Grimrack: An Infernal Epistolary
I picked this book up to check off my reading challenge of “A book of letters” (which is what epistolary means). This book is really, really good! It is a modern day take on The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis. These are letters between demons that discuss tempting humans into falling away from God, and how to go about this task. Lewis’ book is now 75 years old and focuses on British culture. The Grimrack novel is Wood’s narrative from a perspective of present-day American culture. He writes in the context of a demon professor emailing his graduate students to teach them the ways of temptation. He covers subjects ranging from prayers and church going, to lust and distraction.
Even though this seems like it would be a devilish book that would sway people to walk away from God and religion, it’s actually a creative way of presenting how great The Adversary (God) truly is. The professor asks his students “How do we get people to walk away from Him? Here are all the things he provides them, what can we do to counter that love?” It was an eye opening way to look at what is given to us by God and how little he actually asks of us in return versus what the Devil does to constantly bring our attention away from those gifts.
I would recommend this book to people who liked The Screwtape Letters or novels like The Shack; where you are faced with the subject of God and religion in a different way than reading and studying the words in the Bible.
Malia's Pizza Rating
Pizza…just any old pizza. Simply put, it’s my biggest temptation!