Writing style
Descriptive · Direct · Witty
Apple BooksA Short Stay in Hell
Science fiction · Absurdism · Allegory · Dark comedy
- Print length
- 104 pagesStrange Violin Editions, 2012
Description
Soren Johanssen, a Mormon geologist who dies of cancer, learns that following the wrong religion has condemned him to a hell shaped as a library vastly larger than the known universe. Its shelves contain every possible book of a fixed length, and Soren—restored to perfect health and memory—may leave only after finding an error-free volume that recounts his earthly life. At first, he cannot locate even one coherent line of English. His search turns infinity from an abstraction into a physical burden, while the novella’s bleak humor tests religious certainty, human scale, and the mind’s ability to endure an eternity it cannot comprehend.
Reading profile
About this profile
Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).
- Writing
- How much attention the sentences and language require.
- Ideas
- How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
- Structure
- How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
- Background knowledge
- Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
- Emotional intensity
- Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.
Pace
Measured
Tone
Absurdist · Bleak · Dark · Philosophical
Structure
Linear
Focus
Atmosphere · Character · Ideas
Emotional intensity
4 / 5
Reading complexity
1–5 · higher means more demanding- Writing
- 3 / 5
- Ideas
- 4 / 5
- Structure
- 3 / 5
- Background knowledge
- 1 / 5
Themes
Book details
For the print edition listed above.
- Publisher
- Strange Violin Editions
- Language
- English
- ISBN
- 9780983748427, 9780983748441
Keep your books and notes in Collected for iPhone.
Apple Books is a service mark of Apple Inc. iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.