Reading – The Heidelberg Cylinder

I bought Jonathan Carroll’s The Heidelberg Cylinder* way back in 2000 direct from the author’s website. I was originally attracted to the Dave McKean cover, but once the book reached me I realized that it was a bizarre, enjoyable read. And after recently rereading the novella I thought it might be fun to share the book here on battlegrip.com with you guys.

The Devil’s Work

The Heidelberg Cylinder, at only 73-pages, takes us from an ordinary morning to a world in which the Devil has started moving the dead back to earth because Hell is completely full. Our protagonist, Bill Gallatin, is enjoying a chat at home when a knock at the door changes everything as two religious “nuts” make wild claims that lead to a mover (who just dropped off a new refrigerator) saying:

“You know exactly what I mean. Guys like you have been coming to my door for years, talking about how the world’s gonna end tomorrow. God’s gonna kick my butt for sinning unless I repent. Armageddon’s coming so watch out! Well you know what? Arma-geddon pretty damned sick of hearing that stuff from your like, If you think you’re so right about what you’re saying, prove it. That’s all — show us it’s true. You say the Devil’s on earth moving dead people out of their houses? Show me!”

Bill didn’t say these words, but he completely agreed and soon finds himself meeting a religious leader named Beeflow, feeling his own soul lick his skin, and eventually coming face-to-face with the horrors of what happens when Hell really is completely full.

Quirky and Engaging

Carroll’s writing is fun to read, and his idea of Hell is unlike anything we’ve seen before. McKean’s cover illustrates a Hellhound from the story, but what McKean’s cover doesn’t show us is that in The Heidelberg Cylinder* Hell is actually the perfect world we each want to live in . . . and Heaven is even more spectacular and perfect.

Bill Gallatin is forced to make a choice that leads to painful consequences, but by the end of the story our protagonist has shed his previous life and joins the two religious “nuts” from the story in an attempt to spread Beeflow’s message . . . and to save as many people as possible from being evicted from their homes.

Closing Thoughts

As a limited edition book The Heidelberg Cylinder* is fairly pricey these days, and not exactly worth snagging unless you’re insanely intent on purchasing small and expensive books. It’s a fun story, and if you ever stumble across the story it’s worth a read. Not life-changing, but fun.

And fun is all I ever really want from stories.