A Short Stay in Hell
As a faithful Mormon, Soren Johansson has always believed he'll be reunited with his loved ones in an eternal hereafter. Then, he dies. Soren wakes to find himself cast by a God he has never heard of into a Hell whose dimensions he can barely grasp: a vast library he can only escape from by finding the book that contains the story of his life. In this haunting existential novella, author, philosopher, and ecologist Steven L. Peck explores a subversive vision of eternity, taking the reader on a journey through the afterlife of a world where everything everyone believed in turns out to be wrong.
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Community Reviews
wow.
i honestly wasn’t sure about this book going into it, although i had heard really good things about it, i just wasn’t sure if the concept would fit into 100 pages but WOW this book shocked me. it was so bleak, and i felt for the characters at times, but it was also filled with such emotion that they seemed so real, and they came alive in my head. all of this to say, this book was awesome. this is definitely something that i would read over and over again, hoping that within the 100 pages i would find something different (just like soren). the bleakness really worked for this and it left me hollow. 10/10 would read again!
i honestly wasn’t sure about this book going into it, although i had heard really good things about it, i just wasn’t sure if the concept would fit into 100 pages but WOW this book shocked me. it was so bleak, and i felt for the characters at times, but it was also filled with such emotion that they seemed so real, and they came alive in my head. all of this to say, this book was awesome. this is definitely something that i would read over and over again, hoping that within the 100 pages i would find something different (just like soren). the bleakness really worked for this and it left me hollow. 10/10 would read again!
Aside from the fact that the idea or concept of this book is clearly inspired by Borges’ The Library of Babel (as is quickly and fairly acknowledged by our lovely functionary demon and the author), I couldn’t have liked it more.
I only wish it were longer—I wanted to know more, even though the story is perfect as it is. Ah… a beautiful paradox.
It also reminded me a bit of Piranesi, which I loved as well.
The themes, the philosophical and existential questions, the main character, the humor, the prose—everything was top-notch.
I can’t fathom how such a short (hehe) book manages to say so much. Hell, that is great parallel to the story now to think of it.
Thank you, Steven L. Peck.
We are all trying.
I only wish it were longer—I wanted to know more, even though the story is perfect as it is. Ah… a beautiful paradox.
It also reminded me a bit of Piranesi, which I loved as well.
The themes, the philosophical and existential questions, the main character, the humor, the prose—everything was top-notch.
I can’t fathom how such a short (hehe) book manages to say so much. Hell, that is great parallel to the story now to think of it.
Thank you, Steven L. Peck.
We are all trying.
Best book I’ve read this year so far. Quite well done I liked the absurdism aspects and the comments on human nature and action. Well done book.
"Finite does not mean much if you can't tell any practical difference between it and infinite."
- Steven L. Peck, A Short Stay in Hell
Peck does not write beautifully, and that is okay. He teeters between the psychological torment of infinity and the hopeful grasp of the finite. It was a quick and impactful read.
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