I know what you mean. I'm a confessing but as an adult I even had a hard time reading Narnia. I didn't want it to be a thin veneer or allegory but it can be rea

I know what you mean. I'm a confessing but as an adult I even had a hard time reading Narnia. I didn't want it to be a thin veneer or allegory but it can be read as such, but as a child I never made the connection. I mean, I understood it was about God and stuff, but I took it more at face value. Lewis even says in the preface it's not an allegory but I have a hunch he just preemptively defended against that accusation from his friend Tolkien, who apparently hated allegories. :-D I have to re-read Hideous Strength too, I don't know what I'd make of it nowadays... I do remember I very much enjoyed the Arthurian legends come alive, it spooked me out.