”Although I have loved many, there has been only one genuine love in my near-eternally stretched life — Rachel who fell to the bottom of the library without me.”

as far as i am concerned, A Short Stay in Hell is a triumph. peck’s descriptive power is fantastic and the slow build of dread and hopelessness is amazing. not to mention that i’m an absolute sucker for media that embraces the beautiful limitations of human life. a well-written story about immortality is uniquely great in that it will terrify you and motivate you all at once. every moment is to be celebrated, every connection appreciated to the fullest, every little moment that diversifies our existence a delight. to imagine a world without that — a world where the reigning emotion is apathy beyond our comprehension — makes any number of hellish fates seem light by comparison.