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Till We Have Faces: A Novel of Cupid and Psyche
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Till We Have Faces: A Novel of Cupid and Psyche Paperback - 1980

by C. S. Lewis


About this book

Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold is a 1956 parallel novel by C. S. Lewis. It is a retelling of the Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche, which had haunted Lewis all his life, and which is itself based on a chapter of The Golden Ass of Apuleius. The first part of the book is written from the perspective of Psyche's older sister Orual, and is constructed as a long-withheld accusation against the gods.

Summary

“I saw well why the gods do not speak to us openly, nor let us answer . . . Why should they hear the babble that we think we mean? How can they meet us face to face till we have faces?”

Haunted by the myth of Cupid and Psyche throughout his life, C.S. Lewis wrote this, his last, extraordinary novel, to retell their story through the gaze of Psyche’s sister, Orual. Disfigured and embittered, Orual loves her younger sister to a fault and suffers deeply when she is sent away to Cupid, the God of the Mountain. Psyche is forbidden to look upon the god’s face, but is persuaded by her sister to do so; she is banished for her betrayal. Orual is left alone to grow in power but never in love, to wonder at the silence of the gods. Only at the end of her life, in visions of her lost beloved sister, will she hear an answer.

"Till We Have Faces succeeds in presenting with imaginative directness what its author has described elsewhere as ‘the divine, magical, terrifying and ecstatic reality in which we all live’ . . . [It] deepens for adults that sense of wonder and strange truth which delights children in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, and other legends of Narnia." —New York Times

"The most significant and triumphant work that Lewis has . . . produced." —New York Herald Tribune

From the publisher

"I saw well why the gods do not speak to us openly, nor let us answer . . . Why should they hear the babble that we think we mean? How can they meet us face to face till we have faces?" Haunted by the myth of Cupid and Psyche throughout his life, C.S. Lewis wrote this, his last, extraordinary novel, to retell their story through the gaze of Psyche's sister, Orual. Disfigured and embittered, Orual loves her younger sister to a fault and suffers deeply when she is sent away to Cupid, the God of the Mountain. Psyche is forbidden to look upon the god's face, but is persuaded by her sister to do so; she is banished for her betrayal. Orual is left alone to grow in power but never in love, to wonder at the silence of the gods. Only at the end of her life, in visions of her lost beloved sister, will she hear an answer. "Till We Have Faces succeeds in presenting with imaginative directness what its author has described elsewhere as 'the divine, magical, terrifying and ecstatic reality in which we all live' . . . [It] deepens for adults that sense of wonder and strange truth which delights children in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, and other legends of Narnia." --New York Times "The most significant and triumphant work that Lewis has . . . produced." --New York Herald Tribune

First Edition Identification

The book was first published by Geoffrey Bles, London,  in 1956. The novel is octavo and features original blue cloth with gilt lettering to the spine.

Details

  • Title Till We Have Faces: A Novel of Cupid and Psyche
  • Author C. S. Lewis
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition First Harvest/HB
  • Pages 324
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Mariner Books, Wilmington, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
  • Date 1980-07-09
  • Illustrated Yes
  • ISBN 9780156904360 / 0156904365
  • Weight 0.55 lbs (0.25 kg)
  • Dimensions 8 x 5.2 x 0.9 in (20.32 x 13.21 x 2.29 cm)
  • Ages 14 to UP years
  • Grade levels 9 - UP
  • Reading level 860
  • Library of Congress subjects Fantasy fiction, Historical fiction
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 79024272
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC
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Till We Have Faces: a Myth Retold
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