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Re:1984: The masterpiece that killed George Orwell by oneeyedpigeon on Tuesday January 21, 2014 @05:44PM (#7099145)
Interesting to note that Orwell railed against tyranny, control of the understrength masses by a powerful few, and the obliteration of individualism and C. S. Lewis wrote thinly-disguised Christian propaganda targeted towards children.
Re:1984: The masterpiece that killed George Orwell by fennecfoxen on Tuesday January 21, 2014 @06:14PM (#7099333)
That Hideous Strength is anything but "thinly-disguised Christian propaganda targeted towards children." First, as a novel, it's openly Christian (which, combined with the sci-fi dystopia, makes it a pretty unique entity - I find it fascinating, myself). It may also help you understand the sort of things the Christian right fears from the likes of people like yourself.

Secondly, it's not targeted towards children. Even assuming a child would be paying attention after the first ten minutes' read: there's a sadistic lesbian police chief (a character of the sort whom Lewis is theorized to personally fancy), several open (if brief) discussions about sexuality and eroticism... to say nothing of the violent murders, suicides and tiger maulings.

It's not exactly what you'd consider child-safe, let alone targeted.

But I guess if you already know all there is to know about Lewis from the five-minute treatment in your local left-leaning literature class, or if you gleaned most of it secondhand from reading Neil Gaiman's The Problem of Susan, then you have no need to see anything that might interfere with your expectations. Go ahead and congratulate yourself on truly understanding the man.

Also be sure to avoid: his WWI poetry. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2003/2003-h/2003-h.htm

Re:1984: The masterpiece that killed George Orwell by pstuart on Tuesday January 21, 2014 @06:20PM (#7099375)
> Christian propaganda targeted towards children

I think this is a reference to The Chronicles of Narnia

Re:1984: The masterpiece that killed George Orwell by saraid216 on Tuesday January 21, 2014 @06:40PM (#7099496)
More a reply to oneeyedpigeon than pstuart, but,

Most people seem to think C.S. Lewis wrote nothing except Narnia. This isn't the case; Lewis was a convert to Christianity and wrote forcefully and critically about it, even while he subscribed to it. A good example of this is Mere Christianity.

Narnia itself was a critique: yes, Aslan is Jesus, but Lewis' point wasn't "Jesus loves you!" It was "Jesus is a force of nature and he is REALLY FUCKING SCARY."

He's not the kind of man I like defending, but Lewis wasn't doing "propaganda" any more than Dante was doing "propaganda" when he wrote Inferno. He was trying to speak truth to power and using fiction to do it.