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bangeneticalgorithms's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kumipaul's review
3.0
Fascinating little story that exposes the insanity of God and the angels and those who devoutly follow them without question and create all sorts of nutty explanations as to why things happen. The crazy thing to me, however, is knowing that some devout readers will take this satire literally and see it as a path to God. Yikes.
raoul_g's review against another edition
4.0
Super interesting short story that reminds me of a whole lot of things.
First of all it reminds me of multiple Sufjan Stevens songs, but mostly of the Song From the Mouth of Gabriel. Let me show you some of its lyrics so you can understand why:
So basically what some of Sufjan's songs share with this short story, is the appearance of angels (and not just angels in general, but quite specific ones, as they are named specifically) and the happening of accidents and the search for their meaning.
The second thing that I was reminded of by this short story is another story told by the Christian author C.S. Lewis, which is called The Great Divorce and which is also sort of an allegory talking about heaven and hell. In his story, the basic idea is that those who are in hell are there by choice, and those who truly desire to be with God get to be with him, namely in heaven.
The same is not true in Hell is the Absence of God.
In Ted Chiang's short story, the main character is trying to get to heaven, but not to be with God (at least initially). He wants to get there to be reunited with his deceased wife, without which his existence is rid of any meaning. The interesting thing about this world that the author imagines is, that the existence of God, angelic beings, heaven and hell is certain. More than that, after people die, many times it happens that other people see whether the soul of the dying person goes to hell or to heaven. Interestingly, in this world there are still many people who are not following God, so to say, even though his existence and the existence of heavenly reward for belief in him is obvious to all. How are they obvious? Let's say they are made obvious by angelic visitations, and miraculous healings that happen in their wake, and which happen so frequent and visible that they are beyond doubt. In spite of the premise of the story, the author presents us with people who struggle to make sense of these miraculous happenings, and others who either in their confusion, in their anger, or even in indifference refuse to put their faith in God.
It is interesting to see how such a parallel universe could look like, in which the existence of the supernatural and of the afterlife is beyond doubt, and it makes me wonder how my faith would look like if I knew for certain that God existed and what the eternal consequences for our lives would look like.
First of all it reminds me of multiple Sufjan Stevens songs, but mostly of the Song From the Mouth of Gabriel. Let me show you some of its lyrics so you can understand why:
Desperate measures lead to death
From the mouth of Gabriel
Who died in his sleep when the world
was a very big mess, a very big mess;
He saw too much
From now on I will look away from every accident
That may or may not come my way
So basically what some of Sufjan's songs share with this short story, is the appearance of angels (and not just angels in general, but quite specific ones, as they are named specifically) and the happening of accidents and the search for their meaning.
The second thing that I was reminded of by this short story is another story told by the Christian author C.S. Lewis, which is called The Great Divorce and which is also sort of an allegory talking about heaven and hell. In his story, the basic idea is that those who are in hell are there by choice, and those who truly desire to be with God get to be with him, namely in heaven.
The same is not true in Hell is the Absence of God.
In Ted Chiang's short story, the main character is trying to get to heaven, but not to be with God (at least initially). He wants to get there to be reunited with his deceased wife, without which his existence is rid of any meaning. The interesting thing about this world that the author imagines is, that the existence of God, angelic beings, heaven and hell is certain. More than that, after people die, many times it happens that other people see whether the soul of the dying person goes to hell or to heaven. Interestingly, in this world there are still many people who are not following God, so to say, even though his existence and the existence of heavenly reward for belief in him is obvious to all. How are they obvious? Let's say they are made obvious by angelic visitations, and miraculous healings that happen in their wake, and which happen so frequent and visible that they are beyond doubt. In spite of the premise of the story, the author presents us with people who struggle to make sense of these miraculous happenings, and others who either in their confusion, in their anger, or even in indifference refuse to put their faith in God.
It is interesting to see how such a parallel universe could look like, in which the existence of the supernatural and of the afterlife is beyond doubt, and it makes me wonder how my faith would look like if I knew for certain that God existed and what the eternal consequences for our lives would look like.
dlsmall's review against another edition
4.0
I will freely admit that I was feeling less enthused until the last page or so. Ted really dips his toes into so many different pools.
the_lkx's review against another edition
5.0
Wow!
This book is on another level.
For context: this story takes place in a world, when God, angels, Heaven and Hell all exist and its abundantly obvious to everyone that these things are real.
So, the religious discussion is no longer about belief or disbelief, but rather ture love and devotion to God. Because, in this story, that is the deciding factor in whether a person gose to heaven or not.
This book tackles a lot of really big questions in a short amount of pages, and it dose so brilliantly. I'm not sure what the author's religious beliefs are, but that uncertainty adds so much to the story. Never, while reading this, did I feel like I was be preached to, nor did I feel like someone was trying to convince me of their opinion. But, I feel like this work asks and explores a lot of different questions, but ultimately it's up to the readers to supply the answers.
It explores common questions like, If God is real why is there so much, pain and injustice? ect.
But it also gets into a lot deeper questions like, what dose it mean to love God?
There was one sentence towards the end of this story that totally ruined me, in the best possible way.
The only criticism I think of is a narrative one. The story depicts hell as a kind of empty space where the damned just walk around aimlessly. And the story states multiple times that it's really not that bad of a place (still Heaven is obviously the more desirable of the two). And I just fell like, the stakes of the story would have been a lot higher if hell was actually a scary place. However, I understand why the author chose not to do that. The focus of this story isn't really on the afterlife, but rather on the here and now, how we respond to the events that unfold before us.
This book is on another level.
For context: this story takes place in a world, when God, angels, Heaven and Hell all exist and its abundantly obvious to everyone that these things are real.
So, the religious discussion is no longer about belief or disbelief, but rather ture love and devotion to God. Because, in this story, that is the deciding factor in whether a person gose to heaven or not.
This book tackles a lot of really big questions in a short amount of pages, and it dose so brilliantly. I'm not sure what the author's religious beliefs are, but that uncertainty adds so much to the story. Never, while reading this, did I feel like I was be preached to, nor did I feel like someone was trying to convince me of their opinion. But, I feel like this work asks and explores a lot of different questions, but ultimately it's up to the readers to supply the answers.
It explores common questions like, If God is real why is there so much, pain and injustice? ect.
But it also gets into a lot deeper questions like, what dose it mean to love God?
There was one sentence towards the end of this story that totally ruined me, in the best possible way.
The only criticism I think of is a narrative one. The story depicts hell as a kind of empty space where the damned just walk around aimlessly. And the story states multiple times that it's really not that bad of a place (still Heaven is obviously the more desirable of the two). And I just fell like, the stakes of the story would have been a lot higher if hell was actually a scary place. However, I understand why the author chose not to do that. The focus of this story isn't really on the afterlife, but rather on the here and now, how we respond to the events that unfold before us.
fauxpunk's review against another edition
idk how i feel abut this so I can't rate it
aglhrm's review against another edition
4.0
a resolução de pelo menos um terço do discurso teológico universal
dayface's review
4.0
Notes: well fucking hell. Not precisely the directions I would have taken it - Twister chasing angels in hope of blindness - but I'm still impressed and stunned by the imagination, the commitment, the simplicity of language with such large concepts. Bloody brilliant.
alba_marie's review
5.0
Wow that was so interesting and thought provoking and unique! In this world, angels and well kind of demons truly exist, and they make their presence known in hugely dramatic ways. The thing about it though? The angels appear in gusts of wind, alighting from massive flames, land roughly on earth causing earthquakes and tsunamis, fires and windstorms and sometimes just plain old heart attack/shock. They come down to "heal" (so they say, but really it's to demand veneration), but every time they come down, they usually end up causing at least a death or two along the way. This is the case for our narrator, a non-believer, whose wife dies when Nathanael comes down from the heavens. Problem is, Sarah's soul ascended - yes they can see this happen - meaning she's gone to heaven. She's a believer after all. He doesn't "love god" and therefore will go to hell. Which he wouldn't mind if Sarah were there with him, but he wants to be with his beloved again. So instead, he becomes a light seeker, trying to see the "light of god" which is apparently guaranteed ascension. His story is intertwined with others who are at varying degrees of loving god and finding their ways in life.
The story is very engaging and well written. It is full of ironies and not-so-subtle jabs at religion. I found it so interesting that the angels came down from the heavens to heal and in fact caused as much harm as they healed, as well as the fact that like in older (polytheistic) religions, god is not all goodness, but rather a devilish, selfish fellow who demands instant veneration and power, no matter what he and his minions do. It is not a long story, but like with all Chiang stories, within a few lines you are already a part of this world. This story (and his others) has some of the best world-building I've ever read, and the funny thing is, it only takes him a few paragraphs to build intricate worlds that feel so real despite their otherness from ours. But perhaps that is the trick - he expertly spins worlds that have juuust the right amount of our world in it to feel both believable and fantastical at the same time. No matter the case, Ted Chiang is one hell of a writer and so far, it seems that everything he touches is gold.
The story is very engaging and well written. It is full of ironies and not-so-subtle jabs at religion. I found it so interesting that the angels came down from the heavens to heal and in fact caused as much harm as they healed, as well as the fact that like in older (polytheistic) religions, god is not all goodness, but rather a devilish, selfish fellow who demands instant veneration and power, no matter what he and his minions do. It is not a long story, but like with all Chiang stories, within a few lines you are already a part of this world. This story (and his others) has some of the best world-building I've ever read, and the funny thing is, it only takes him a few paragraphs to build intricate worlds that feel so real despite their otherness from ours. But perhaps that is the trick - he expertly spins worlds that have juuust the right amount of our world in it to feel both believable and fantastical at the same time. No matter the case, Ted Chiang is one hell of a writer and so far, it seems that everything he touches is gold.