33 pages • 1 hour read
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of illness and death.
Having died in middle age of brain cancer, Soren Johansson is sent to Hell in the form of a library filled with every possible book. He has spent millions of years in the library and has made it to the bottom floor, where he sits reading A Short Stay in Hell itself. Despite the immense length of time that has passed since his death, he can remember every moment of his time on Earth and every moment of his time in the library.
Soren describes his first moments in the afterlife. Following his death, he found himself in the office of a demon, along with four other terrified people. The demon, who introduced himself as Xandern, explained that Zoroastrianism is the “one true religion” and that anyone who followed a different religious tradition on earth would automatically be sent to Hell temporarily (7). After being suitably punished, each soul can move on to the next stage of the afterlife. One by one, he reviewed the life story of each person in the office and subsequently sent them to a version of Hell tailored to their personality. When he discovered Soren’s love of reading, he sent him to the library.