C. S. Lewis - Till We Have Faces

"Are the gods not just?"
"Oh no, child. What would become of us if they were?"

(*Picture at left by Leo & Diane Dillon, from Bud Plant Catalogue)

This is C. S. Lewis' masterpiece - the book he acknowledged as his finest work - and he was right! It's one of the best books I've ever read! I must admit to being somewhat surprised, given that most of Lewis' work strikes me as didactic and heavy-handed, preachy even. While he's best known for the Narnia series - a series with definite peaks and troughs - I think this book deserves to endure, though it seems sadly little-known and is currently out-of-print.

Set in the ancient kingdom of Glome, Till We Have Faces tells the life story of Orual, the oldest and most unattractive of three sisters, the other two being vain Redival, and the charismatic and noble Istra.

While the structure revolves around what is essentially a retelling of the tale of Psyche and Eros (AKA Cupid) - it may be more powerful as a work in its own right, without prior knowledge of this myth - so I'd recommend not reading prefaces that recount that myth, until after reading the novel itself. Elements of this myth have continued in other traditions, particularly the fairy tale, East of the Sun, West of the Moon (available in two beautifully illustrated versions by P. J. Lynch and Mercer Mayer).

At another level, it is a book about questions of faith, exploring relevant concepts imaginatively within the events of the story, without simple allegory or direct instruction of any sort. I found myself so bound up in the compelling forward trajectory of the tale for most of the time that I may have paid insufficient attention to these depths on a first reading.

The Fox, who teaches the three sisters, is a fascinating character, given over completely to rationalism and strict Greek logic. I can't help but identify him with Odysseus - given the time and his origins and name - though the narrative makes it clear they are not the same person. At the opposite extreme is the sweet and divine character of Istra, who is taught logic, but who walks her own path, which we learn more about as the story unfolds. Orual herself consolidates all The Fox's teachings in all her stances. At a theological level, this basic conflict between faith and logic is a central theme, though I feel this tale has as much to say to atheists as to believers (I'm agnostic).

The prose itself is beautiful and the characters fascinating, if not always particularly sympathetic. After the first third I started to get an uncomfortable feeling about our narrator, Orual, akin to the feel of first person narration in some of Poe's stories (for an extreme comparison). This kind of writing takes great skill and could fail so easily, with the reader losing sympathy for Orual, but it never misses a beat in this book. I fully expected the second half of the book to be unengaging, but it picked up and went right on in an unexpected and interesting direction, quite different in tone and content to the first half.

This isn't meant to be a comprehensive review at all, though I might attempt one at a later date. For anyone who enjoys well-written fantasy/adventure or beautifully constructed prose, along with a little philosophy, I thoroughly recommend seeking it out!

* The Leo and Diane Dillon picture was made with metal and plastic for a 1966 edition. These days a work like this would probably we put together in Photoshop or a similar program, but nothing beats this kind of real artistry.

By the way, Steve Hackett's album of the same name isn't a concept album about this book.