A Short Stay in Hell
by Steven L. Peck · first published 2009
87% recommend13% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Quick, dark novella about a Mormon who wakes in a hell modeled on the Library of Babel, where escape means finding one book among astronomically many. Suits readers who like big numbers and infinity.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
An ordinary family man, geologist, and Mormon, Soren Johansson has always believed he’ll be reunited with his loved ones in an eternal hereafter. Then, he dies. Soren wakes to find himself cast by a God he has never heard of into a Hell whose dimensions he can barely grasp: a vast library he can only escape from by finding the book that contains the story of his life. In this haunting existential novella, author, philosopher, and ecologist Steven L. Peck explores a subversive vision of eternity, taking the reader on a journey through the afterlife of a world where everything everyone believ
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There is a fun story based off this idea, A Short Stay in Hell by Steven Peck [0]. In the story the character dies and wakes up in a kind of hell that is basically a version of the library of Babel. There are other people there. You're allowed to leave if you can…
on “Borges: The Library of Babel [pdf]” ↗This reminds me of a very fun and interesting read called "A Short Stay in Hell" by Steven Peck, which provides an entertaining perspective on infinity and very, very large finite time periods. It's about a Mormon who goes to hell (because Zoroastrianism happens to be the One True…
on “How much space would it take to store every word ever said?” ↗I can’t comprehend how this is built but it’s impressive. It reminds me of the book “A Short Stay in Hell” by Steven L. Peck. “As a faithful Mormon, Soren Johansson has always believed he'll be reunited with his loved ones in an eternal hereafter. Then, he dies. Soren wakes to find himself cast by a God…
on “Show HN: Babel – browse every book that will ever be written using simple math” ↗"A short stay in hell" (Steven Peck) is a fun short read about living in a place. Totally recommend.
on “An 83-year-old short story by Borges portends a bleak future for the internet” ↗There's also a variation of this book called A Short Stay in Hell (2009) by Steven L. Peck It's a fun and scary read. Especially if you understand very big numbers.
on “Every V4 UUID” ↗Couple of books from this year: - A short stay in hell (sci-fi): A modern take on Library of Babel. Pretty dark. Quick read. - The Burried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro. Nominally fantasy, but not really. Great, like his other books. - Small things like these…
on “Ask HN: End of Year Book Recommendations” ↗…impossible. How many monkeys would you need flipping coins to get 30 heads in a row? Now imagine that’s hitting the right letter on a keyboard many thousands of times in a row. I recommend the story A Short Stay in Hell
on “Harvard particle physicist Matthew Schwartz drops 36 papers authored with Claude” ↗"A Short Stay in Hell" by Steven L. Peck
on “Ask HN: What is the most gripping thing you have read recently?” ↗Also highly recommend "A Short Stay in Hell," a novelette based on the same Library concept. Helps wrap your head around what it means to be in such a place.
on “There are 2¹⁰²⁴ things you can do with a kilobit” ↗By the by, I hadn't heard of Zoroastrianism until I read Peck's A Short Stay In Hell, where the main character finds out (at the beginning) that Zoroastrianism was the one true and correct religion. It's a quick read, I'd recommend it. [0] https://bookshop.org/books/a-short-stay-in-hell/978098374842...
on “How Indian Zoroastrians helped shape modern Iran” ↗My favorite book this year has to be The Divine Farce, I haven't been gripped by a story like that in years. A short stay in hell falls in the same category. I'm still reading a book by Barbara Kingsolver: Demon Copperhead. It's really good and I like the story, but I have not finished it yet since I can't seem to find the time…
on “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” ↗Reminds me of a book I recently read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Short_Stay_in_Hell The numbers produced by permutations are astounding! Especially compared to the (much smaller) numbers in our actual physical universe.
on “Show HN: Scroll through all 43252003274489856000 Rubik's Cube states” ↗Somewhat shameless shout out about this... My friends father is Steve Peck, the author of "A short stay in hell". It's a short story about a guy who ends up in hell that is this library. Fun weekend read.
on “Borges Labyrinth in Venice reopens to the public” ↗I'm also reading the first dungeon crawler carl series. You might really like the bobiverse, just got another book as well! Before that I read "a short stay in hell", super good! Or discordia by max barry or road kill by dennis e. taylor. All very entertaining.
on “Ask HN: What are you reading?” ↗…repeating rooms. Borges' Library of Babel got me started, I have just finished Susanna Clarke's Piranesi - which was so wonderfully described, I don't know if I'll find anything to beat it. I'm now on A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. Peck, which outright mentions Borges' novel. If anyone has any similar recommendations I'd love to hear them.
on “Ask HN: What Are You Reading?” ↗