Out of the Silent Planet - CS Lewis (Post 3)

This is what the God-like, but not-God, character says near the end of the book.

'I see how the lord of the silent planet has bent you. There are laws that all hnau [human-like beings] know, of pity and straight dealing and shame and the like, and one of these is the love of kindred. He has taught you to break all of them except this one, which is not one of the greatest laws; this one he has bent until it becomes folly . . .'

I think one of the greatest strengths in this book is the way that Lewis redescribes some of the things that we value to show how ridiculous they can seem.

Out of the Silent Planet - CS Lewis (Post 2)

I am struggling to find time to read at the moment. I am enjoying this book still, although I find it more demanding to read than more contemporary fiction (so although I may have found it escapist when I first read it, I find it less so now). Ransom has wrestled with the possibility of three dominant inteliigent species on a planet who seem to co-exist and co-operate most wonderfully. He realises that maybe human beings have got some things that they could learn. He is now on the way to 'Oyarsa' some God-like figure who is not God. Every planet has an 'Oyarsa', but not Earth and maybe this is why Earth-dwellers are more 'bent' than those who live on Malacandra.
Hopefully his meeting with Oyarsa will reveal what Lewis is thinking about the nature of good and evil on Earth.

Out of the Silent Planet - CS Lewis (Post 1)

I am rereading this, as I have been meaning to for a couple of years. It is quite old fashioned in style (hardly CS Lewis' fault given that he wrote years ago). I sometimes struggle to enjoy the books that I enjoyed when I was younger (Isaac Asimov for example), but I seem to be getting into this one. I enjoy the way that the author lets us see the struggles that are going on inside the hero's head.
So far, the hero (Ransom) has found himself on the planet Malacandra and has settled in with a native civilisation and is being astounded by the fact that beings different to him can also be intelligent and civilised. Ok, not quite so trivial as that, but I guess it's the bottom line.

[Charli, I know that compared to me you are an expert on CS Lewis - feel free to comment critically!!!]

Living Oceans Apart - Delme Linscott (Post 2)

I've read about another six chapters of 'Living Oceans Apart'. It's good to have an 'easy to read' book. So far, this book works by expressing how people feel. I guess it acts a bit like counselling in that recognising and verbalising feelings helps people realise that it's ok to feel like that. There are also practical exercises to help people verbalise their own feelings and struggles.

Exclusion and Embrace - Miroslav Volf

I started reading this a few months ago, full of enthusiasm for the topic and hoping to come to understand something with which I struggle. My enthusiasm ran out when I found that I couldn't easily understand or follow Volf's argument. I was quite unhappy because I didn't like to think that I was 'too stupid' to read the book. At the same time I was wondering whether it was my shortcoming or whether it was perhaps that Volf was not writing as clearly as could be desired. But so many people have recommended the book. And it has won an award.
So I am trying again, but willing to be as critical and as slow as it takes. Maybe some day I will find someone to engage with me and show me where I have gone wrong. Or maybe even I will begin to understand as I read slowly and make notes. I have picked the book up where my bookmark was, somewhere near the end of chapter 2 (my page 86).
Volf speaks of how when we are confronted with evil the evil in us responds (or the beast). I can identify with that - I know that if someone loses their temper with me I want to respond in the same way. Injustice can make me irrationally angry. On the other hand, I very nearly always moderate my response and stay in control. So while evil may call forth evil, if Volf is saying that this is always so, I disagree.
On page 87 he goes on to talk about the power of evil and quotes Walter Wink. Wink says that 'powers' are essentially good, but when become 'hell-bent' on control they become a domination system (not good). Volf chooses to replace the word domination with exclusion, because, he says, domination desires to exclude the other from resources and so on. Even if this is so, the logic is fundamentally flawed because the reverse implication is not necessarily true - exclusion does not imply a desire to dominate. For example a bowls club does not usually want to control the affairs of the rugby club just because their members are excluded by their interests. Somehow from this Volf reaches the point where he sees exclusion as part or all of a "background cacophany of evil". There is an interesting article on self-determination here.
He then goes on to talk about the power of community to resist change (it is always 'they' who have made the decisions, but no one really knows who 'they' are.) He also talks about the roles of politicians and other influencers in changing a community's mind. I guess I can go along with that. He makes is sound evil, but it seems to me that it is how communities work and we need to deal with that. He then goes on to say that it is the very desires of the community for health and success that lead to genocides and destruction of the other. Again, there might be truth in this, but that doesn't make it wrong to desire health and strength and success for one's community.
This is a summary of what I found on pages 86-89. I had to look up the words 'interiority' and 'transpersonal' in the dictionary.
Man, I am disappointed. But if I struggle on, maybe I will pick up some key that will help me understand better.

Living Oceans Apart - Delme Linscott

I just started reading Delme's book today, although I've been wanting to read it for a while. What he has done so well is to identify an area of real need, especially in South Africa today. A book that helps people deal with family (especially if they are your children) living overseas is very appropriate.
The first two chapters explain the need for and purpose of the book.