Take a photo of a barcode or cover
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The best way I can describe this would the literary equivalent of water. Tastes like nothing, there’s nothing to it, but sometimes it has ice in it. Fascinating premise but also just.. blah.. which I suppose was the point.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Violence
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
At 104 pages, A Short Stay In Hell is a quick read, but a heavy one. I don't know what star rating to give, because it's just not that kind of book, I don't think.
It's less a theological commentary on what hell is like, and more a story that invites the reader to contemplate exactly what eternity is, if it were experienced through minutes, hours, and days. The human brain really can't process large numbers, even if we can do the math. And if the number is large enough, we might as well see it as infinite.
The book also explores the poss bility that love, community, and relationships don't actually matter, and that, in the end, we all just might be alone. It's a philosophical heavyweight packed into so few pages. I don't really know what to do with it.
It's a vividly imagined existential crisis, horrific in its scope, and depressing in its conclusion. It's well worth reading, if you like philosophical questions without conclusive answers.
It's less a theological commentary on what hell is like, and more a story that invites the reader to contemplate exactly what eternity is, if it were experienced through minutes, hours, and days. The human brain really can't process large numbers, even if we can do the math. And if the number is large enough, we might as well see it as infinite.
The book also explores the poss bility that love, community, and relationships don't actually matter, and that, in the end, we all just might be alone. It's a philosophical heavyweight packed into so few pages. I don't really know what to do with it.
It's a vividly imagined existential crisis, horrific in its scope, and depressing in its conclusion. It's well worth reading, if you like philosophical questions without conclusive answers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Grief
Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Quite a quick and interesting read. There was a line in this that made me go look up the author, where I was unsurprised to learn he's Mormon lol
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Despite the name, could be a longer book. Amazing experience anyways.
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape, Violence, Murder
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Sexual violence
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder
Minor: Rape
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Think of this: similar narrative tone/voice (and pacing? I don’t know, it felt like there was a cadence) to the narrator from Piranesi, but in the form of a Mormon who is sent to a hell that is the brainchild of Borges. Things I never expected to read, but are apparently right up my alley!
This hell is deeply invested in things of theological and mathematical natures and I really, really enjoyed the narrator’s fixation on the lack of diversity in this hell. The implication that hell is a place of utter same-ness and variety is a feature of heaven WAS SO GOOD. SO GOOD, SO GOOD! I WISH PEOPLE COULD COMPREHEND THIS CONCEPT ON A LOCAL TO GLOBAL LEVEL RIGHT NOW PLEASE.
Anyway, if the infinite nature of space terrifies you, like it does me, just wait until you meet the library’s abyss! This hell was absolutely designed to make people lose their minds in the calmest way possible— and yet! This book made me laugh, it made me think about a lot (whether I untangled points it was trying to make or not), and ultimately, it reminded me how valuable our time here with the people we care about is. Because wow, the concept of being separated from the people you love forever is actual hell, and if we don’t know that that’s what’s waiting for us in the mysterious after, why in the world would we subject ourselves or anyone else to that in the here and now?
This is a recommendation to read this book. It’s quick, it’s weird, and it’s a story that sticks with you after the final page.
This hell is deeply invested in things of theological and mathematical natures and I really, really enjoyed the narrator’s fixation on the lack of diversity in this hell. The implication that hell is a place of utter same-ness and variety is a feature of heaven WAS SO GOOD. SO GOOD, SO GOOD! I WISH PEOPLE COULD COMPREHEND THIS CONCEPT ON A LOCAL TO GLOBAL LEVEL RIGHT NOW PLEASE.
Anyway, if the infinite nature of space terrifies you, like it does me, just wait until you meet the library’s abyss! This hell was absolutely designed to make people lose their minds in the calmest way possible— and yet! This book made me laugh, it made me think about a lot (whether I untangled points it was trying to make or not), and ultimately, it reminded me how valuable our time here with the people we care about is. Because wow, the concept of being separated from the people you love forever is actual hell, and if we don’t know that that’s what’s waiting for us in the mysterious after, why in the world would we subject ourselves or anyone else to that in the here and now?
This is a recommendation to read this book. It’s quick, it’s weird, and it’s a story that sticks with you after the final page.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape, Torture, Murder
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Self harm
Moderate: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence
Minor: Cancer, Alcohol
challenging
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This book has stuck with me. The dread and incomprehensibility that it inspired in me is hard to explain.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence
Minor: Rape
dark
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Self harm