry from the holier-than-thou tone taken by many religious authors, and the difference is a welcome one. ( )

A different book from the first two, thus it loses its coherence a little. ( )

I once heard of this book being nicknamed 'That Hideous Novel.' I don't have very much trouble understanding why. Lewis, who was primarily an author of theology and apologetics, never really developed a personal style or voice in writing fiction. All his novels are written in someone else's style, but his favorite touchstones are H.G. Wells (_Out of the Silent Planet_, _Perelandra_) and J.R.R. Tolkien (_The Chronicles of Narnia_), so when he switches over to Charles Williams mode for this book, it's a rather rude surprise. He does it well, of course, but I would almost say that that only makes it stranger.

By the way, if you've never heard of Williams, he was the third of the major Inklings after Tolkien and Lewis. You've probably never read anything he wrote, and you probably don't consider him very influential, but if you read this book, you'll realize that he probably had the largest influence of the major Inklings -- you can tell when someone's pastiching Tolkien, but Williams, or at least the style of _That Hideous Strength_, is _everywhere_. ( )