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slichto3 's review for:
Till We Have Faces
by C.S. Lewis
Till We Have Faces is a quite lovely and thoughtful book. I enjoyed reading it, and I felt like it spurred me to search for more meaning and deeper ideas. There could have been better pacing and more joy in it, but those are small complaints for an otherwise terrific book.
The story is essentially a retelling of the Greek myth of Psyche, but it's got a twist. It's written as the log of our main character, Orual (I could never really figure out how I was supposed to pronounce that name). Orual is bitter at the gods for the story she tells us. When her account begins, she is the eldest daughter of the King of Glome. Her younger sister, Redival, has blonde hair and is evidently hot, but Orual is told that she's ugly - a claim that occupies much of her identity. Orual's father is tempestuous and cruel. When Orual is not too old, he gets a new wife and has a new child: Psyche.
Orual is enraptured with Psyche. Psyche is beautiful and kind, and Orual treats her as if she is her own daughter. But Orual isn't the only one who notices Psyche. The townsfolk see how beautiful she is, and they begin to think that she is actually more beautiful than the goddess of beauty, Ungit. When a famine and other misfortunes strike the town of Glome, though, the people turn on Psyche. They think that her claiming to be a goddess is the problem, and the only way to solve said problem is to sacrifice Psyche to Ungit.
So they do that, over Orual's strenuous protestations. Psyche is sacrificed, but when Orual goes to the sacrifice location to bury her, Psyche's body cannot be found. Orual searches, and finds Psyche alive! Psyche claims to have been saved by a god, who marries her, but has one condition: Psyche can never look at his face. Orual asks Psyche to show her the god's home, but Psyche is stunned by the question: for the meadow and stream they are talking in IS the god's home. Psyche can see it, but Orual cannot.
What follows is a metaphor on the idea of god. Some parts that I found striking: the idea of sight/no sight when it comes to our experiences with god. Perhaps those with faith and a connection to god see that god's presence in the world, but to those without that faith they see real world manifestations. Another: the complaint is the answer. If we break down our gripes (like Orual's gripe against the gods), we find that our very complaint is the answer we need. We just need to honestly express it. Another: we cannot converse with god face to face because we do not truly have faces. We are not fully honest, and cannot use words to fully express what we need to express.
I very much enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it!
The story is essentially a retelling of the Greek myth of Psyche, but it's got a twist. It's written as the log of our main character, Orual (I could never really figure out how I was supposed to pronounce that name). Orual is bitter at the gods for the story she tells us. When her account begins, she is the eldest daughter of the King of Glome. Her younger sister, Redival, has blonde hair and is evidently hot, but Orual is told that she's ugly - a claim that occupies much of her identity. Orual's father is tempestuous and cruel. When Orual is not too old, he gets a new wife and has a new child: Psyche.
Orual is enraptured with Psyche. Psyche is beautiful and kind, and Orual treats her as if she is her own daughter. But Orual isn't the only one who notices Psyche. The townsfolk see how beautiful she is, and they begin to think that she is actually more beautiful than the goddess of beauty, Ungit. When a famine and other misfortunes strike the town of Glome, though, the people turn on Psyche. They think that her claiming to be a goddess is the problem, and the only way to solve said problem is to sacrifice Psyche to Ungit.
So they do that, over Orual's strenuous protestations. Psyche is sacrificed, but when Orual goes to the sacrifice location to bury her, Psyche's body cannot be found. Orual searches, and finds Psyche alive! Psyche claims to have been saved by a god, who marries her, but has one condition: Psyche can never look at his face. Orual asks Psyche to show her the god's home, but Psyche is stunned by the question: for the meadow and stream they are talking in IS the god's home. Psyche can see it, but Orual cannot.
What follows is a metaphor on the idea of god. Some parts that I found striking: the idea of sight/no sight when it comes to our experiences with god. Perhaps those with faith and a connection to god see that god's presence in the world, but to those without that faith they see real world manifestations. Another: the complaint is the answer. If we break down our gripes (like Orual's gripe against the gods), we find that our very complaint is the answer we need. We just need to honestly express it. Another: we cannot converse with god face to face because we do not truly have faces. We are not fully honest, and cannot use words to fully express what we need to express.
I very much enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it!