That Hideous Strength, by C. S. Lewis

According to C. S. Lewis, That Hideous Strength is a fairy tale for grownups. You have villains that are clearly villains, and heroes that are clearly heroes, and high stakes (They just have to save the world again. No biggie.), and even magic of sorts.

The main characters are Mark and Jane Studdock, a newly-wed young British couple who aren't getting along as well as they thought they would. As they grow farther apart, they find themselves on opposite sides in a battle between the blatantly evil National Institute of Co-ordinated Experiments  (oh, the irony), and the small group resisting them.

The first half of the book starts out pretty slowly, and the villains are, well, bad, and not very pleasant to read about, especially if you're reading the book for the second time.  And the ending has a very different feel from the beginning, because it's much more fantasy-ish. Also, That Hideous Strength is the third book in C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy, and though it technically can stand alone, the ending would be very confusing if you haven't read Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra.

I started reading the Space Trilogy because I grew up reading The Chronicles of Narnia and wanted to check out some of C. S. Lewis' other fiction work. I enjoyed the trilogy, but I probably won't be re-reading the first two books very often. I liked That Hideous Strength much more because it's set on earth and starts out fairly normally, allowing the reader to adjust before the really strange things start happening.

Things I liked about the book:

I love the way that Lewis takes a neutral couple not directly involved with either side and uses them to illustrate the differences between the N.I.C.E. and the group of people who stand against it. I also like Mark and Jane, although when I re-read it I really just wanted to slap some sense into them and tell them to stop trying to be too modern and politically correct and start behaving like decent people. :P Really, though, it's amazing to watch Mark's change of heart (it happens to Jane, too, but it's not quite as marked.), and to mentally yell at him when he's being an idiot and to cheer for him when he finally sees the light.

And Mr. Bultitude. Mr. Bultitude really made the book for me. Even though he's only in a small part of the book, he provides a wonderful bit of comic relief when things really begin to get disturbing.  C. S. Lewis's way of describing animals and giving them personalities is just amazing. I found trying to picture a bear "meditatively boxing a punch-ball" quite entertaining. XD

Things I didn't like about the book:

The villains are bad. Like, send-shivers-down-your-spine-how-could-they-possibly-be-so-convoluted bad. I know that those are the best kinds of villains, but that doesn't mean I have to enjoy reading about them.

The book does get kind of strange in the middle/end. Once Merlin is introduced (Yes, that Merlin) the whole feel of the book switches completely and leaves you thinking "Okay, what just happened?" If I remember correctly, this is also when the villains start to get really bizarre.

There's some swearing. And it isn't just the obviously bad characters who do it. After a while I just wanted everybody to shut up.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, and I would recommend it to teenagers who like science fiction and C. S. Lewis and want to be challenged by a book that makes you think a little.

~Kellyn~