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Summary: Better ten years later
Review: I recently read Till We Have Faces again, having read it with disappointment over a decade ago when I was still in high school. After my first reading I sold or gave away my copy of the book, thinking I would never desire to read it again. I'm glad I changed my mind and gave it a second shot. It is a gripping tale which probes deep into the soul as it explores the destructive fruits of self-centered love and the need for reality in facing the deformities in our own souls. I couldn't put it down and plan to read it again in the future. Needless to say, I will hang on to this copy . . .
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Summary: If you are angry at God read this book
Review: I loved this book and would recommend it to anyone. The protagonist is angry at the gods for the problems in her life. She questions their existence and condemns them for their arbitrary nature due to the difficulties that she faces. As I read this work I could see many of less desirable traits I possess in the protagonist. I, like many people I suppose have bemoaned "why me" and "when oh Lord is it my turn". Reading this book provides a mirror of such emotions. I highly recommend this work for anyone but especially for someone who might wish to indict the Gods.
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Summary: So deep!
Review: Till We Have Faces is an amazing, wonderful book. I love Lewis's style; at once thought-provoking, half-humourous, and deep. The characters are so clear and precise, there is no mistaking who they are. In fact, I have ceased to view them as 'characters', but now I think of them as people. The story itself is so intricate and deep that you feel as though you can never quite comprehend it entirely. I have read the book three times, and I still stumble across new things that I have never seen before. Just like the Chronicles of Narnia, this book bears the marks of a true classic. I highly recommend this book. However, don't read it if you don't want to have to think too hard. At times, the reality of the story can be disturbing.
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Summary: A REVIEW OF TILL WE HAVE FACES A MYTH RETOLD
Review: Sadly , and with great disapointment. If i am honest i will have to say that this is the most boring and awful book i have ever read. Like the last commenter i had to put it down well before the end. the title should read "a truely boring book" i am an avid reader. I love the classics. but this has nothing in common with the real myth and the book is distressing. i found myself wanting to slash my wrists because it was such an awful and boring hysterical book that never takes off. I kept reading because of the comments of other readers. However i could not carry on and had to put this book down. I dont think i have ever read such a boring and moronic text.
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Summary: A Book Everyone Should Read
Review: This book is by far one of the best I have ever read. It is an exploration of feelings of love and hate, and it channels deep within the human heart to display openly feelings we all have, yet very rarely express. Its beauty is in its honesty. I also was particuarly taken with the character of Psyche. Her vunerablity and her forgiving/trusting nature so a softer side to the harsh reality of her life in the book. This book is a treasure, an excellent find...I myself am only 17 and I feel in love with it instantly. CS Lewis has created a masterpiece.
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Summary: The Mask that Everyone Wears
Review: Myths are often a distillation of human experience and knowledge, pared down to an easily digestible story that is both memorable and instructive. No less so here, as Lewis takes the tale of Cupid and Psyche and adds a small change to the basic tale - but that change reverberates and focuses the message that Lewis is imposing on the tale, a message about what love is versus what many normally think it is. Lewis sets the tale in the 'barbarian' country of Glom, with a King obsessed with getting a son, and thereby cursed with three daughters. Orual is the supremely ugly one, Psyche just as beautiful as Orual is ugly, and the third sister is the personification of greed and petty jealousy. But it is Orual that the book follows, down deep into her basic outlook about herself, her relationship with the Gods, and most especially how her feelings for Psyche and her sense of propriety cause her to commit blackmail in the name of love. Lewis clearly shows that love that does not place the desires of the loved one above any personal sense of right/wrong/duty/honor is not a true love, but rather the product of selfishness, of the 'I know what's best for my love' syndrome. But this is merely the beginning to the layers of philosophy present in this book, as it calls into question not only if there are gods, but just how mortals can or must perceive them if they exist, and how much 'God' is present in everyone. Masks are a symbol here, from the veil that Orual takes to wearing, to those masks used by the priesthood when performing their embassies for their god, to the masks that everyone presents to the outside world. Also covered is the value of good deeds versus an irredeemable sin, what vital tasks man is burdened with during his short lifetime, and even the value of philosophy as a field of study. All this and more is hidden underneath this apparently simple story, with little direct exposition of these ideas until this last portion of the book, which is written as a dream allegory. The characterization of Orual is excellent - she is person you can recognize and feel with, and her dilemmas are ones we all have faced, though perhaps not in such grandiose terms. Psyche, the King, and Fox, the sister's Greek slave teacher, are drawn with enough depth to understand their motivations, and provide the proper environment so that each person's actions are understandable and the plot action inevitable. I did feel that the last section of book went a little too far in the way of symbolism and philosophy, that perhaps a more action-oriented explication of the points Lewis was trying to present in this section would have been better. But this is certainly a book that is good for more than one reading, with a timelessness to its messages, and told with skill and great thought. --- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)
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Summary: Just being honest....
Review: I admit, I was not completely "blown away" by this book. Maybe it's because I'm not an avid book-reader, I possess limited English vocabulary and Greek mythology interests me as much as cowboy music (shudder). A friend introduced me to this novel and I borrowed it from the library, wondering what this raved book contained and which made people write, "you must read this!" It's a very captivating book and C.S. Lewis does wonders. To someone like me, he managed to get me to continue reading, even though I didn't understand everything. Yes - I'm guilty of reading Cliff Notes and I would say I would purchase one for "Till We Have Faces" if there's one out there. This novel (to me) contains symbols and many philosophical ideas and it's not like I hang out with people who discuss them. I don't think like this, I don't carouse with people who do - so sue me! There's my vent... My favorite parts are the dialogues and especially love how Orual comes across as someone you know in real life, perhaps even a reflection of yourself and your own thoughts. I love how C.S. Lewis describes the beauty of Psyche and the love/hate relationship Orual has with her. Lewis has a way of expressing what I want to express, except he has a better way of articulating it! Part II is also another favorite section of mine, even though I found myself asking, "What's up with this dream sequence?" I decided to read Amazon reviews to shed some light after completing the book. I honestly did not see God in this, as reviewers said, and believe I will have to read this book again in the future. I really hope it will be as good the next time as others say it is.
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Summary: Caveat
Review: Although they are, by now, superfluous, I add my five stars to the constellation that's already gathered around 'Till We Have Faces' in part to underline the comments already made by many reviewers and in part to hide from you what those comments betray. For 'Till We Have Faces' is a tale whose telling is as much a reason to read the book as the tale itself. It is a story whose characters, places, and very language will haunt you in the most wonderful ways--its sounds and smells will seep into your subconscious and change the way you see and feel. It is story-telling at its most vivid and lucid and profound. Above all, I wish to emphasize that this is a book about mysteries, religious, psychological and philosophical. Consequently, the very way in which the story unfolds leads the reader (and the main character!) into a darkness suddenly illuminated by a dazzling revelation. And so this is why I began my review by saying that one of my goals was to hide from you what other reviewers give away. If you want to experience the mysteries and revelations of 'Till We Have Faces' with all the intensity felt by Lewis' heroine Orual, please stop reading the reviews here. Read on, though, for marvelous plot summaries and reflections on the book. But no matter what you choose, please READ THIS BOOK for a story that is as achingly beautiful as it is richly insightful.
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Summary: Some of Lewis's best fiction
Review: CS Lewis, the master Christian apologist, was also a fabulous storyteller, as well as a sort of Classical scholar. This book is a synthesis of his theology, his love for the classics, and his storytelling ability. It is a reworking of the Psyche/Cupid myth, spun by Lewis in such a way as to teach important moral values--values which Lewis propagated in his Christian writings, but which he proves (in this book) to be important to all cultures. One of the most compelling things about this novel is that it is set in a 'barbarian' society, with many gods comparable to those of the Greeks. Even in the midst of this foreign religion, however, Lewis manages to teach his Christian moral values with surprising success.
In a nutshell, this is a story about too much love. Orual, Psyche's sister, loves Psyche more than anything. Her love, however, is a selfish love, and Orual ends up destroying her sister because of that love. The central message of this book (to me, at least) is that people often treat their love protectively, and that jealousy often prompts people to hurt the one they love in an effort to keep the beloved all to themselves. The result, in this story and in others, is that someone (like Orual) who claims to love another person (like Psyche) ends up being the person in the world who hurts them the most. This culminates, in the novel, with Orual using Psyche's love for her as blackmail to get Psyche to destroy her life with the god Cupid.
Readers familiar with Lewis's 'The Screwtape Letters' and 'The Great Divorce' will recognize this familiar theme of love gone too far. As always, Lewis provides insights in this book that are both profitable and that hit close to home for many of us. This is a great work of fiction by CS Lewis, both for its theological content and for the narrative itself. I couldn't put it down until I'd finished it, and both enjoyed and profited from the reading.
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Summary: Psyche, the unvieled soul...
Review: CS Lewis has created a wonderful unique view of the Eros and Psyche myth and transported his ideas into an awesome creative story just for all of us! The original plot of the myth has always appeared very didactic to me, especially for women who need to find the strength inside themselves to conquer the seemingly undaunting tasks which are necessary for a joyous reunion with their heart's truest desires. I believe this story takes this one step further and makes the focus of the myth about the unveiling of one's soul into a new light. The story's three main women (Ungit included) all hold some piece of the vieled soul (i.e. the ugly and shameful elements) inside and the unconscious quest that Lewis puts them on in this story is to have these women uncover these shadows within themselves and bring them to light. That's what I got out of this book anyway. It's all there on the higher plane. I was very impressed with this intricate, subtle, beautifully crafted "double myth". That's what I'm calling it. You get the Eros and Psyche amazing story plus this wonderful new myth about wanting to find your true face. It's under there hidden with the dark and musty viel of fear-based thinking and belief systems. This book knocked my socks off...It's one of my favorites! Like the Fox says "How can they (the gods) meet us face to face till we have faces?" This means we need to uncover all our dusty negative agreements that sit in our soul and bring them out in the open. We need a cleansed face (soul) one that embraces clarity and balance, calmness and beauty. No zits, hopefully! CS Lewis has said this is his favorite piece he ever wrote...I totally agree. This book will give the reader a lot to think about if you really want it to, one needs to be patient and let it speak to the parts of you that are hidden. Open your dusty souls and READ IT!!
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