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ratgrrrl's review
5.0
Well, this was an absolute banger!
I definitely need more time to digest this and really try to get where Chiang is coming from and trying to say with this, but I know how easily influenced I am, so I wanted to get my initial thoughts down, before anything else.
Hell is the Absence of God posits a world where some form of the monotheistic God of Christianity and other major religions, along with a whole bunch of named angels, heaven and Hell all explicitly exist. This manifests itself in angels and other holy events and visions, including a look into heaven and Hell, randomly occurring all over the place, seemingly on the regular. The sudden appearance of angels sews as much awfulness as it does aww, seeming to have no rhyme or reason for the most part, causing indiscriminate horror in the form of accidents, mutations, injury and deaths, as well as showing visions of loved ones in heaven or Hell. The holy episodes are not wholly catastrophic with others being healed, blessed, and witnessing miracles…that also have the potential to destroy lives and shaken faith.
This novelette asks what would living in this world do to a motherfucker, regardless of their original feelings about God? Nothing good, seems to be the answer.
Now, I totally get that this is one of those works of art that the New Atheists and various other big brained bois who think Dawkins and Gervais are the greatest minds of our generation and that Rick Sanchez is nothing, but cool and awesome, actually (this is something that Rick and Morty is also guilty of, despite their attempts to show how fucked a person he is), I get that. I don't think it's fair to judge something on the way the worst people react to something and interpret it. People with shitty perspectives like great things and people with decent perspectives like things that are awful (it's me, I'm bitches).
Is Death of the Audience a thing? Who knows, because this is the unfiltered and not looking shit up zone. Anyways, the point was just to acknowledge that there are various ways to interpret this story and the way it's told, including as being an outright mockery of religion, particularly Christianity, or conversely an argument for faith not needing proof, and it all being about love and pain and loving pain.
Spoilers and more initial reaction here: https://ko-fi.com/post/Hell-is-the-Absence-of-God-by-Ted-Chiang--Book-Re-B0B5R6WZU
I definitely need more time to digest this and really try to get where Chiang is coming from and trying to say with this, but I know how easily influenced I am, so I wanted to get my initial thoughts down, before anything else.
Hell is the Absence of God posits a world where some form of the monotheistic God of Christianity and other major religions, along with a whole bunch of named angels, heaven and Hell all explicitly exist. This manifests itself in angels and other holy events and visions, including a look into heaven and Hell, randomly occurring all over the place, seemingly on the regular. The sudden appearance of angels sews as much awfulness as it does aww, seeming to have no rhyme or reason for the most part, causing indiscriminate horror in the form of accidents, mutations, injury and deaths, as well as showing visions of loved ones in heaven or Hell. The holy episodes are not wholly catastrophic with others being healed, blessed, and witnessing miracles…that also have the potential to destroy lives and shaken faith.
This novelette asks what would living in this world do to a motherfucker, regardless of their original feelings about God? Nothing good, seems to be the answer.
Now, I totally get that this is one of those works of art that the New Atheists and various other big brained bois who think Dawkins and Gervais are the greatest minds of our generation and that Rick Sanchez is nothing, but cool and awesome, actually (this is something that Rick and Morty is also guilty of, despite their attempts to show how fucked a person he is), I get that. I don't think it's fair to judge something on the way the worst people react to something and interpret it. People with shitty perspectives like great things and people with decent perspectives like things that are awful (it's me, I'm bitches).
Is Death of the Audience a thing? Who knows, because this is the unfiltered and not looking shit up zone. Anyways, the point was just to acknowledge that there are various ways to interpret this story and the way it's told, including as being an outright mockery of religion, particularly Christianity, or conversely an argument for faith not needing proof, and it all being about love and pain and loving pain.
Spoilers and more initial reaction here: https://ko-fi.com/post/Hell-is-the-Absence-of-God-by-Ted-Chiang--Book-Re-B0B5R6WZU
alliemco's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Thought-provoking and unforgettable, Hell is the Absence of God is a must-read for anyone ready to dive deep into the complexities of belief and existence. Chiang's story doesn't give easy answers; instead, it invites readers to grapple with profound questions about love, faith, and the unpredictability of life.
aaaleksic's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I had this saved in my ‘to read’ list for a while and finally got around to reading it on my tablet. Plus I may have needed something shorter to fulfill my goal of reading a book per week. I think I added this book when I was still interested in stories where an author took their own interpretation of biblical characters and made a story from it. Unfortunately I can’t say I’m that enamored by those types of stories anymore, if I read something biblically based now it’s more esoteric in nature than this story was. This book is pretty on the nose with a lot of its metaphors (the people who see Heaven's light literally become blind and endlessly devoted to God - the fact that Heavens light is a real narrative device is not exactly subtle either), so sometimes it was irritating to read. That being said, it’s still an interesting narrative to transverse.
In the book, everyone knows God exists and that Heaven and Hell are real places you go to when you die. However, you still have people who struggle with faith since they cannot muster a complete love for God that others can. It doesn’t seem to villainize demons the way other biblical based narratives do either, which is interesting, instead the demons (or fallen angels as they’re called) simply don’t love God and are perfectly content existing without God’s love for eternity. The narrative follows three main characters, Neil, Janice and Ethan, each dealing with their own dilemma in being fully devoted to God. The most interesting character here is Neil, since he desperately wants to get into Heaven but can’t seem to muster any love for God, instead trying to force it through other means. The characters dilemmas all bring up different theological questions that spring up in debates about religion and God- is God a moral authority? What if we misinterpret a miracle as a test or vice versa? Is it possible to love something which has also caused immense suffering, even if it brought us great joy? Is Hell any worse than the mortal plane? All questions which many theologians have battled with throughout the ages, so I was interested to see how the author would wrap this story up.
The ending leaves a lot to be desired. In the end, Neil sees Heavens light and dies, only to be sent to Hell afterwards. This isn’t something I had issue with, considering the entire narrative was leading up to this moment. I think I was more disappointed that the ultimate answer to these questions was just ‘God’s beauty and his creation’. Obviously I’m not one to deny how beautiful this world is, but there are also aspects to it which aren’t seen as beautiful by most people, and even if it could be argued that God sees everything as beautiful and imbued that sense of beauty in Neil, ultimately in this narrative God doesn’t see everything as beautiful. God sends people to Hell pretty easily, arguably more often than He sends people to Heaven, where they live in absence of Him and God doesn’t seem to bemoan their lack of presence. It essentially ropes back around to nihilism, yes people have a specified purpose now but they were ultimately insignificant and never mattered to God in the first place. I guess it could also be argued that since people are blessed with free will they choose that path, and the author relies heavily on this sentiment. The only problem is that in the context of this narrative, Neil didn’t choose that path, it’s emphasized time and time again that he tried all he could to love God, but was unable to do so, leading him to take drastic measures. The light chasers are portrayed as no better than people with suicidal ideation (yeah it’s that kind of narrative…) but in another light, they are literally dying for Gods love. Doesn’t that show more of a devotion to God than simply preaching his message does? The issue isn’t that Neil went to Hell, the issue is he tried not to go and went anyway. Which would make sense if this was a God based on Justice and he committed an ultimate sin, it would also make sense if this God simply wanted more devoted followers to appreciate His creation and Neil spat in the face of that, but he didn’t do either of those things, so the narrative just falls flat.
absolomb's review against another edition
dark
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
jackroche's review
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
My gut is to compare to Asimov, in that it feels like a story as a mean of explaining a cool idea, without much in the way of emotional investment or styled prose. I do find the idea itself to be a much richer and more complex one than that of “The Last Question”, but the apparent open-endedness doesn’t leave much room for contemplation. And there are characters, but they feel purely like allegorical figures for story function, which almost makes me wish he hadn’t written them at all.
artex's review
5.0
On a surface of this fiction novel you have this:
"In a world much like our own, the existence of Heaven and Hell are objectively proven. Indeed, the souls in Hell can be seen, and angels occasionally come to Earth, typically causing a mixture of miraculous events and capricious disasters"
Under the hood you will find deep novel on ethic, morale, faith and eternal Menschliches, Allzumenschliches.
"In a world much like our own, the existence of Heaven and Hell are objectively proven. Indeed, the souls in Hell can be seen, and angels occasionally come to Earth, typically causing a mixture of miraculous events and capricious disasters"
Under the hood you will find deep novel on ethic, morale, faith and eternal Menschliches, Allzumenschliches.