Till We Have Faces

I always loved Greek mythology. One great myth is that of Cupid and Psyche. The myth tells of a beautiful woman, taken as a wife by Cupid, but commanded that she may not look at him. Her two sisters see her beautiful home and her wonderful husband and, out of jealousy, convince her to break her promise to her husband and look upon him in the night. When she does so, Psyche is exiled and her sisters pay the price with their lives. Psyche's journey continues from there as she must complete several tasks. In Till We Have Faces, C.S. Lewis retells the myth of Cupid and Psyche.

Lewis' story is narrated by Orual, the eldest daughter of the King of Glome, who is terribly ugly and who helps raise her step-sister Psyche, the youngest of the three princesses of Glome. Raised by a violent king in the ancient world, Orual finds herself trying to balance between the superstitions of the people of Glome and the advice given by the Fox, a Greek slave bought to teach the young princesses. As Orual comes of age, events come about which will change her life and the way she sees her world and the gods. Orual is writing her story as a charge against the gods and explains her side of the story. She is not the most reliable of narrators but it is easy to see what she is avoiding saying. Her masks tend to be as obvious as the veil she soon wears to cover her face.

There is so much I would love to say about this book but I am afraid to give too much away. This book has some very strong symbolism in it, most of which is understandable, though I confess that I am still scratching my head over one bit. The story is beautifully told and this is probably my favorite piece of Lewis' fiction. All in all, it is a novel I would recommend to any who enjoy mythology or fiction. While Orual may lie to herself in the beginning, she comes to a degree of wisdom by the end which will provoke thought about our own assumptions and beliefs.

I saw well why the gods so not speak to us openly, nor let us answer. Till that word can be dug out of us, why should they hear the babble that we think we mean? How can they meet us face to face till we have faces?

Rating: 4.5

That Hideous Strength

That Hideous Strength is the final book in C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy and follows up on the battle between good and evil. While Out of the Silent Planet took place on Mars and Perelandra took place on Venus, this last episode takes place on our own planet, Earth. The books in the series can stand alone but they can form one larger story.

The first two chapters are more "real life" than the rest of the book but Lewis wants the reader not to base the book on these in his preface. As he says, a traditional fairy-tale always begins with hum-drum scenes and he wanted to show how his story affected ordinary life. The subtitle of this novel is A Modern Fairy-Tale for Grown-Ups and that is what Lewis seeks to make.

One problem I had was that our favorite interplanetary hero, Dr. Elwin Ransom, was as much of a major character in this book, where he was the main character of the two stroies preceding it. This is probably one of my biggest pet-peeves in literature... Just as I have come to love a character and want to hear more about him, the author decides to set him to the side to follow characters that I have never met and I have to get to know this whole new set of characters. I understand why an author does this but it can put me off a book, just the same.

Ransom is in the book and he plays an important role but the main character of this book are Jane and Mark Studdock, a couple that have been married for about six months and who live in the college town of Edgestow. This town is gaining prominence in the area as the proposed site for a new organization called the National Institute of Co-ordinated Experiments (N.I.C.E.). The N.I.C.E., though, is a cover for more sinister purposes, though different men at different levels of the organization seem to have different ideas of what that purpose is.

I enjoyed the story, though it was hard to follow at times. I enjoyed the first two books more, but this was a good ending to the stories on Dr. Ransom. Still, any who tend not to like conservative works may not enjoy Lewis' work. Lewis is telling a story with Christian backgrounds and ideas. It is not as obvious as the Narnia Chronicles but it is there. If you are willing to try this series, you will be well rewarded.

Rating: 4.0

Perelandra

Perelandra, by C.S. Lewis, is the second book in the Space Trilogy. The first book was Out of the Silent Planet and the finale to the series is called That Hideous Strength. In the fashion of nearly all of Lewis' work, there are major Christian themes to his stories and for readers who don't enjoy that, you might want to stay away. However, for those who aren't put off by that and for those who want to be challenged to think in your reading, this is a book you should try.

Perelandra picks up not long after Out of the Silent Planet, and follows Dr. Elwin Ransom on his journey to Perelandra, also known on Earth as Venus. He has been sent there by the Oyarsa of Malacandra for some purpose, though he knows not what it is. In the end, he will be a major part of the battle to take place on Venus.

While I don't normally associate anything creepy with Lewis' writing, I have to say I was very disturbed by some portions of the book, which I suppose may have been his intention but it did get to me a bit. Ransom goes against what he calls an Un-Man and this creature and his actions were so twisted, he ends up being the stuff of nightmares. This reaction is amplified by the peacful atmoosphere of Perelandra, before the presence of the Un-Man.

One other difficulty for me in this book was found in a few areas of very dense perhaps cryptic writing. Some areas of the text were difficult to understand and while spiritual things are the subject, it can be hard to follow Lewis' writings in this book (which is not a problem I usually encounter in his work). Still, the book was strong enough to hold interest and it definitely draws you in.

Rating: 4.25

Out of the Silent Planet

The first book in the Space Trilogy, Out of the Silent Planet is the story of a man named Ransom who is kidnapped by two men and taken to Malacandra, also known as Mars. When he is to be handed over to the inhabitants of Malacandra, he instead runs and finds himself alone on a strange planet.

I was first introduced to this book by a professor for a course on the literature of Lewis and Chesterton and I think reading this may have been the best assignment I have ever had. The story has a great plot and the story also raises many thoughts (I would say more but I would rather leave it to the individual so everyone can get something different from this book). This is not like the Narnia series in that it was written for adults and is not an allegory (I love the Narnia series but it can be rather in-your-face with the Christian story). Still, Lewis is trying to use his story to tell the reader more than just what appears on the surface. Even if that isn't your cup of tea, Lewis does tell a good story that can be enjoyed for itself.

Written in 1938, Lewis didn't have a lot of base knowledge on which to build his story and you can tell that this was written long before man actually achieved space flight but I think that this makes the book even better. The story is fantastical and making it more accurate in terms of technology would probably mess the story up.

While the books in the series can stand alone, the sequels are Perelandra and That Hideous Strength.

Rating: 4.5