“He found a rich crop of oval green berries, about three times the size of almonds. It was like the discovery of a totally new genus of pleasures, something unheard of among men… For one draught of this on earth wars would have been fought and nations betrayed.” It was, of course, a taste, just as his thirst and hunger had been thirst and hunger… But then it was so different from every other taste that it seemed more pedantry to call it a taste at all. The plant life on Venus fulfilled his needs: “Great globes (gourds) of yellow fruit hung from the trees-clustered as toy-balloons … He had meant to extract the smallest, experimental sip, but the first taste put his caution all to flight. The next challenge Ransom encountered was finding something to eat and drink so he could gain energy after the long voyage. Of this experience Lewis wrote: “ rolled to and fro on the soft fragrant surface in a real schoolboy fit of giggles.” I can imagine how strange such an experience would be, and what a delight it must have been for Ransom, a middle-aged man, to feel like a child again. The land, which is spongy rather than hard, is not anchored in one place, like on earth, but floats up and down on giant ocean waves. The first thing he notices is that he is having trouble walking. Upon his arrival, he finds himself alone in strange surroundings. The protagonist, Ransom, after his return from Mars, was summoned to Venus by the guardian angel of the planet for some unknown reason. His descriptions fascinated me, and there were times that I almost felt like I was experiencing what the main character was experiencing. Throughout the book, he goes into great detail to describe the geography, the sky, the flora and fauna-in other words, the nature of the planet, which is still in its Garden of Eden state with only one woman (the green Lady) and one man (the King). Lewis’ second book in his space trilogy, Perelandra, for a couple of reasons, one being the word pictures he painted of the planet Perelandra (Venus). These are a few of my favorite sensory memories, each accompanied by an experience in my past that brings a smile to my face when I think about it or when I experience it again. The taste of a freshly picked, warm, ripe strawberry.

The sound of a brook as it tumbles over rocks on its downward path through the mountains. The feel of crisp air on a sunny Autumn afternoon.

The smell of rain on pavement after a dry spell.

Voyage to venus cs lewis