Till We Have Faces

I had suggested to a few friends at one point making this blog a place for book reviews but then I slowed reading for a while or read books that I was unsure of how to review. So I'll give this a try and I expect to read a lot from now until December at least so this should work out. Welcome to the new place for book reviews!


I went camping to Ruidoso, NM a few weekends ago and took along "Till We Have Faces" by C. S. Lewis. Let me set the stage for you a little to make this more interesting: sitting on a camping bag chair in the "porch" of a camper trailer with background noises of children, pugs, and rain. This book is essentially the retelling of a particular event in mythology regarding Cupid and Psyche. But even more basic, this book is about love, two types of love to be exact: sacred and profane.
When I picked up this book I knew nothing about it whatsoever. I was expect another great Christian metaphor like Narnia or The Great Divorce however the obvious metaphors in this book were about pagan religions and Greek rationality. The premise is quite scriptural however coming out of 1 Corinthians 13:12 "For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." This verse is what the whole book points toward.
The discussions on love I found quite convicting. The end left me pondering what it means to love as Christ loves. And the most obnoxious thing about this book that I also found true of "The Great Divorce" is that I really want to read it again now that I know where it is going. I want to see the story in light of the end.
You do not have to know the story of Cupid and Psyche to understand this story. Lewis gives all the necessary knowledge as the story unfolds. I recommend reading it outside with a lemonade or on a rainy day with a cup of fresh Fair Trade coffee. And as always, if you know me then feel free to come over to the Gerber house and borrow it off my shelf.