This is my fourth post about 2015’s books for The Classics Club.  I’ll be reading one classic book a month through 2018.  Track what I’m reading for the Classics Club here.  I’ll try not to include too many spoilers in my review but I may need to discuss some in order to fully review the book. I’ll warn you if I’m going to mention one.  

Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold by C.S. Lewis

I promise we were stopped at a stop light when I took this picture (as we went to the library to return the book).

• Year Published: 1956
  
• Reread? Or new to me?:  new to me
• Number of Pages: 324
  
• Date Finished: just before the end of July
  
• Number of Days it took me to read it: ??
  
• Page/Day ratio: ??
• Will I reread this?:  Maybe? See below.
  

Review:

Please forgive me for the briefness of this review.  I’ve fallen WAY behind on reviewing my Classic Club books, although I have kept up with the reading. So I’m remembering my experience reading this from a few months ago.

I opened Till We Have Faces with great anticipation, having heard on a podcast that this book was one of three that should be taken to a desert island.  A family member of mine also told me of how deeply she was affected by the story.

Sadly, for me – I was relatively unmoved.  The story was sad, especially with the immensity of the mistakes made by everyone involved. I must confess, however, that I just didn’t find the deeper, life-impacting meaning in it.  I did shed a few tears at the end but certainly wasn’t left  pondering much of anything.  I was oddly let down by this.  I wanted it to be overwhelming, not underwhelming! What does this say about me? That I totally missed the point? That I wasn’t open to letting it affect me while I was reading it? Or perhaps just that we are all individuals and consequently have different responses to the same novel?

I am glad I read this but I don’t know if I will get around to the multiple readings recommended by the desert island podcast guest to really be able to absorb all I can from it.

How about you?  If you’ve read this, were you in the “stone-hearted” camp when reading Till We Have Faces and consequently totally understand me? Or are you shocked and horrified at my lack of sensitivity to Lewis’s deeper message?

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Unfortunately, it’s too late to invite you to join me in reading the books that I read for August, September, October, and November.  So perhaps you’d like to join me in reading Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett in December? I’ve read A Little Princess and The Secret Garden too many times to count but somehow haven’t read this one yet.

I see you watching me read a book at a stop light.

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