Lauren
Since the beginning of time, people have been curious about life after death. Ideas spanning from heaven to reincarnation, and everything in between, have been discussed, debated, and criticized throughout history by scholars, theologians, and philosophers alike.
Naturally, this topic has been the subject of many books, and different takes on life after death have been mentioned in countless others.
Here are a few books that present different ideas about what happens after death (warning: spoilers ahead!):
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
When teenager Susie Salmon is brutally murdered, her spirit goes to her own personal heaven. While there, she is able to look down on her loved ones as they cope with her death, meet her murderer’s other victims, and even transfer her spirit into someone else’s body. While Susie’s spirit eventually moves to a larger part of Heaven, she is still able to look down and see what is happening on earth from time to time.
This novel presents the idea that after death, people’s spirits are still “alive” and able to observe their loved ones on earth, a belief that is held by many people across the world.
Inferno by Dante Alighieri
In this part of Alighieri’s 14th-century poem, Divine Comedy, readers are able to see his representation of life after death. Inferno shows Dante’s voyage through Hell, an unyielding nightmare consisting of nine circles of torment within an earthly realm until he reaches Satan himself at the earth’s center.
Here are a few of the main ideas presented in Inferno:
- After death, those who are unrepentant are doomed to Hell while those who ask for forgiveness are sent to Purgatory.
- In Hell, people are punished in a manner consistent with their sins on earth
- People in “Upper Hell” experience less torture than those in “Lower Hell”
Many of the ideas people have about hell today stem from ideas presented by Dante Alighieri in Inferno.
The Good Place and Philosophy by Steven A. Benko and Andrew Pavelich
Based on the Emmy award-nominated NBC sitcom, The Good Place, this book explores the show’s presentation of the afterlife. This book shows how in the world of The Good Place, there is both a Good Place and a Bad Place. The Good Place is reserved for those who lived mostly positive lives on earth as determined by point totals they earn for every single action they perform. Those who fail to have a certain number of points are sent to the Bad Place where they are tortured for eternity.
Through a series of twists and turns, this book explores a more humorous take on the widely held belief that only people who were good on earth are able to go to heaven.
From The Lord of the Rings to The Sandman comic book series, there have been thousands of books with varying perspectives on life after death. We recommend checking out a few!
