War in Heaven [Hardcover]

Just in case you overlooked the Amazon.com review (above), the opening paragraph of this book is well worth repeating as being one of the most outstanding introductions to a detective/mystery/horror novel you've ever come across:

"The telephone bell was rininging wildly, but without result, since there was no-one in the room but the corpse."

And that isn't just a fluke.
On the contrary, I'd suggest that this is probably one of Williams' most effective novels, in terms of plain story telling, especially in the case of the extremely powerful climax.

Like "Many Dimensions" (which is best read after "War in Heaven", because one character appears in both of those books, but doesn't survive the second), I've only given this book 4 stars because, as other reviewers have indicated, the British literary style of the 1930s is not to everyone's taste - and as far as his style of writing is concerned, Williams' work fits fairly comfortably into that general genre.

Having said that, I'd thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys novels of the occult that invite the reader to go for something more than a mindless blood bath or demonfest.

Owen Barfield, also a member of the Inklings - the writing circle that included Tolkein, C.S. Lewis and Williams - is quoted on the back cover as saying:

"Charles Williams's firm conviction that the spiritual world is not simply a reality parallel with that of the material one, but is rather its source and its abiding infrastructure, is explicit in both the manner and matter of all he wrote."

Well, I haven't read *all* that Williams ever wrote, but I'd say it was most certainly true of this novel, where this interlacing and interaction is an integral part of the plot.

Indeed, far from being a mere examination of "the distinction between magic and religion" (back cover of the book), if you want to look for deeper meanings, the story line holds up well as an allegory of the state of all mankind - those who build, and those who destroy; those who believe, those who only *think* they believe, and those who believe they have no belief; and so on and so on.

As to the apparently antisemitic element in the story, two things are relevant:
Firstly, it was very common in the Britain of the 1930s for the middle and upper classes to regard Jews with a certain amount of disdain. But this was not 'antisemitism' as such. Rather there was a distrust of Levanters (Lebanese, Syrians, Jews/Palestinians and, to a lesser extent, Turks and Greeks) in general which persisted at least into the 1950s.
Secondly, in the passage referred to in a previous review:

"They build and we destroy....One day we shall destroy the world."

The speaker, a character called Manasseh, who is initially introduced into the story as simply "a Jew", is using the word "we" in relation to Satanists, not Jews.
So 'zenophobia', perhaps, but 'antisemitism', I think probably not.

Incidentally, if you haven't yet read the book, or you're planning to read it again, you might be interested in the significance of the name "John", as used in the novel:

1. "John", from the Hebrew "Jochanan" means "God is gracious"

2. The book "The Ascent of Mount Carmel", referred to in the story, on the face of it for no apparent reason, is a real book, a mystical work written by St. John of the Cross.

3. Prester John was, in legend, apparently immortal. In the 12th century he was referred to as the Christian Emperor of Asia. Marco Polo (13th-14th centuries) wrote about him as the lord of the Tartars. In the 14th century he had allegedly become the Emperor of Abyssinia and was still said to hold that office a century later.

Williams was one of a trio of great early 20th century Christian authors, in a little club (The Inklings) with fellow dons C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Today, Tolkien is most remembered for fiction, and Clive Staples Lewis for theology. This is, in part, because Williams wrote in a more formidable style. However, once you get into the syntax and rythym, his words flow smoothly and he is very readable. Press on through the first few pages of any Williams book, and you will be rewarded with a "ripping yarn" on many levels.

This book is recommended not only for those who love Williams' other fiction (Descent into Hell, Place of the Lion, etc.) and nonfiction (Descent of the Dove), but for anyone who would enjoy a serious Christian adventure novel.

There is a strong message of the role of faith, and of eccumenical Christianity in "War in Heaven." Maybe it isn't for sticklers on one denomination's doctrine, but for most, it is well worth ordering.

CW's poetry may miss the mark of some poetic standard, but even now I can recite pieces from Taliessin Through Logres, while I usually find modern poetry uninspiring. His plays may not hold up well in some conventional sense of what plays are supposed to be, but they contain some of the most quotable lines I've ever read, and I would drive to the next state to see one put on. His novels may be dismissed as dense and obscure, but they are among the most gripping books I've ever read. War in Heaven isn't his best novel--that would be All Hallows Eve-- yet it's my favorite. I'm finally up to the point of saying why.

Some college lit classes read Descent into Hell because it takes place on a number of well-defined levels. War in Heaven has wheels within wheels as well, but they aren't so clearly defined. It's not quite his easiest to read novel--that would be Many Dimensions--but it's still one of the easiest. Of all his novels, War in Heaven perhaps falls over into the most categories--it's a supernatural thriller that is sort of a detective novel, kind of a suspense novel, in a way about relationships, about self-growth, spiritual search and discovery, but not in a traditional sense.

Everything that conventional novels are supposed to be these novels are not, which is why people like me who have no desire to read the bestsellers at the supermarket checkout stand yet find themselves taken with Williams' novels. One popular book report topic in college lit classes is to show how the characters "grow" through the book. With War in Heaven I found this difficult to do because reading a Williams book, it seems it's more like the reader who grows. Although the little group who throw in their lot with the Archdeacon in War in Heaven come to live by a typically Williams-esque maxim, "Believe and doubt well," the book seems to end where it began, yet somehow everything is new.