Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold [Hardcover]

C. S. Lewis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1998

One of Lewis's works of allegorical fiction, this text is a reinterpretation of the myth of Cupid and Psyche. Psyche's great beauty incurs the wrath of the goddess Venus, who sends her son Cupid to punish her.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

At once more human and more mythic than his Perelandra trilogy, Lewis's short novel of love, faith, and transformation (both good and ill) offers the reader much food for thought in a compact, impressively rich story. Less heavy-handedly Christian-allegorical than Narnia, Till We Have Faces gives us characters who remind us of people we know facing choices and difficulties we recognize. This deceptively simple book takes on new depth with each rereading. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

'He always tells a good story, and this is a splendid, vehement one, full of stone and wind and spears in an old country, wet mist on the hills. ...seems to sum up most of what Dr Lewis has been telling us for years.' The Tablet 'One of the most eminently readable pieces of fiction that has come my way for a long time.' Yorkshire Post --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 325 pages
• Publisher: G K Hall & Co (September 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0783802757
• ISBN-13: 978-0783802756
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (241 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,986,964 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963), known as Jack to his friends, was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably the most influential Christian writer of his day. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English literature at Oxford University until 1954, when he was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance English at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement. His major contributions in literary criticism, children's literature, fantasy literature, and popular theology brought him international renown and acclaim. Lewis and his good friend J. R. R. Tolkien, the author of the The Lord of the Rings, were part of the Inklings, an informal writers' club that met at a local pub to discuss story ideas. Lewis's fascination with fairy tales, myths, and ancient legends, coupled with inspiration drawn from his childhood, led him to write The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, one of the best-loved books of all time. Six further books followed to become the immensely popular The Chronicles of Narnia. The final title in the series, The Last Battle, won the Carnegie Medal, one of the highest marks of excellence in children's literature. His other distinguished and popular accomplishments include Out of the Silent Planet, The Four Loves, The Screwtape Letters, and Mere Christianity.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

351 of 359 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars C.S. Lewis' best work of fiction, November 4, 2000

By 

Snickerdoodle "teknon" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold (Paperback)

C.S. Lewis used fiction to lay bare the soul in ways his more apologetic work could not. The cast of characters in The Great Divorce, for example, or in the "Space Trilogy" invariably remind us of people we know - and give us insights into what makes them tick. Nowhere in Lewis' works is the soul explored better than in Till We Have Faces, Lewis' masterwork of fiction and a stunning psychological and spiritual odyssey.

TWHF retells and enriches the myth of Cupid and Psyche, although a lack of familiarity with the myth in no way diminishes from the enjoyment of the book. In Lewis' hands, the story sorts through issues of family, jealousy, gender, faith, and ultimate meaning, culminating with a frightening and yet wonderful 'face to face' scene that gives rise to, and explains, the book's title.

Readers who are looking for the kind of in-your-face Christian symbolism that characterized the Chronicles of Narnia will be disappointed with TWHF. Although I appreciate and am nourished by Lewis' Christian parables and apologetics, the theology in TWHF is pagan, at least on its surface. Underneath the surface, however, Lewis does a masterful job of intertwining the traditional beliefs of the main characters - including a stand-in for Greek rationalism - with rumors of a much more intimate and beautiful way of knowing the gods. The climactic scene itself plays off the biblical phrase, "Now we see in a glass dimly, but then face to face" - a phrase that comes, in fact, from I Corinthians 13, the famous chapter on Love in the New Testament. So Lewis does indeed lead the reader toward the One who is love, but he uses the carrot of intrigue and spiritual longing rather than the steamroller (if you will pardon the mixed metaphor) of too-obvious symbolism.

This is my favorite of Lewis' works of fiction and was, reportedly, Lewis' favorite as well. Few books can nourish the soul the way Till We Have Faces can. Just one caveat: you really will need to read it twice ... and you will understand why once you have read it through the first time.

201 of 208 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a good slap across the face, May 9, 2002

By 

NotATameLion (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold (Paperback)

Besides containing one of the greatest lines about being an author ever written: "I was with book, as a woman is with child", C.S. Lewis's "Till We Have Faces" also did me the service of giving me a good slap across my metaphorical face. How wrapped up we all become in our own little lives. How one-sided and self-favoring is our vision.

Though a book about many things--holiness, love, and philosophy to name a few--"Till We Have Faces" is mainly about how our perceptions can fail us. How in the name of doing what we think is right, we can do horrible things.

Orual, the protagonist of the story, spends an entire life learning what the apostle Paul meant when he said "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." The real twist in "Till We Have Faces" is that the reader, more likely than not, learns the same lesson (I know I did).

C.S. Lewis is one of my favorite authors for many reasons. This book is definitely one of them. Lewis considered "Till We Have Faces" to be his best book. I do not know if I agree, but it is certainly a great story.

I give "Till We Have Faces" a very high recommendation.

117 of 122 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Till We Have Faces is a psychological masterpiece, November 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold (Paperback)

C.S. Lewis's novel Till We Have Faces is based on the classical myth of Cupid and Psyche, however Lewis chooses to tel the story through Orual, Psyche's older sister. While Lewis does retell the well-known story of Psyche and Cupid, that is only a tiny piece of the story he creates. Till We Have Faces is actually the story of Orual's struggle to find love, and to discover her own identity. The actual setting of the story is unclear-it takes place in a country north of Greece, in a time long past, but Lewis does not choose to elaborate on that. In fact throughout the entire book, he focuses very little on sensory details; it is a story of emotion and psychology rather than action and physical description. Orual writes her own story, beginning at her childhood in her father's castle. There she leads an isolated life, surrounded only by her fathers servants, advisors, and her sisters, Redival and Psyche. Redival, with her golden curls and curvy figure, is superficially pretty, but Psyche is the embodiment of perfect and natural beauty. She is not only outwardly beautiful, she is also pure, unselfish, and loving. Orual, though, is neither pretty nor beautiful. She is, as she is constantly reminded by her father (the king), indescribably ugly. Orual never feels that she is loved by anyone, that is, until Psyche enters her life. Psyche's mother dies giving birth to her, and Orual takes it upon herself to become Psyche's guardian and to raise her. Orual loves Psyche more than anything else, but her love is selfishly and fiercely possessive. Orual is tormented by the thought of having to release Psyche from her suffocating grasp, and she does everything in her power to prevent it. After being separated from Psyche, Orual gradually comes to the realization that she (Psyche) is like the goddess Ungit-greedy, jealous, blood-gorged, and ugly of soul as well as body. She also compares herself to her father, the violent, selfish, cowardly, and dishonest king. Orual recoils from this realization, and as queen, she tries to be everything that her father, and Ungit, are not. While she is described by her subjects as "the most wise, just, valiant, fortunate and merciful" of all rulers, Orual feels that her actions are only a mask of her inner ugliness. She despairs of ever overcoming her hideousness inside. She says, "I would set out boldly each morning to be just and calm and wise in all my thoughts and acts, but before they had finished dressing me I would find that I was back in some old rage, resentment, gnawing fantasy, or sullen bitterness. I could not hold out half an hour . . . I could mend my soul no more than my face." Like the veil she wears to hide her ugly face, she feels that her good actions only conceal the hideousness of her true self. C.S. Lewis felt that we, as humans, are like rough blocks of marble. He said that suffering is the tool God uses to carve away our rough edges and to refine our souls. As Orual experiences suffering, she doesn't realize it, but she is actually coming closer and closer to becoming the perfected statue. Each trial chips away another piece of the marble that conceals the perfect form within. The title, Till We Have Faces, may refer to the process of refinement and self-realization. Till We Have Faces is a captivating book from beginning to end. As the reader, I could not only identify with Orual's struggles, I felt as though I was Orual, going through the same turmoil and inner-conflict. It is a book that I can read over and over again, each time experiencing new epiphanies and gaining deeper insight. It is impossible to adequately describe, even to a small degree, this fascinating and complex novel; it must be read and read again.