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Hell: A Novel by Robert Olen Butler
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Hell: A Novel (edition 2010)

by Robert Olen Butler

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2721796,834 (3.44)6
Hatcher McCord is an evening newscaster who has found himself in Hell and is struggling to explain his bad fortune. He's far from the only one to suffer this fate--in fact, he's surrounded by an outrageous cast of characters, including William Shakespeare, Humphrey Bogart, Richard M. Nixon, Jezebel, Judas Iscariot, Pope Boniface VIII, J. Edgar Hoover, and a panoply of present-day figures who will soon be in Hell. The question may be not who is in Hell but who isn't. Butler's Hell isn't as much a boiling lake of fire--although there is that--as it is a Sisyphean trial tailored to each inhabitant. One day, Hatcher McCord meets Dante's Beatrice, who believes there is a way out of Hell. Soon thereafter, by a twist of diabolical fate and an interviewer's savvy, he learns a deep, dark secret of the underworld. From there Butler is off on a madcap romp about good, evil, free will, and the possibility of escape.--From publisher's description.… (more)
Member:slicea
Title:Hell: A Novel
Authors:Robert Olen Butler
Info:Grove Press (2010), Edition: Reprint, Paperback, 240 pages
Collections:Your library
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Hell by Robert Olen Butler

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» See also 6 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 17 (next | show all)
This is the first Butler novel I've read, and I'm impressed. His take on hell was lively and thoroughly imagined, and filled with the one-off satiric comments that I love. His characters were well-drawn, and I was particularly impressed with the independence he gave to his female characters. The contemporary comments have already made this book a snapshot of its time, but its willingness to embrace this time-sensitive satire makes it more valuable. ( )
  et.carole | Jan 21, 2022 |
i spent so much of this book confused that by the time it started making sense, i was emotionally done with it. the ending was great, though! ( )
  kickthebeat | Nov 1, 2020 |
I invoked the "100 page rule" and put this stinker down. Maybe it was because I just finished the very clever "Johannes Cabal the Necromancer". My expectations were high for this book, and I was sorely, sadly, completely disappointed. ( )
  CarmenMilligan | Jan 18, 2016 |
I read this in one night - its not a long book, but it can be dense at times. Its a story set in Hell, with Satan and Beelzebub and all the other Damned - the problem is, no one can quite figure out why they are there, even the ones that led a perfect life.

Enter our protagonist, a journalist who's punishment is to give the news of Hell, with all the humiliation and pain that goes through a newscaster when he's on air, such as awkward silences, profanity laden language, being naked on air, etc.

But, once journalist, always a journalist. When Hatcher scores an interview with Satan - he comes away learning a bit about how life works in Hell - and the more he learns, the closer he is to escaping.

Its a dark comedy, we have presidents, and kings, and ancient gladiators, Nixon is a chauffeur in this book, running down pedestrians. We have Bill Clinton (who is dead in this universe) waiting in a hotel for a girl who never comes. Its also a story about happiness and suffering.

As for the story itself, its smart. At times, too smart. Other times, its too over the top. The beginning of the book was all over the place, but once the book found its pace, it started coming together and the story was a lot more readable.

I recommend it if you like dark humor, that is a bit literary, but doesn't take itself too seriously. ( )
  TheDivineOomba | Aug 17, 2015 |
This book was its own Hell to read. I started this book a number of times and a part of me felt after I had read the same opening pages eight or nine times that perhaps the joke was on me and it was time to give up. However, I am a believer in finishing any book I start and giving it a fighting chance of making me a convert to its cause.

While this book has moments that were good, it never reached a level of being a book that brought me fully into its story. Although its peopled with characters from history whose stories could have had the magical realism brush applied, the best character in the book is the main character, Hatcher McCord who is purely fictional. Even the Devil didn't get his due in this book and that's saying something.

Robert Olen Butler has written many other books and perhaps I should have started with his first, a Pulitzer Prize Winner, in order to get a better understanding of the author. With a great subject like Hell and the potential cast of characters and settings that were possible, I was a bit disappointed in this read.

This book is written stream of consciousness style - something I don't object to having read it in some of Bret Easton Ellis's work. It either works or it doesn't in a story and it didn't work for me in this one. Perhaps it was because I never became fully invested in the book. I didn't find it to be the wildly hilarious satire referred to be the reviews on the cover but it is a thought provoking meditation on Heaven and Hell as seen through a modern lens.

One review has it touted as a summer read. Meditations on the nature of man, paradise and purgatory and the wages of sin, don't generally fall into my idea of a light summer read. The good thing about this book is that you can pick it up and put it down with ease. This one is for fans of Butler or for those interested in trying a modern writer in the magical realism genre. ( )
  ozzieslim | Dec 28, 2014 |
Showing 1-5 of 17 (next | show all)
A tour de force without end
added by Shortride | editBookslut, John Domini (Oct 1, 2009)
 
There's no denying that this is a funny book, with some terrific images, but the writing is used to show off the author's clever ideas rather than to generate complex characters or a compelling story.
 
If the books they can’t sell in hell are maddeningly uneven, ever bouncing between passable wit and sophomoric giggles. Mr. Butler’s slapdash “Hell” deserves shelf space there.
 
It's unfortunate that Butler can't keep his impulses in check because beneath the undergrowth of endless guest spots, there are some adroit insights.

If he dialed down the gimmickry and histrionics, his sense of clarity and pathos could stand on its own -- and we'd still have room to laugh at the absurdity of it all.
 
In "Hell," Robert Olen Butler has given us a rare treat - a novel that explores the darker side of human nature while making you laugh so hard iced tea almost comes out your nose (although that may be a rather, ah, specific case). Then, a few pages later, he creeps you out. And a few pages after that, things get so weird you're not sure what is happening.

It's that kind of book.
 
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Hatcher McCord is an evening newscaster who has found himself in Hell and is struggling to explain his bad fortune. He's far from the only one to suffer this fate--in fact, he's surrounded by an outrageous cast of characters, including William Shakespeare, Humphrey Bogart, Richard M. Nixon, Jezebel, Judas Iscariot, Pope Boniface VIII, J. Edgar Hoover, and a panoply of present-day figures who will soon be in Hell. The question may be not who is in Hell but who isn't. Butler's Hell isn't as much a boiling lake of fire--although there is that--as it is a Sisyphean trial tailored to each inhabitant. One day, Hatcher McCord meets Dante's Beatrice, who believes there is a way out of Hell. Soon thereafter, by a twist of diabolical fate and an interviewer's savvy, he learns a deep, dark secret of the underworld. From there Butler is off on a madcap romp about good, evil, free will, and the possibility of escape.--From publisher's description.

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