The Cosmic Conclusion

Having just finished That Hideous Strength, I am overwhelmed.

Truly, Lewis' gift is astounding- one reads phrases which, when read, delight the senses just due to the flow of words, and force one to re-read if one actually wants to understand the meaning of the sentence instead of feeling it, allowing it to flow into one, to lull one into hearing it in one's head as a vague thing which will never be remembered.

There were phrases of such deep significance that could be chewed upon for weeks and still preserve freshness.

There were descriptions of Language and other things in a way that makes the seem more real than could be imagined.

There are phrases like "what looked like a somnambulist chimpanzee dressed up as a Doctor of Philosophy" that make one laugh out loud.

I am the sort of reader who loves a good plot- I have a very hard time reading slowly to analyze the poetry of the words themselves; I cannot pause for a long time to ponder the depths of some of the concepts. They seem far too heavy for the first read, though I try to ensure I have at least the tiniest grasp of them before moving on. On my first read, I must flow with the story, I can't put the book down. Maybe this is just impatience. I don't know.

What I fully intend to do is to re-read this story at some point in time to soak up all the teensy details, all the marrow of the story that I have missed or not spent enough time on the first time through- when my hunger to find out what happens next can be replaced by that peace that the whole story will, indeed, work itself out by the end and so I may simply enjoy it. I intend to also have an english, english-german, and english-latin dictionary on hand as well. There are quite a few opportunities here to expand one's repertoire. I have eaten the meal in that sort of a delightful rush one uses when one is ravenously hungry and gets that almost savage pleasure from devouring the food- now it is time to eat, daintily, the best bits, the bits left behind on the plate that serve to complete the satisfaction of a meal without overfilling you; the bits you have to savour, slowly, getting all the taste.

I wanted to quote an astounding passage on Language that makes me utterly salivate, but I felt it would not be quite fair to Cymru who has not yet read the book. She will thrill to the core of her being to read it, I have no doubt, and I could not stand to spoil it for her.

To all whom it may concern- I highly recommend this book.

I also think that this whole bit of spraff was rather heady and above my league; it may very well be the product of it being 1:30 in the morning. My analogies which seem quite clever now will no doubt seem hackneyed or superficial in the morning light. Oh well. It never does to take oneself too seriously. :-P