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All Hallows' Eve Charles Williams T S Eliot 9781573831109 Books

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All Hallows' Eve Charles Williams T S Eliot 9781573831109 Books

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.


Tags : All Hallows' Eve [Charles Williams, T. S. Eliot] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Charles Williams had a genius for choosing strange and exciting themes for his novels and making them believable and profoundly suggestive of spiritual truths. All Hallows' Eve is the story of a man and woman whose love was so great it could bridge the gap of death; of evil so terrible as to be unmentionable,Charles Williams, T. S. Eliot,All Hallows' Eve,Regent College Publishing,1573831107,Religious,Christian - General,Classic fiction,Classic fiction (pre c 1945),FICTION Christian General,FICTION Religious,Fiction,Fiction - Religious,Fiction-Religious,PRINT ON DEMAND

All Hallows' Eve Charles Williams T S Eliot 9781573831109 Books Reviews

This edition of the book seems to be derived from a poorly edited scan of a legitimate edition. The weird copyright notice and the lack of the real edition's introduction also suggest something weird. I am disappointed that permitted this to be sold through their site.
This book is very nearly a masterpiece. Charles Williams gets a little wordy sometimes and on occasion a sentence doesn't make sense. But stick with him, the story is marvelous.
This is a ghost story, but not a horror story. You may get chills reading it, but not always from "the creeps". On the other hand, you may finish it wondering just what the heck you just read. I submit to you All Hallows' Eve-- definitely not for everybody.

All Hallows' Eve is Charles Williams' last novel, written and set in WW2 England. It starts shortly after the tragic deaths of two women friends, Evalyn and Lester, in a bizarre collision, and neither is aware at first that they have died. They wander a weirdly deserted London separately for a brief time before meeting up, which gives the author an opportunity to focus on Lester's inner spiritual journey as she slowly confronts some unattractive truths about herself and her important relationships with her husband and her friends. In a separate but intersecting storyarc, Lester's surviving husband and his artist friend cross paths with a popular cult leader, Simon Le Clerc. This disturbing figure has a hidden past that is revealed only to us, the readers, as the plot unfolds. He is shaping up to be something not unlike an antichrist of sorts who is conducting covert, occultic experiments on the artist's love interest, Betty Wallingford, who is the daughter of one of Le Clerc's most devoted followers.

Williams makes use of Betty's nighttime passages to scratch the surface of an alternate universe which Evelyn, Lester and (presumably) other newly-deceased inhabit. It is simply described as the City, and although it bears a surface resemblance to London, it is more of an infrastructure to London, or perhaps the Platonic Ideal of London...possibly something more. Many things in this realm tantalize us with glimpses of hidden spiritual truths, and time itself seems to have no linear requirement; past, present and future flashbacks occur without regard to conventional order. I was left with the sense that I would have liked to discover more about this City, and as this is my first Williams novel, who knows..he may indeed refer to it in his other stories.

I'm not sure what sort of person would be best prepared to read this final Charles Williams novel. The author (an Anglican, or so I've read) clearly gives his audience much credit, as he allows us to draw our own conclusions about either the allegorical or the literal truths he dallies with along the storyline; he never force-feeds or "preaches". Somebody moderately educated in various religious history and/or theology would recognize a lot of the hints and references Williams makes along the way to telling his story. I wouldn't say that you must be a Christian to appreciate it, but it might help. On the other hand, I would only recommend this book to a mature Christian who has some direct study of the bible under his belt and yet a non-legalistic attitude toward their christian fiction. Certainly the reader would benefit from an ability to appreciate mysticism.

All Hallows' Eve was recommended to me by A Reader's Delight, which appeals to readers who crave rare literary treasures from various genres. Williams' writing style is rich and many-layered, so that I may have to read All Hallows' Eve several times to extract everything I should from it in time. Take that under advisement, and if the shoe fits, do try.
-Andrea, aka Merribelle
Charles Williams was a poet, and his way with words is a big part of the story, though the symbols and extended metaphors make for more difficult reading than most modern novels. He was also a theologian. Here, as in all his novels, the supernatural breaks in on the mundane world, and we catch a glimpse of his vision of reality, stirring and uplifting.
Fascinating look into how we live our lives and the choices we make toward our homo sapient kindred. We can be kind or we can be unkind. We can seek forgiveness for the hurtful things we have done OR we can remember those little things we should have done and go back and seek redemption (forgiveness) when we should have. Granted, it's a difficult book to read............but well worth the time to "plow through it". The writing is phenomenal! No wonder he was admitted into The Inklings.
This is the first book that I've read by Williams, and I am glad to have had the experience of it. There were bits of the book that reminded me of C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and others that reminded me of Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This way Comes. William's descriptions seems overly worded, at times, but that might be normal for authors writing in his time. In addition, this digital edition is in need of heavy editing for spelling and grammar. Sometimes, when scanning text, changes may occur. Errors like that are minor distractions.. This was a wonderful read, and I am looking forward to reading Charles Williams's other books.
Just tore through this book. Wow and wow again. The symbolic portrayal of the area between death and life where the newly dead roam and how they think, their minds wandering over their past and the slow realization of their short comings in life, blew my mind. It was so well done, I could have been lost in the mind of the Lester many times over. Hard to follow at times but that mostly because I was whipping along when I should have been contemplating the symbolic truths represented. There's so much to take in and even more to take away.
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.