Book Reviews: Till We Have Faces

Monday, January 17, 2011


Till We Have Faces

by C.S. Lewis
★★★

I wanted to like this book so much more than I did. Lewis’ re-telling of the myth of Psyche and Cupid sounded like something I would love, but it just didn’t work for me. The basic story follows the life of the three daughters of the cruel King of Glome. One daughter (Psyche) is sacrificed to the gods and this breaks the heart of her older sister Orual.

The story is told from the Orual’s point-of-view. She is homely, but brave and has always cared for her two beautiful sisters. As the plot progresses she must question her motivations, is it love or jealousy that propels her to protective nature?

I didn’t like the main character, her actions or her narration. The steady flow of the book falters about halfway through and never regains its footing. I think, for me, it was just a classic case of not connecting with the lead character and never becoming fully invested in her tale.

3 comments:

Alex (The Sleepless Reader) said...

I’ve had it on my TBR for ages and it’s interesting to see the different opinions that go around.

Vaishnavi said...

It is a pity for it sounds like it could have been a great read. I am fascinated by the story of Cupid and Psyche. Do you know of any others that I might read?

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Alexandra - Some people love this one, so don't write it off because of me.

Vaishnavi - I haven't seen any other fiction based on this myth, but I'm sure you could find some original telling of the myth itself.