Till We Have Faces is a re-telling of the Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche. But in the hands of C.S. Lewis, it becomes so much more. Considered by Lewis to be his best work of fiction, it boasts his most mature and masterful prose writing style. It is delightfully presented and easy to read, carrying the reader along the emotional journey to the chilling conclusion.
The myth that grounds the story is placed into the service of a higher story, the story of the human struggle against the divine counsels which are meant to be for our good, though we cannot see how they should be so. As the story progresses and the demands of the gods seem increasingly barbaric, we find ourselves more and more aligned with the main character. But at the conclusion, when Lewis turns all on its head, we also learn something of what it is like to be in the hands of a jealous God.
Till We Have Faces encapsulates the feeling of modern man in the face of skepticism, rationalism and unbelief, and still stands today as one of the most sound responses to the furious despair of philosophical atheism. Read in conjunction with Lewis’ essay, “God in the Dock,” it forms a complete response to the atheism of such contemporaries of Lewis as Bertrand Russell. It achieves that rare mixture of delight in story and philosophical depth that makes it equally powerful whether one is concerned with apologetics or merely passing a pleasant rainy afternoon. In it, Lewis has left us a jewel which can capture even the most sophisticated of imaginations.
