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Descent into Hell

by Charles Williams Publisher: LIGHTNING SOURCE INC

A suburban community on the edge of heaven and hell

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AlbakiReads Editorial

A suburban community on the edge of heaven and hell

Set in Battle Hill, a small community outside London, the novel brings a group of amateur actors together as they prepare to stage a play by their celebrated neighbor, writer Peter Stanhope. Their private fears and struggles connect to the book’s metaphysical and theological concerns: Williams presents self-enclosure and narcissistic projection as barriers to love and to “co-inherence,” a shared spiritual life. The suburban setting and theatrical preparations provide the frame for a story that explores how human relationships can become bound up with ideas of heaven and hell.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in metaphysical fiction with theological themes.
  • Readers drawn to stories involving amateur theatre and a close-knit suburban community.
  • Readers exploring Charles Williams’s fiction or the 1937 novel in facsimile form.

Themes

Self-enclosure and narcissismLove and shared spiritual lifeHeaven and hellTheatre and community

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

Facsimile of 1937 Edition. In this provocative, classic metaphysical thriller, a group of suburban amateur actors plagued by personal demons and terrors explore the pathways to heaven and hell. Certain inhabitants of Battle Hill, a small community on the outskirts of London, are preparing to mount a new play by the neighborhood's most illustrious resident, the writer Peter Stanhope.

The key to Williams' mystically oriented theological thought, Descent into Hell is a multidimensional story about human beings who shut themselves up in their own narcissistic projections, so that they are no longer able to love, to 'co-inhere.' The result is a veritable hell.

"Charles Williams took the form of the thriller and used it to create an extraordinary genre that has sometimes been called 'spiritual shockers.' His books are immensely worth reading, even if you consider yourself unspiritual and immune to shock."--Humphrey Carpenter.

"..satire, romance, thriller, morality and glimpses of eternity all rolled into one." New York Times.

"...one of the most gifted and influential Christian writers England has produced in this Century." Time

"Reading Charles Williams is an unforgettable experience." Saturday Review.

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Customer reviews

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Malaika Taylor

I highly recommend to for anyone looking for inner clarity

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Thomas DiMassa

Great service and fast service

Great shopping experience! The book arrived quickly, was well packaged, and matched the description perfectly. I would definitely shop with you again

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Olivia

Smooth.