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A review by penguin_emperor_of_the_north
Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis
5.0
I knew this would be dark and far different from Lewis's stuff that I'm more familiar with but I was surprised by how much.
The first part explored Orual's side of the Psyche story, exploring Orual's life before Psyche and her life after Psyche and did a solid job of ginning up sympathy for Orual. But then the second part really shifts the context of the first part. Not enough to make Orual unsympathetic but enough to make Orual and the reader rethink her actions and motivations and cast a more skeptical eye on her suffering martyr persona.
I did find the attitude that the main characters take to the gods throughout the story to be funny in a dark and cynical way. It varies from bemused contempt from the Fox to the King's frustration with their demands to Bardia's reverent fear but nobody likes the gods (the priests of Ungit and the common people might, or at least revere them). In general the main cast just don't like the gods and view them similarly to how I view paying taxes.
For example, on being told the myth of Agamemnon sacrificing his daughter, the King remarks, "That's just like the gods. Drive you to do a thing and then punish you for doing it." And I'm nodding along thinking, "well, he ain't wrong."
Finally, there was one line toward the beginning of the novel that really stuck with me, "The room was full of spirits, and the horror of holiness. (p54)" I like that line, "the horror of holiness". I think it points at a feeling I've had at Mass or Adoration, maybe "awe" would be the more pious term. But Lewis always amazes me with his ability to coin a poignant phrase.
The first part explored Orual's side of the Psyche story, exploring Orual's life before Psyche and her life after Psyche and did a solid job of ginning up sympathy for Orual. But then the second part really shifts the context of the first part. Not enough to make Orual unsympathetic but enough to make Orual and the reader rethink her actions and motivations and cast a more skeptical eye on her suffering martyr persona.
I did find the attitude that the main characters take to the gods throughout the story to be funny in a dark and cynical way. It varies from bemused contempt from the Fox to the King's frustration with their demands to Bardia's reverent fear but nobody likes the gods (the priests of Ungit and the common people might, or at least revere them). In general the main cast just don't like the gods and view them similarly to how I view paying taxes.
For example, on being told the myth of Agamemnon sacrificing his daughter, the King remarks, "That's just like the gods. Drive you to do a thing and then punish you for doing it." And I'm nodding along thinking, "well, he ain't wrong."
Finally, there was one line toward the beginning of the novel that really stuck with me, "The room was full of spirits, and the horror of holiness. (p54)" I like that line, "the horror of holiness". I think it points at a feeling I've had at Mass or Adoration, maybe "awe" would be the more pious term. But Lewis always amazes me with his ability to coin a poignant phrase.