From the Bookshelf of Into the Forest…

Till We Have Faces

C.S. Lewis

Start date: May 15, 2014

Finish date: July 15, 2014

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Feb 02, 2011 Christine rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy-myth-and-fairy, religion, beauty-and-the-beast

C. S. Lewis' Narina books are known as heavy allegory, at least the later ones.

This book too, is an allegory, and an intersting one. While in a few times, the book becomes heavy, overall it isn't.

There are some quibbles with the novel. Why is beauty always good, for instance. Yet, because of the book feels like an honest examnation of faith; this seems to make up for it. In some ways, this a better plea about faith than the Narina books. It is more serious than the Narina books and somehow, more ...more

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Jun 10, 2014 Lacey Louwagie rated it really liked it

Shelves: retelling, 100-book-challenge-2014, classics, literary-fiction

A friend recommended this as his favorite retelling when he found out I liked them, and another friend seconded his suggestion. I acquired a copy from Paperbackswap soon after, and then, of course, let it gather dust on my shelf until something brought it to my attention. This time, it was the Into the Forest group here on Goodreads (fairy tales and retellings) choosing it for their May/June "group read."

I have read four of the seven Narnia books, and getting through them always feels like a bit A friend recommended this as his favorite retelling when he found out I liked them, and another friend seconded his suggestion. I acquired a copy from Paperbackswap soon after, and then, of course, let it gather dust on my shelf until something brought it to my attention. This time, it was the Into the Forest group here on Goodreads (fairy tales and retellings) choosing it for their May/June "group read."

I have read four of the seven Narnia books, and getting through them always feels like a bit of a chore. Something about the writing style feels so distant to me. So I was surprised by the intimacy of Lewis' writing here, which maintained a "classical" feel without being impenetrable. I liked the character of Orual, and the way she told her story, and I related to the love she felt for her younger sister, and the way in which the line between protectiveness and possessiveness became blurred. I didn't really mind the allegorical nature of the story, or the way it stood in as a potential metaphor for Christianity vs. atheism, although I did think it was somewhat strange to use the character of Cupid, a "pagan" deity, to stand in for a monotheistic God. I kept expecting the "God of Israel" to make an appearance!

(view spoiler) ...more

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