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Aspects of Power #7
All Hallows' Eve
9 hr., 58 min.
A magician is planning to take over the world. He thinks his enemies are among the living...
When Lester Furnival and her friend Evelyn die in a plane crash, they find themselves walking through a ghostly, surreal, twilight London. The scandalous magician Simon Leclerc has sacrificed his own child to gain control over this world—and the next. As Lester and Evelyn discover what has happened to them, they are pulled in different directions—one toward isolation and despair and the other toward a sacrificial self-giving that, to her great surprise, saves even her.
All Hallows’ Eve is Charles Williams’ final novel—poignant, relevant, and chilling. Along with C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Williams formed The Inklings, a society of writers in Oxford, England who changed the world with their mythopoetic vision.
A magician is planning to take over the world. He thinks his enemies are among the living...
When Lester Furnival and her friend Evelyn die in a plane crash, they find themselves walking through a ghostly, surreal, twilight London. The scandalous magician Simon Leclerc has sacrificed his own child to gain control over this world—and the next. As Lester and Evelyn discover what has happened to them, they are pulled in different directions—one toward isolation and despair and the other toward a sacrificial self-giving that, to her great surprise, saves even her.
All Hallows’ Eve is Charles Williams’ final novel—poignant, relevant, and chilling. Along with C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Williams formed The Inklings, a society of writers in Oxford, England who changed the world with their mythopoetic vision.
10 pages, Audiobook
First published January 1, 1945
131 people are currently reading
2179 people want to read
About the author
Charles Williams
84 books389 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Please see: Charles Williams
Charles Walter Stansby Williams is probably best known, to those who have heard of him, as a leading member (albeit for a short time) of the Oxford literary group, the "Inklings", whose chief figures were C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. He was, however, a figure of enormous interest in his own right: a prolific author of plays, fantasy novels (strikingly different in kind from those of his friends), poetry, theology, biography and criticism. — the Charles Williams Society website
Please see: Charles Williams
Charles Walter Stansby Williams is probably best known, to those who have heard of him, as a leading member (albeit for a short time) of the Oxford literary group, the "Inklings", whose chief figures were C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. He was, however, a figure of enormous interest in his own right: a prolific author of plays, fantasy novels (strikingly different in kind from those of his friends), poetry, theology, biography and criticism. — the Charles Williams Society website
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March 1, 2025
The SPOOKIEST of British wartime fantasy classics for a Hair-Raising Read!
If you’re looking for a VERY special Supernatural treat, filled with lots of evil tricksters, this is the way great writers USED to write ‘em.
It’s a nonstop spiritual saga, a literary film noir, peopled by restless but good-hearted Ghosts wandering the empty streets of WWII London in search of their own salvation, and a sleepwalking innocent sent on numerous unconsciously Evil errands by an Undead and Unrepentant Demon whose name and endlessly progressing incarnations are legion - until the imminent (yikes!) day when the World May be HIS!
The sleepwalking innocent, who sees a spiritual half-world outside ordinary folks’ ken while asleep, may end up being put aright by the Good Ghosts, though, whose number has increased through recent deaths in the Nazi bombing among her personal friends.
Sure it’s spooky, but this is not called All Hallows’ Eve (Hallowe’en) for nothing, because the very Next Day on the Christian calendar is the Feast of All Saints.
So cross your fingers and pray that the Good Ghosts get their Angelic Wings, and find eternal rest!
Together with a huge throng of mortals who are perfectly oblivious to the black, demonic thunderheads gathering over their dear bombed-out city as the fateful Night of Hallowe’en draws ever nigher...
THIS is Charles Williams’ final and definitive statement - as the buddy of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, he was the third and final member of their merry wartime literary trio, The Inklings.
It is the story of young lovers during the Blitz, eking out their constantly-at-risk romance at the worst of all times.
When a random bomb ends the life of one of them, she is given, as an unquiet spectre, the chance to begin anew - in the next, ghostly, invisible, world... and so becomes, as the protagonist of Lewis’ Great Divorce becomes, a Good Ghost.
But it will make your SKIN CRAWL with its evocation of the Pure Evil that seeks absolute domination over the seen and this other, unseen world.
To be quite frank, though, I CAN’T recommend reading it in a dark, empty house, alone in the middle of the night.
But if you DO find a copy (or get the Kindle version) I can’t guarantee you won’t listen to me!
If you’re looking for a VERY special Supernatural treat, filled with lots of evil tricksters, this is the way great writers USED to write ‘em.
It’s a nonstop spiritual saga, a literary film noir, peopled by restless but good-hearted Ghosts wandering the empty streets of WWII London in search of their own salvation, and a sleepwalking innocent sent on numerous unconsciously Evil errands by an Undead and Unrepentant Demon whose name and endlessly progressing incarnations are legion - until the imminent (yikes!) day when the World May be HIS!
The sleepwalking innocent, who sees a spiritual half-world outside ordinary folks’ ken while asleep, may end up being put aright by the Good Ghosts, though, whose number has increased through recent deaths in the Nazi bombing among her personal friends.
Sure it’s spooky, but this is not called All Hallows’ Eve (Hallowe’en) for nothing, because the very Next Day on the Christian calendar is the Feast of All Saints.
So cross your fingers and pray that the Good Ghosts get their Angelic Wings, and find eternal rest!
Together with a huge throng of mortals who are perfectly oblivious to the black, demonic thunderheads gathering over their dear bombed-out city as the fateful Night of Hallowe’en draws ever nigher...
THIS is Charles Williams’ final and definitive statement - as the buddy of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, he was the third and final member of their merry wartime literary trio, The Inklings.
It is the story of young lovers during the Blitz, eking out their constantly-at-risk romance at the worst of all times.
When a random bomb ends the life of one of them, she is given, as an unquiet spectre, the chance to begin anew - in the next, ghostly, invisible, world... and so becomes, as the protagonist of Lewis’ Great Divorce becomes, a Good Ghost.
But it will make your SKIN CRAWL with its evocation of the Pure Evil that seeks absolute domination over the seen and this other, unseen world.
To be quite frank, though, I CAN’T recommend reading it in a dark, empty house, alone in the middle of the night.
But if you DO find a copy (or get the Kindle version) I can’t guarantee you won’t listen to me!
September 4, 2024
Williams was a friend of Tolkien and Lewis and wrote paranormal novels. They included characters who sided with God and the light and those who lined up with evil. The books were unusual for their time (100 years ago) and can still hold their own today due to Williams’ highly original and creative styles of plotting and writing. He wrote a good seven of these novels. Tolkien was leery of Williams, possibly due to the latter’s obsession not only with magic but witchcraft, and wasn’t pleased with his overt influence on Lewis.
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April 23, 2019Ugh. This would have been amazing except for a horrible kernel of antisemitism which taints the whole thing.
Opens with a woman waiting on Westminster Bridge for her husband and slowly realising she's dead. Extends out to an astonishing imaginative look at loss, love, redemption, and hope, includes a fine portrait of an abusive mother, and a deep, sharp look at how casual 'mean girls' type social cruelties are actually on a continuum with extremes of malice and cruelty. Also a great portrait of the central rabble-rousing false preacher, some terrific scary scenes around a portrait and a mystical view of the City which reminded me of Eliot.
Only the resemblance doesn't end there, because of course the false prophet is Jewish, and not in passing either, and this book was written post WW2 for crying out loud. No decent human could pretend they didn't know where antisemitism led at that point, and it's farcical and grotesque to watch a writer meditating on the importance of open-hearted love and the malignancy of petty cruelty to other people while mounted on a sodding great trumpeting woolly mammoth in the room. Bah.
Opens with a woman waiting on Westminster Bridge for her husband and slowly realising she's dead. Extends out to an astonishing imaginative look at loss, love, redemption, and hope, includes a fine portrait of an abusive mother, and a deep, sharp look at how casual 'mean girls' type social cruelties are actually on a continuum with extremes of malice and cruelty. Also a great portrait of the central rabble-rousing false preacher, some terrific scary scenes around a portrait and a mystical view of the City which reminded me of Eliot.
Only the resemblance doesn't end there, because of course the false prophet is Jewish, and not in passing either, and this book was written post WW2 for crying out loud. No decent human could pretend they didn't know where antisemitism led at that point, and it's farcical and grotesque to watch a writer meditating on the importance of open-hearted love and the malignancy of petty cruelty to other people while mounted on a sodding great trumpeting woolly mammoth in the room. Bah.
December 5, 2010
Of all the books I have ever read, this is the one that had the most profound impact on my life. I call this "the book that started the avalanche that brought me here." It's not the best book every written from a literary standpoint--indeed, Williams has serious flaws as a writer of fiction. I'm not saying it's the book I enjoyed most (PILLARS OF THE EARTH warrants that distinction). I'm saying that this book changed my life direction, and more than any other book I have ever read, it made me who I am today. In Williams' novels, one gains a glimpse of an unseen reality, coinhering with our own, but normally invisible to us, that nevertheless influences us, nourishes us, and imperils us (depending on who you are and the choices you make). This vision of mystical reality just rang true for me as nothing else ever has. It influenced my spirituality, my religious affiliation, my creativity, and my choice of academic studies. It has also, more than anything else, formed me as a writer. Sure, he's hard going sometimes. But few works are worth the trouble like this one is. It doesn't just belong on your shelf, it belongs on your altar.
August 27, 2013
Charles Williams's best novel, and probably the most accessible to the modern reader. Any book that begins with the death of the heroine and the proceeds on to her further adventures has an interesting plot arc, you will agree.
Charles Williams was one of C.S. Lewis's best friends, but he had quite a different writing style. He's esoteric and difficult, better read than you and me and not slow to let you know it. His novels can be hard, and his poetry, wow! just about impossible.
But he carved out his own tiny little subgenrelet, the spiritual thriller, and I wish there were more like him. It's surprisingly hard to write; when I try it the work insists on becoming a straight action adventure with small bobbles of spiritual stuff hanging on the armature. To get the theological stuff right into the spine of the work, Williams is a master at.
Charles Williams was one of C.S. Lewis's best friends, but he had quite a different writing style. He's esoteric and difficult, better read than you and me and not slow to let you know it. His novels can be hard, and his poetry, wow! just about impossible.
But he carved out his own tiny little subgenrelet, the spiritual thriller, and I wish there were more like him. It's surprisingly hard to write; when I try it the work insists on becoming a straight action adventure with small bobbles of spiritual stuff hanging on the armature. To get the theological stuff right into the spine of the work, Williams is a master at.
August 29, 2024
”The voice stopped. Lester knew that she had stopped it…The stillness of the city was immediately present again…of the two she knew she preferred the immense, the inimical stillness to that insensate babel. Death as death was preferable to death mimicking your foolish life. She sat almost defiantly silent.”
”The Universe is always capable of a worse trick than we suppose.”
An esoteric, theological ghost story from the oddest Inkling — that’s what you have in All Hallows’ Eve. It is neither horrifying, nor even particularly scary, but it does excel at creating uncanny scenes that are oddly affecting and that will linger with you.
The book’s opening scene is particularly powerful. A young woman stands alone and confused on a bridge in the midst of an eerily empty and silent London. She can’t exactly remember why she is there or what she is doing, and slowly realizes that she is dead, recently killed in a freak accident. The sense of uncanny dread is ratcheted up as she begins to explore the emptiness of this silent London of the Dead, and is in no way alleviated when she discovers another woman, her frenemy who was killed in the same accident.
After setting this ghostly scene, Williams abandoned it to move his story to the world of the living. Its thrust becomes a moral battle between good and evil. The force of evil is a menacing, hundreds years old Kabbalist sorcerer set on world domination through magical control of the world of the dead. This Simon The Clerk is a clear Antichrist figure (without the evangelical eschatology that has become associated with that title). The forces opposing him are a group of common, fallible folk — the husband and friends of the dead young woman on the bridge — whose only weapons are love and forgiveness. And, of course, the menacing Antichrist never had a chance.
The story, which had real promise, suffered because Williams seemed more interested in communicating his moral, theological point than in the story itself. He did an excellent job of making Simon a truly menacing figure, but subverted this by never creating a believable tension that he had a chance of success, despite the huge power imbalance in his favor. Williams seemed to want to make the point that the arrogance of evil, no matter how powerful, is inferior to the good will of love and redemption. His story, which began with such promise, suffered because of it.
”The Universe is always capable of a worse trick than we suppose.”
An esoteric, theological ghost story from the oddest Inkling — that’s what you have in All Hallows’ Eve. It is neither horrifying, nor even particularly scary, but it does excel at creating uncanny scenes that are oddly affecting and that will linger with you.
The book’s opening scene is particularly powerful. A young woman stands alone and confused on a bridge in the midst of an eerily empty and silent London. She can’t exactly remember why she is there or what she is doing, and slowly realizes that she is dead, recently killed in a freak accident. The sense of uncanny dread is ratcheted up as she begins to explore the emptiness of this silent London of the Dead, and is in no way alleviated when she discovers another woman, her frenemy who was killed in the same accident.
After setting this ghostly scene, Williams abandoned it to move his story to the world of the living. Its thrust becomes a moral battle between good and evil. The force of evil is a menacing, hundreds years old Kabbalist sorcerer set on world domination through magical control of the world of the dead. This Simon The Clerk is a clear Antichrist figure (without the evangelical eschatology that has become associated with that title). The forces opposing him are a group of common, fallible folk — the husband and friends of the dead young woman on the bridge — whose only weapons are love and forgiveness. And, of course, the menacing Antichrist never had a chance.
The story, which had real promise, suffered because Williams seemed more interested in communicating his moral, theological point than in the story itself. He did an excellent job of making Simon a truly menacing figure, but subverted this by never creating a believable tension that he had a chance of success, despite the huge power imbalance in his favor. Williams seemed to want to make the point that the arrogance of evil, no matter how powerful, is inferior to the good will of love and redemption. His story, which began with such promise, suffered because of it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 12, 2017
I was a literature major, trained to read novels the average reader wouldn't read, so I've probably never called a novel exhausting before; but that's what reading All Hallows' Eve was--exhausting. It's only about 275 pages, but it took me months to read, mostly because it demanded all my concentration and I often didn't have the energy.
The issue isn't the story, it's Charles Williams' questionable writing style. It very frequently segues into a dense, meandering pseudo-poetry that makes the narration unfocused and unnecessarily complex, and sometimes even obfuscates whatever is actually happening. It shows and tells simultaneously. If the novel hadn't been so written, it might be half the length. Like most or all of his friends in the Inklings, Williams was a poet as well as a novelist; and the entire book can serve as a cautionary tale of what a novel looks like when such a writer goes too far in mingling poetry with prose. It's a mess. Descent Into Hell (the first Williams work I read) is similarly written but shorter, and more focused and disciplined, and is the better novel for it.
I don't even have that much to say about the plot because I was too distracted by the writing style. But it involves a villain using Kabbalistic magic to gain illicit access to the world of the dead, which he hopes to gain some sort of secrets or power from--his goals are explained very vaguely.
The issue isn't the story, it's Charles Williams' questionable writing style. It very frequently segues into a dense, meandering pseudo-poetry that makes the narration unfocused and unnecessarily complex, and sometimes even obfuscates whatever is actually happening. It shows and tells simultaneously. If the novel hadn't been so written, it might be half the length. Like most or all of his friends in the Inklings, Williams was a poet as well as a novelist; and the entire book can serve as a cautionary tale of what a novel looks like when such a writer goes too far in mingling poetry with prose. It's a mess. Descent Into Hell (the first Williams work I read) is similarly written but shorter, and more focused and disciplined, and is the better novel for it.
I don't even have that much to say about the plot because I was too distracted by the writing style. But it involves a villain using Kabbalistic magic to gain illicit access to the world of the dead, which he hopes to gain some sort of secrets or power from--his goals are explained very vaguely.
July 31, 2012
Charles Williams's novels are powerful. His style is hard to read because many of his sentences are overly complex and his ideas of reality and spirituality are so intricate and unique that readers just don't know what he's talking about. (The commentary The Novels of Charles Williams is helpful.) But it's all so powerful. The spiritual realm is incredibly vivid and real and inter-woven with the natural realm. In fact, it is a unity with it rather than a separate entity. In Williams' novels, the triviality of actions good or bad have momentous effect. The smallest sacrifice--even fetching one's wife a glass of water so that she does not have to get out of bed--are images of THE sacrifice and are enough to lead to one's salvation. The most innocent vices--a little self-pity or gossip--are the small steps that lead down to hell. And the city, Williams' favorite image, is the reflection of the redeemed community living in mutual give and take. Williams' insight and understanding of Christianity are deep and his books are attempts to work out those beliefs. Would that more Christian writers wrote with as much thought and care as he did.
October 26, 2023
As a friend on the American side of the pond, I wonder if there is something quintessential about author Charles Williams for an entire generation of U.K. readers. I suspect there is, because there is absolutely no way I can explain the complete disconnect between my experience of this novel and the majority of reviewers on Goodreads. Only about two others seemed to have read the same book I did.
Believe me. I tried and I tried. I read halfway through and found it didn't work for me. So I listened to the audiobook. This made it worse.
Why? Because this novel strongly has the tell-tale odor of having been dictated. I don't know for sure if this is the case, but I just can't imagine how something like this could have come from a carefully planned outline fleshed out through ink and paper. Instead, this feels manically improvised by a rambling genius pacing in a smoking jacket with a snifter of scotch in hand to a frantic transcriptionist. Either that, or Charles Williams was raised on authors who got paid by the word.
He simply cannot manage to move from point A to B without countless detours, making this one of the most circumstantial novels I've ever read next to sprawling modernist stream-of-consciousness epics. And this is less than 300 pages. And Williams is no Melville, Proust, or Dickens.
So whenever two people engage in dialogue, one person will ask a question, and then the narrator rambles on about five hundred things like a demented professor muttering to himself. When Williams finally gets back to the conversation, you forgot the whole context, or who was even speaking. So I perpetually felt like the old Major in Fawlty Towers. "What was the question again?"
This is why I said that the audio version was worse, because the narrator read Williams EXACTLY like a doddering old fool who can't stay on point, really driving the point home that Williams was talking to himself and not to his audience.
It's a shame, because the first chapter starts off strong, with a woman waiting near Westminster Bridge in an oddly deserted wartime London, only to realize that she is dead. It was compelling reading, a dreamlike and sympathetic depiction of what a disoriented lost soul would truly be thinking and feeling. The second chapter isn't bad either, introducing us to the dead woman's widower, his artist friend, and eventually, the main antagonist. But after that, the book goes off the rails, and not in a good way.
My children listened to the audio version with me on a long road trip from Chicago to New Orleans. Now, these youngsters are no strangers to good literature, having been raised on Pearl Buck, Lafcadio Hearn, Robert Louis Stevenson, Washington Irving, Hugh Walpole, and even Dostoevsky. They said they were having trouble following what was going on. I tried to summarize what was happening up to that point, and realized I could do it in about two sentences without missing any important points. Another testament to how unbelievably padded this story is.
I don't need a linear meat-and-potatoes narrative, but if there are going to be tangents, I have to feel as though I am learning something new, or engaging in rich world-building or character studies. I didn't find any of that here. Instead, I kept imagining a Monty Python sketch where the rambling narrator is slain or a regiment of medieval knights are screaming "Get on with it!"
There clearly is an entertaining story here that many readers have enjoyed and cherished throughout the years. So take this review with a grain of salt. Not everything works for everyone. But if you do read this book fresh and end up feeling befuddled by what on earth is going on, just know you are not alone.
Believe me. I tried and I tried. I read halfway through and found it didn't work for me. So I listened to the audiobook. This made it worse.
Why? Because this novel strongly has the tell-tale odor of having been dictated. I don't know for sure if this is the case, but I just can't imagine how something like this could have come from a carefully planned outline fleshed out through ink and paper. Instead, this feels manically improvised by a rambling genius pacing in a smoking jacket with a snifter of scotch in hand to a frantic transcriptionist. Either that, or Charles Williams was raised on authors who got paid by the word.
He simply cannot manage to move from point A to B without countless detours, making this one of the most circumstantial novels I've ever read next to sprawling modernist stream-of-consciousness epics. And this is less than 300 pages. And Williams is no Melville, Proust, or Dickens.
So whenever two people engage in dialogue, one person will ask a question, and then the narrator rambles on about five hundred things like a demented professor muttering to himself. When Williams finally gets back to the conversation, you forgot the whole context, or who was even speaking. So I perpetually felt like the old Major in Fawlty Towers. "What was the question again?"
This is why I said that the audio version was worse, because the narrator read Williams EXACTLY like a doddering old fool who can't stay on point, really driving the point home that Williams was talking to himself and not to his audience.
It's a shame, because the first chapter starts off strong, with a woman waiting near Westminster Bridge in an oddly deserted wartime London, only to realize that she is dead. It was compelling reading, a dreamlike and sympathetic depiction of what a disoriented lost soul would truly be thinking and feeling. The second chapter isn't bad either, introducing us to the dead woman's widower, his artist friend, and eventually, the main antagonist. But after that, the book goes off the rails, and not in a good way.
My children listened to the audio version with me on a long road trip from Chicago to New Orleans. Now, these youngsters are no strangers to good literature, having been raised on Pearl Buck, Lafcadio Hearn, Robert Louis Stevenson, Washington Irving, Hugh Walpole, and even Dostoevsky. They said they were having trouble following what was going on. I tried to summarize what was happening up to that point, and realized I could do it in about two sentences without missing any important points. Another testament to how unbelievably padded this story is.
I don't need a linear meat-and-potatoes narrative, but if there are going to be tangents, I have to feel as though I am learning something new, or engaging in rich world-building or character studies. I didn't find any of that here. Instead, I kept imagining a Monty Python sketch where the rambling narrator is slain or a regiment of medieval knights are screaming "Get on with it!"
There clearly is an entertaining story here that many readers have enjoyed and cherished throughout the years. So take this review with a grain of salt. Not everything works for everyone. But if you do read this book fresh and end up feeling befuddled by what on earth is going on, just know you are not alone.
December 27, 2020
ENGLISH: If Descent into Hell was Williams's Inferno, "All Hallow's Eve" is his Purgatorio. This is one of the strangest novels I have ever read, with two dead girls as the main characters, plus the modern Simon Magus, who has lived for two hundred years and performs magic, as his historical counterpoint.
The novel can be compared to C.S.Lewis's The Great Divorce, which was written about the same time, but there is a big difference: all the characters in Lewis's book are dead (except the narrator, who is dreaming); in "All Hallow's Eve" dead and living intermix. In fact, those who are in the way to being saved do so as a consequence of this intermix.
Curiously enough, when he started writing this novel, Williams intended to write a Paradiso. Some way during its construction, he apparently came to the conclusion that his initial intention was too difficult and decided to handle a Purgatory. Perhaps, if he had lived, he would have tried again and finished successfully his Divine Comedy, but this never happened, and it is useless to speculate on alternative histories, outside a fictional environment.
ESPAÑOL: Si "Descent into Hell" es la versión de Williams del Infierno, "All Hallow's Eve" es su Purgatorio. Esta es una de las novelas mas extrañas que he leído, cuyos personajes principales son dos chicas muertas, y con un Simon Magus moderno, que ha vivido durante doscientos años y realiza magia, como su contrapartida histórica.
La novela se puede comparar con "El gran divorcio" de C.S.Lewis, que fue escrito casi al mismo tiempo, pero hay una gran diferencia: todos los personajes del libro de Lewis están muertos (excepto el narrador, que está soñando); en "All Hallow's Eve" los vivos y los muertos y vivos se mezclan. De hecho, los que están en el camino de la salvación se salvan como consecuencia de dicha mezcla.
Curiosamente, cuando comenzó a escribir esta novela, Williams tenía la intención de escribir un Paraíso. Al parecer, durante su construcción llegó a la conclusión de que su intención inicial era demasiado difícil y decidió quedarse con un Purgatorio. Quizá si hubiese vivido lo habría intentado de nuevo, terminando con éxito su Divina Comedia, pero esto no ocurrió, y de nada sirve especular sobre historias alternativas, aparte de en la ficción.
The novel can be compared to C.S.Lewis's The Great Divorce, which was written about the same time, but there is a big difference: all the characters in Lewis's book are dead (except the narrator, who is dreaming); in "All Hallow's Eve" dead and living intermix. In fact, those who are in the way to being saved do so as a consequence of this intermix.
Curiously enough, when he started writing this novel, Williams intended to write a Paradiso. Some way during its construction, he apparently came to the conclusion that his initial intention was too difficult and decided to handle a Purgatory. Perhaps, if he had lived, he would have tried again and finished successfully his Divine Comedy, but this never happened, and it is useless to speculate on alternative histories, outside a fictional environment.
ESPAÑOL: Si "Descent into Hell" es la versión de Williams del Infierno, "All Hallow's Eve" es su Purgatorio. Esta es una de las novelas mas extrañas que he leído, cuyos personajes principales son dos chicas muertas, y con un Simon Magus moderno, que ha vivido durante doscientos años y realiza magia, como su contrapartida histórica.
La novela se puede comparar con "El gran divorcio" de C.S.Lewis, que fue escrito casi al mismo tiempo, pero hay una gran diferencia: todos los personajes del libro de Lewis están muertos (excepto el narrador, que está soñando); en "All Hallow's Eve" los vivos y los muertos y vivos se mezclan. De hecho, los que están en el camino de la salvación se salvan como consecuencia de dicha mezcla.
Curiosamente, cuando comenzó a escribir esta novela, Williams tenía la intención de escribir un Paraíso. Al parecer, durante su construcción llegó a la conclusión de que su intención inicial era demasiado difícil y decidió quedarse con un Purgatorio. Quizá si hubiese vivido lo habría intentado de nuevo, terminando con éxito su Divina Comedia, pero esto no ocurrió, y de nada sirve especular sobre historias alternativas, aparte de en la ficción.
October 23, 2025
Definitely moody for the season, but I've complained about Williams' stage blocking (for lack of a better term) in his novels before, and it didn't improve by his last novel. And he was a playwright, so he should have known better.
Weird and off-putting and a little too much body horror for my taste, but that final chapter was quite lovely. I also appreciated this thought from chapter 4:
"...Lester* for the first time in her life saw a temptation precisely as it is when it has ceased to tempt--repugnant, implausible, mean." (94)
Even if I'm not a huge fan of these books, they are way better than their unknowing descendants, the Left Behind/Frank Peretti/Ted Dekker crew. Maybe I'd have a better time with Williams's nonfiction or poetry. But I just can't get it out of my head that he was two-timing in magical secret societies. One is odd enough, but two and keeping them secret from each other? Zoinks.
*Yes, there is a major female character (not quite the protagonist but kind of) named Lester.
Weird and off-putting and a little too much body horror for my taste, but that final chapter was quite lovely. I also appreciated this thought from chapter 4:
"...Lester* for the first time in her life saw a temptation precisely as it is when it has ceased to tempt--repugnant, implausible, mean." (94)
Even if I'm not a huge fan of these books, they are way better than their unknowing descendants, the Left Behind/Frank Peretti/Ted Dekker crew. Maybe I'd have a better time with Williams's nonfiction or poetry. But I just can't get it out of my head that he was two-timing in magical secret societies. One is odd enough, but two and keeping them secret from each other? Zoinks.
*Yes, there is a major female character (not quite the protagonist but kind of) named Lester.
May 27, 2024
Follow my Charles Williams blog, The Oddest Inkling, for more context on this book and (later) a summary and other thoughts.
August 19, 2016
This peculiar book defies description. The copy I borrowed from the library is catalogued as "Inspirational" (a light-blue sticker with a picture of a dove on the spine), but the cover art is very creepy and science-fictionish, like something out of the Dune series or L.Ron Hubbard. The story inside the book itself...well! Two dead women find a way back into the physical world and communicate with living people. One of them embraces redemption and is able to embark upon her New Life in the spiritual world. The other woman is drawn by an evil Antichrist and ends up rejecting the Acts of the City (I love Williams' terminology which at face value means nothing to the reader, but once you start understanding his fantastic, spiritual vocabulary, makes every bit of sense). Williams seems to have made up his own phraseology, and he comes up with some pretty crazy sentences that seem to be random and non-sensical, but strangely enough, they really work. And one begins to see that nothing with him is random.
So, I don't know what this book is. Fantasy, theology, horror? One thing it IS, is unique. And fascinating. One caution though: If the reader doesn't have a good understanding of the Bible, I'm pretty sure they will miss out on many/most of the references. But don't let that deter you, by any means. Who knows, this might be a good introduction to Christian theology. After being thoroughly confusing, it might start to make pretty good sense.
So, I don't know what this book is. Fantasy, theology, horror? One thing it IS, is unique. And fascinating. One caution though: If the reader doesn't have a good understanding of the Bible, I'm pretty sure they will miss out on many/most of the references. But don't let that deter you, by any means. Who knows, this might be a good introduction to Christian theology. After being thoroughly confusing, it might start to make pretty good sense.
January 13, 2009
This is one of the strangest books ever written. A young woman dies to discover a London that looks right out of Dante. A painter does a portrait of a minister and discovers he has painted beetles, and the minister thanks him for it! A magician sends someone to the future. And somehow, this is all a deeply religious book. Williams, a favored friend of C. S. Lewis wrote this and several other very strange novels. All of them are great reads while being deeply, deeply strange.
July 5, 2010
Another great Charles Williams book. We start out walking through a foggy London night, with a recently killed woman...and from there it gets a little weird.
I like Charles Williams, and so far I believe this is my favorite of his books.
Recommended.
I like Charles Williams, and so far I believe this is my favorite of his books.
Recommended.
October 28, 2016
Pretty suspenseful for, y'know, an allegory.
December 31, 2017
review may follow later. It is not an easy book to describe. Very curious and complicated.
February 20, 2017
This is a hard book to review because I feel that Williams was making a lot of statements that weren't clear to me. Therefore, all I can tell you is what I thought the book was about.
At the very beginning, two women are killed. They find themselves, as spirits walking the streets of London. The women, Lester and Evelyn, are entirely alone except for each other. The race around looking for other signs of life. As the travel over the city, we get to know them.
Evelyn is a petty, cruel person who enjoyed tormenting another girl in school named Brenda. Brenda was a weak helpless person who had no one to defend her. She spent most of her time at school trying to escape Evelyn.
Lester, while not exactly a sterling character, found Evelyn's small-minded sadism toward Brenda tiresome. She had tried half-heartedly to prevent Evelyn from getting at Brenda but mostly to stop Evelyn from annoying her, Lester, rather than hurting Brenda whom she also found tiresome.
In this Twilight land Lester and Evelyn undergo changes. This is due to the fact that a sinister figure is on the horizon who is doing his utmost to turning himself into a counterfeit Christ figure.
The Clerk, or Father Simon as he is called by his followers, seems to be able to imitate some of Christ's traits. He apparently heals people of diseases and physical disabilities. He does have supernatural powers, but he has obtained this through witchcraft and nercromancy.
Father Simon, unlike Christ, does not love anyone, I'm not sure he hates anyone. He has a single minded obsession on which he exerts all his energy. His goal in deceiving people is to become worshiped and adored like Christ. His plan is to get the world to come under his dominion and worship him.
His daughter is Brenda and he somehow is able to use her as a portal to communicating with the spirit world. Brenda, as I have said, is a weak, passive creature, hated even by her mother who only does the Clerk's bidding and hopes to make Brenda as miserable as possible.
I do not want to give the story away, but some unexpected turns and developments of character transpires along the way. Some who were weak or indifferent rise to something higher and better, more noble and wonderful than they knew they were capable of. Others who were bent on evil, become more crippled in their mind and emotions. They wither and shrivel as they ever more weakly try to absorb and dominate others.
Charles Williams was a member of the Inklings, along with J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, Owen Barfield. Unlike Lewis and Tolkien who placed their stories inside fantasy worlds. Williams surreal tales take place in a contemporary and real setting.
Another difference is that while seeming to attain a definite Christian premise concerning good and evil as well as pointing to an eternal development in the condition of the human soul, Williams seems to veer from Orthodoxy by implying that people can still come to salvation after they are dead.
Overall, a book well worth reading.
At the very beginning, two women are killed. They find themselves, as spirits walking the streets of London. The women, Lester and Evelyn, are entirely alone except for each other. The race around looking for other signs of life. As the travel over the city, we get to know them.
Evelyn is a petty, cruel person who enjoyed tormenting another girl in school named Brenda. Brenda was a weak helpless person who had no one to defend her. She spent most of her time at school trying to escape Evelyn.
Lester, while not exactly a sterling character, found Evelyn's small-minded sadism toward Brenda tiresome. She had tried half-heartedly to prevent Evelyn from getting at Brenda but mostly to stop Evelyn from annoying her, Lester, rather than hurting Brenda whom she also found tiresome.
In this Twilight land Lester and Evelyn undergo changes. This is due to the fact that a sinister figure is on the horizon who is doing his utmost to turning himself into a counterfeit Christ figure.
The Clerk, or Father Simon as he is called by his followers, seems to be able to imitate some of Christ's traits. He apparently heals people of diseases and physical disabilities. He does have supernatural powers, but he has obtained this through witchcraft and nercromancy.
Father Simon, unlike Christ, does not love anyone, I'm not sure he hates anyone. He has a single minded obsession on which he exerts all his energy. His goal in deceiving people is to become worshiped and adored like Christ. His plan is to get the world to come under his dominion and worship him.
His daughter is Brenda and he somehow is able to use her as a portal to communicating with the spirit world. Brenda, as I have said, is a weak, passive creature, hated even by her mother who only does the Clerk's bidding and hopes to make Brenda as miserable as possible.
I do not want to give the story away, but some unexpected turns and developments of character transpires along the way. Some who were weak or indifferent rise to something higher and better, more noble and wonderful than they knew they were capable of. Others who were bent on evil, become more crippled in their mind and emotions. They wither and shrivel as they ever more weakly try to absorb and dominate others.
Charles Williams was a member of the Inklings, along with J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, Owen Barfield. Unlike Lewis and Tolkien who placed their stories inside fantasy worlds. Williams surreal tales take place in a contemporary and real setting.
Another difference is that while seeming to attain a definite Christian premise concerning good and evil as well as pointing to an eternal development in the condition of the human soul, Williams seems to veer from Orthodoxy by implying that people can still come to salvation after they are dead.
Overall, a book well worth reading.
November 26, 2015
This was my first experience with Charles Williams, and I'd be willing to read more from the author. A very peculiar book with a unique take on the fantasy genre, if I could even classify this as fantasy. I might even go so far as to classify it as a work of contemporary fantasy, but the bizarre juxtapositions between the occult with Christian mysticism and the ordinary humdrum post-War life place this work in its own category. Apparently Williams was one of the first scholars to translate Kierkegaard's works to English and also an avid scholar of an occult practice known as Rosicrucianism, and the influence it has on his work stands it apart from other authors.
I found myself intrigued with its peculiar take on the supernatural. Williams provides a modern update on manichaeist principles where standard good and evil forces (angels, demons, god, heaven, hell, etc.) do not figure into the narrative whatsoever. Their presence is simply implied by unknown space beyond the ordinary and magical actions of the characters. The supernatural or divine forces are made known or manifested through exchange of personal relationships--particularly feelings of love and hate.
While this often results in some very imaginative and evocative descriptions (or interpretations) of supernatural phenomena, at times even mind-blowingly profound, at other times the narrative gets muddled up in cheesy mysticism and abstract ideas perhaps too obscure for most readers. Where the text primarily seemed to fall short was in the development of characters, particularly the "oh Beatrice"-type romantic exchanges between the characters Jonathan and Betty, which felt like from a scene depicted in one of Lawrence Tadema Alma's more melodramatic paintings. I understand that Williams was trying to get at some Platonic ideal beyond mere relationships, like Dante's Beatrice, but the result was an awkward incongruity between ordinary post-war life on the one hand, and pure spiritual joy or hatred with no concrete substance on the other. The characters lose their humanness and simply become reduced to abstract participants in a spiritual war so elusive it defies one's capacity to imagine anything. I hoped to get more out of this book, but I ultimately felt was a mutual satisfaction and dissatisfaction.
I found myself intrigued with its peculiar take on the supernatural. Williams provides a modern update on manichaeist principles where standard good and evil forces (angels, demons, god, heaven, hell, etc.) do not figure into the narrative whatsoever. Their presence is simply implied by unknown space beyond the ordinary and magical actions of the characters. The supernatural or divine forces are made known or manifested through exchange of personal relationships--particularly feelings of love and hate.
While this often results in some very imaginative and evocative descriptions (or interpretations) of supernatural phenomena, at times even mind-blowingly profound, at other times the narrative gets muddled up in cheesy mysticism and abstract ideas perhaps too obscure for most readers. Where the text primarily seemed to fall short was in the development of characters, particularly the "oh Beatrice"-type romantic exchanges between the characters Jonathan and Betty, which felt like from a scene depicted in one of Lawrence Tadema Alma's more melodramatic paintings. I understand that Williams was trying to get at some Platonic ideal beyond mere relationships, like Dante's Beatrice, but the result was an awkward incongruity between ordinary post-war life on the one hand, and pure spiritual joy or hatred with no concrete substance on the other. The characters lose their humanness and simply become reduced to abstract participants in a spiritual war so elusive it defies one's capacity to imagine anything. I hoped to get more out of this book, but I ultimately felt was a mutual satisfaction and dissatisfaction.
October 14, 2017
Someone wrote, "don't read this book!" on the inside back page, unfortunately, I didn't see the warning until it was too late. A more subtle hint came in that the introduction was by T.S. Eliot, but it wasn't until the 3rd chapter entitled, "Clerk Simon" that I read the hate-filled speech of the anti-Jewish at full throttle. The magician who means to enslave all mankind, the living and the dead, is Jewish of course. He even means to kill his own daughter in order to achieve world domination.
Mostly, the writing was a curious miasma, things circling about and returning to confuse the reader.
I do agree with him on one point, he writes that temptation,". . . when it has ceased to tempt, . . ." is--repugnant, implausible, mean." In my mind this sums up the story--repugnant, implausible and mean.
Mostly, the writing was a curious miasma, things circling about and returning to confuse the reader.
I do agree with him on one point, he writes that temptation,". . . when it has ceased to tempt, . . ." is--repugnant, implausible, mean." In my mind this sums up the story--repugnant, implausible and mean.
October 18, 2019
All Hallow's Eve was a difficult read. I so wanted to like it as the author was a member of the Inklings and his work was spoken highly of by C.S. Lewis and T.S. Eliot. The plot was interesting but it never shined through the cumbersome writing style and language.
November 3, 2008
This book from the very beginning was like a supernatural journey to places I have never been. There was absolutely nothing predictable about the book. Page by page, it kept stirring my curiosity. It was well written and the characters were also well developed. T.S. Elliot said of Williams, " "To him the supernatural was perfectly natural, and the natural was also supernatural." Though he was a man of Christian faith, there is no mention of God or Jesus in any of the story. There is this Simon character who is a bit of a magician and represents to me what seemed like evil, and a young woman who seemed to represent good. The book does hint of purgatory and the working out of life's mistakes in a this temporal state.
Some interesting facts about Williams was that he was one of C.S Lewis's literary friends in the writers' group called "the Inklings." He also belonged to the Church of England and wrote on a wide array of topics, from his supernatural thrillers, to theology.
Upon finishing the book I am left with a feeling that my first reading only scratched the surface and that in the future I must return to this one again.
Some interesting facts about Williams was that he was one of C.S Lewis's literary friends in the writers' group called "the Inklings." He also belonged to the Church of England and wrote on a wide array of topics, from his supernatural thrillers, to theology.
Upon finishing the book I am left with a feeling that my first reading only scratched the surface and that in the future I must return to this one again.
August 16, 2014
My work study position at Union Theological Seminary was as a security guard, usually working nights. The job allowed much time for study, only four rounds through campus being required. I spent most of that 'free' time in the Women's Center, a lounge on the ground floor and near the entrance to Knox Hall, a residence for faculty.
During the first two of my four years at UTS I was befriended and often visited at work by Barry Wood, an Episcopal priest who also happened to be the school's physician. He had just had a near brush with death by cancer and was often prone to serious conversation. In the course of many such talks he recommended I read the works of Charles Williams. All Hallow's Eve was probably the first of the four I ultimately essayed.
While Barry likely found some serious philosophical points made in this Christian novel, I'm afraid I simply read it as a fantasy.
During the first two of my four years at UTS I was befriended and often visited at work by Barry Wood, an Episcopal priest who also happened to be the school's physician. He had just had a near brush with death by cancer and was often prone to serious conversation. In the course of many such talks he recommended I read the works of Charles Williams. All Hallow's Eve was probably the first of the four I ultimately essayed.
While Barry likely found some serious philosophical points made in this Christian novel, I'm afraid I simply read it as a fantasy.
August 10, 2022
Densa novela que transita entre la realidad de un Londres húmedo y frío, con la vida ultraterrena de ese mismo Londres en plano astral donde deambulan los espectros de algunas protagonistas. Tiene un sinfín de evocaciones, metáforas, lecturas de doble sentido, en fin misticismo que gotea lentamente de cada página, lo que da para más de una lectura, pero no sé si estaría dispuesto a repetirlo, ya que mientras más leía, más largo se me hacía, desesperante. No obstante tiene algunas escenas que valen la pena como la creación de una homúnculo que deja los pelos de punta, y la visión de ciertos cuadros sobrenaturales.
Colega de Tolkien y Lewis en Oxford, se les parece en su maniqueísmo declarado, quizás en sus valores, pero se adentra en una veta mucho más profunda, personal y esotérica. Para nada popular como sus amigos.
Colega de Tolkien y Lewis en Oxford, se les parece en su maniqueísmo declarado, quizás en sus valores, pero se adentra en una veta mucho más profunda, personal y esotérica. Para nada popular como sus amigos.
December 9, 2013
Williams is a difficult author, most famous nowadays for being one of C.S. Lewis's boon companions in the Inklings. This novel is unquestionably his best, and most accessible to the modern reader. (His poetry, wow! That's tough sledding.)
A novel which begins with the death of the heroine is starting out on the right foot. From there the hijinks snap right along. This is a grand book, with both vast spiritual conflicts and tiny battles. Williams orchestrates everything into a grand climax that is enormously satisfying.
I had to fill out some forms at Book View Cafe recently, in preparation for the e-publication of HOW LIKE A GOD. One of the questions is, what is the book most like? Supply ISBNs. None of my books are like anything, I wanted to say. But it is most like ALL HALLOWS' EVE.
A novel which begins with the death of the heroine is starting out on the right foot. From there the hijinks snap right along. This is a grand book, with both vast spiritual conflicts and tiny battles. Williams orchestrates everything into a grand climax that is enormously satisfying.
I had to fill out some forms at Book View Cafe recently, in preparation for the e-publication of HOW LIKE A GOD. One of the questions is, what is the book most like? Supply ISBNs. None of my books are like anything, I wanted to say. But it is most like ALL HALLOWS' EVE.
April 19, 2017
Charles Williams' novels are unlike any others. Although not my favorite (that would be Descent into Hell) this holds the reader's attention throughout the book. At the beginning, Lester is waiting on a bridge to meet her newly-married husband, Richard. She is angry because he has kept her waiting. Gradually she realizes that she is dead, killed by a falling airplane. Killed in the same accident is her friend Evelyn. Together they roam London. Their third friend, Betty, is in mortal danger from a mysterious man, Simon Magus, who seeks power over her. In Williams' world being dead is no excuse for inaction when necessary, and Lester begins to work to save Betty.
The story of Betty's peril, and the spiritual growth of Lester make up the center of the novel.
The story of Betty's peril, and the spiritual growth of Lester make up the center of the novel.
March 26, 2011
More like a chess game of metaphysics cloaked in poetry than a novel. It's very beautiful, but I must admit more than a little bit was beyond me. Like everything Williams wrote, one must pay close attention, re-read things as many times as necessary, and sincerely be able to allow him to shatter conventional story-telling while still creating a story. Even with all that I can say Williams seems to have understood things I simply cannot. But his goodness radiates off the page, and is worth pursuing.
November 1, 2011
I read this yesterday, in honor of the occasion. Highly worthwhile, as Williams always is, with several passages leaving you feeling a) vaguely stupid for not quite understanding him and b) inspired to read everything so that next time you read the book you might possibly get it. Because there will be a next time.
Also, I found his differentiation between love and compassion/kindness particularly fabulous. Perfect reading for All Hallow's Eve.
Also, I found his differentiation between love and compassion/kindness particularly fabulous. Perfect reading for All Hallow's Eve.
October 7, 2015
I really wanted to like this a lot more. When there was dialogue and the characters interacted, it moved along well. The Clerk/Father is chilling in his own way, and I like the idea of dead city mirroring a live one. But the metaphysical bits dragged a little too much, and ultimately turned out to be a chore, even for a reader like myself who usually welcomes the challenge.
January 19, 2022
The novel follows a nightmarish sequence of events that reflect the author's admirable skills and remarkable capacity of creating strange and captivating themes.
The confusing opening of the book sets the tone of the whole work. Like a spell, it binds the reader to the character of Lester Grantham/Furnival who is seen waiting on a bridge without knowing why or what she was waiting for. When memory creeps back, she realizes that she was waiting for her husband, and finds her way back to him almost mechanically, but Richard's ghostly shape and subsequent disappearance suggest to her mind the ghastly idea of his death. A moment later, Lester comprehends that death was truly at work, but instead of having Richard in its hold, it was herself that it clutched!
In such an ingenious manner, Williams takes his readers beyond the ordinary stream-of-conscience technique, and immerses them in the secrets of the actual self and the spiritual world in a Post-Modernist masterpiece. Taking a cubist approach to literature, he paints the world from different angles: those of the dead, those of the living, as seen by the good, as perceived by the evil, sometimes from the eyes of a widower, at others from the viewpoint of the dead wife herself...
The nonlinear approach of time is also used as a psychological construct alongside minimalism in the portrayal of the characters. Not many details are advanced in connection with their outward appearance, for the focus is given instead to their psychological states and inner conflicts.
Life and its meaning or the lack of it form the center of the plot. War, chaos, alienation, woman's question... The amount of the issues addressed emphasizes the richness of its content, and demonstrates the Post-Modernist tendencies of both work and author. In refusing to distance art from life, and in insisting to take no guidelines in shaping literature, Williams had painted a realistic image of life upon canvas of extraordinary events! The result is an exquisite nightmarish novel that reflects even in the midst of its most marvelous episodes the boundless possibilities of daily life.
The Postmodern literature, of which the book is an excellent specimen, came to describe certain characteristics of Post World War 2 like the sense of meaninglessness resulting from a seemingly purposeless struggle. Lester's death as the outcome of a crash was completely insignificant to the authorities, who had coldly apologized to her husband and merely advanced him a monetary compensation. This emphasizes the feeling of people's meaningless suffering during and after the war.
The book makes use of symbolism as a means to illustrate the numerous psychological states and mental ailments that immerged as the end result of the war. Alienation is one such condition present in the estrangement of Lester from other characters. In an allegorical scene, she was entirely detached, in terms of emotional receptiveness, from the weeping Evelyn. Their friendship was mechanical, based on habit instead of real and mutual understanding. This state of alienation was the direct result of the psychological conflicts arising from the chaotic atmosphere that reigned at the time through the agency of oppressing anxieties like the fear of death. The latter is illustrated in the novel through Lester's fear of darkness and silence.
In a broader context, Post War London is depicted as a dead city mimicking life. Evelyn's exclamation, "I have done nothing" for instance, reflects the empty shell of existence which people led at the time.
In relation to woman's question, the novel emphasizes the individual identity of woman as a separate and independent being . In contrast with past traditions which identified women by means of their husbands' names like Mrs. Dalloway, Lester Furnival is sometimes referred to as Lester Grantham in spite of her marital state. What is more, she is recognized and evaluated on the basis of her personal merits, actions, and qualities instead of those of her husband's as was the case with Clarissa.
In accordance with Nietzsche's prophecies about the spread of herd morality, the novel conveys the far-reaching echo of such doctrines during and after the war. The sense of meaninglessness arising from the armed struggle and the chaotic atmosphere of the war had led to the propagation of such ideologies. Father Simon's creed is one good illustration that explains the flight from nothingness into the realm of false security found in mass adherence to a given dogma.
The confusing opening of the book sets the tone of the whole work. Like a spell, it binds the reader to the character of Lester Grantham/Furnival who is seen waiting on a bridge without knowing why or what she was waiting for. When memory creeps back, she realizes that she was waiting for her husband, and finds her way back to him almost mechanically, but Richard's ghostly shape and subsequent disappearance suggest to her mind the ghastly idea of his death. A moment later, Lester comprehends that death was truly at work, but instead of having Richard in its hold, it was herself that it clutched!
In such an ingenious manner, Williams takes his readers beyond the ordinary stream-of-conscience technique, and immerses them in the secrets of the actual self and the spiritual world in a Post-Modernist masterpiece. Taking a cubist approach to literature, he paints the world from different angles: those of the dead, those of the living, as seen by the good, as perceived by the evil, sometimes from the eyes of a widower, at others from the viewpoint of the dead wife herself...
The nonlinear approach of time is also used as a psychological construct alongside minimalism in the portrayal of the characters. Not many details are advanced in connection with their outward appearance, for the focus is given instead to their psychological states and inner conflicts.
Life and its meaning or the lack of it form the center of the plot. War, chaos, alienation, woman's question... The amount of the issues addressed emphasizes the richness of its content, and demonstrates the Post-Modernist tendencies of both work and author. In refusing to distance art from life, and in insisting to take no guidelines in shaping literature, Williams had painted a realistic image of life upon canvas of extraordinary events! The result is an exquisite nightmarish novel that reflects even in the midst of its most marvelous episodes the boundless possibilities of daily life.
The Postmodern literature, of which the book is an excellent specimen, came to describe certain characteristics of Post World War 2 like the sense of meaninglessness resulting from a seemingly purposeless struggle. Lester's death as the outcome of a crash was completely insignificant to the authorities, who had coldly apologized to her husband and merely advanced him a monetary compensation. This emphasizes the feeling of people's meaningless suffering during and after the war.
The book makes use of symbolism as a means to illustrate the numerous psychological states and mental ailments that immerged as the end result of the war. Alienation is one such condition present in the estrangement of Lester from other characters. In an allegorical scene, she was entirely detached, in terms of emotional receptiveness, from the weeping Evelyn. Their friendship was mechanical, based on habit instead of real and mutual understanding. This state of alienation was the direct result of the psychological conflicts arising from the chaotic atmosphere that reigned at the time through the agency of oppressing anxieties like the fear of death. The latter is illustrated in the novel through Lester's fear of darkness and silence.
In a broader context, Post War London is depicted as a dead city mimicking life. Evelyn's exclamation, "I have done nothing" for instance, reflects the empty shell of existence which people led at the time.
In relation to woman's question, the novel emphasizes the individual identity of woman as a separate and independent being . In contrast with past traditions which identified women by means of their husbands' names like Mrs. Dalloway, Lester Furnival is sometimes referred to as Lester Grantham in spite of her marital state. What is more, she is recognized and evaluated on the basis of her personal merits, actions, and qualities instead of those of her husband's as was the case with Clarissa.
In accordance with Nietzsche's prophecies about the spread of herd morality, the novel conveys the far-reaching echo of such doctrines during and after the war. The sense of meaninglessness arising from the armed struggle and the chaotic atmosphere of the war had led to the propagation of such ideologies. Father Simon's creed is one good illustration that explains the flight from nothingness into the realm of false security found in mass adherence to a given dogma.
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