The February selection for the Semicolon Book club was Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold by C.S. Lewis. Till We Have Faces was Lewis’s last work of fiction, and he considered it his best. The particular “myth retold” is that of Cupid and Psyche. It’s a story Lewis considered retelling over the course of many years.
Lewis’s diary, September 9, 1923: “My head was very full of my old idea of a poem on my own version of the Cupid and Psyche story in which Psyche’s sister would not be jealous, but unable to see anything but moors when Psyche showed her the palace. I have tried it twice before, once in couplet and once in ballad form.”
He actually wrote the book in 1955, and it was published in 1956.
Links to read more about other readers’ responses to Till We Have Faces:
The Well at the World’s End
A Great Gulf Fixed: The Problem of Obsessive Love in C.S. Lewis’ Till We Have Faces by Amelia F. Franz.
Till We Have Faces at love2learn.net
Heather’s not a fan.
Kevin Stilley on Till We Have Faces.
A library is the hospital of the mind: Till We Have Faces.
Further Up and Further In: A Way into Till We Have Faces.
Marian Powell at BookLoons.
Peter Kreeft on TIll We Have Faces (audio) Excellent, though long (sermon length), and well worth your time to listen.
A few questions to ponder:
According to Orual, the gods are unknowable, whimsical, cruel, capricous, nasty, mean-spirited, not trustworthy, demanding. Why do the gods appear to her in this way and to Psyche as the opposite? How can a rational, thinking person come to the point of faith? If God is good, why is he so mysterious and hidden?
How does Orual’s love for Psyche become something evil and hateful? Is this transformation true to life? Can our human love for spouse, family, and friends become obsessive and even evil? How and why?
Till We Have Faces ends the same way the Book of Job ends–with questions unanswered. Is this a satisfying ending? Why does God not answer Orual’s complaint? Why does God not answer Job’s complaint?
Applicable Biblical references:
“He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.
If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.” John 12:25-26
Then Job answered the Lord and said,
2 “I know that You can do all things,
And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.
3 ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
“Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand,
Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.â€
4 ‘Hear, now, and I will speak;
I will ask You, and You instruct me.’
5 “I have aheard of You by the hearing of the ear;
But now my eye sees You;
6 Therefore I retract,
And I repent in dust and ashes.†Job 42:1-6
If you read Till We Have Faces, either this month or earlier, please leave your thoughts or a link to your post about the book in the comments. When I get back from my Lent break, I’ll add your links to this post.
I just did not get to this one. I kept meaning to but life and projects got in the way. But I’ve started reading Mornings on Horseback (and I did finish Esther and now need to link it up!) so I’ll be ready to roll next month!
I didn’t read this one for your book club this month but I did read it with my own book club a few months back. I have to say, I really disliked this book. I’d love to know what you thought of it though. If you liked it, why? If you didn’t, was it for the same reasons I didn’t? Here’s a link to my review: http://age30books.blogspot.com/2009/09/till-we-have-faces.html I’d love to hear your thoughts on it!
I first learned of this book when I was 20 – I was so delighted that there was a C.S. Lewis book out there I had not yet read – and it was fiction!
I loved it. I loaned it out to various friends and co-workers over the years. Even the non-Christians loved it. Then when my children came along, I gave it to them to read. Three loved it. Four have not yet read it. I’ll be interested in seeing their reaction to the book.
But now, seeing others’ comments, I wonder if it is a book that appeals primarily to younger people? I have not re-read it in years, so maybe I should re-read it and see if my feelings about it have changed after nearly 30 years.