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A review by raoul_g
Hell is the Absence of God by James Trimarco, Ted Chiang
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.