The wrong kind of details: the components of wonder (aka lmp's rant)

[The Silver-shod Muse]

Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra

So much of the wonder I felt when reading those is due not so much to the lovely scenery but to the fact that C.S. Lewis opened my eyes to many theological and moral truths, or what I see now to be truths.

At first I was startled and horrified to read a book (Out of the Silent Planet, it was) by Lewis that seemed at first so pagan and errant. My eyes were closed to understanding then, but later I went back and re-read it. Needless to say, it astonished me.

That our Jesus could be the same as theirs, but naturally going under a different name, had never occurred to me. That other planets might yet exist in pre-sin innocence was unthought of. The wonder I felt in this instance didn't stem from novelty, details, or lack thereof, but from its applicability to our world and to the brilliant gleam of understanding that it brought to my life, and to my own fantasy writings.