Review:
As one Devil to Another was a book that I never thought I would really enjoy! It is a book that reads as Correspondence and letters between two devils-- Uncle Slashreap and his student and nephew Scardagger. The perspective of reading letters from one devil to another was different I have to admit, but brilliant. I was cautious about the book and even wary, but then my fears were assuaged as it became more of a way to view the enemy's battle plans. I felt both challenged to not let certain tactics get me, but I also felt encouragement. It is not a frightening or horror kind of book at all. I found Richard Platt quite ingenious in the way he flips our matters of perspective and uses it to teach us indirectly of our faulty lines of thought. We inadvertently think one way and see the world through such narrow glasses that sometimes we forget why God has allowed events and things into our lives. We forget life is not about "us" being comfortable. We are in fact living our lives out for His glory and everything we come across here on earth is meant to prepare us for Eternity.
Platt seems to also discuss other matters relevant to us in today's world. Things such as grief, love, success and failure, artwork, television, etc. I rather enjoyed reading what a "devil's" perspective might be in reference to things like this.
The story line running throughout the book kept me reading. I am kept in suspense at how our enemy tries to take us down--and how they try to take the characters on in this book. I found myself reading in the wee small hours of the morning just to try to read as much as I could! It definitely kept my attention, and was something I wanted to tell others about. Richard Platt did a great job, and has opened my eyes to wanting to read more books by C.S. Lewis such as the ScrewTape Letters.
I quote from the book an example of insights I found refreshing:
The greatest problem humans have with petitionary prayer is one of perspective. This involves both time frames and objectives. They think mostly of today, or of the limited sphere of activity which they call their lives: the seventy or eighty years which to us and to the Adversary is indistinguishable from today. The Adversary is thinking of eternity. ....The Adversary is the Parent who knows what they need....
I would give this book 3.5 out of 5. I enjoyed this book and found it an easy read.
- For more information on the book visit: http://www.asonedeviltoanother.com/
Now for a Giveaway! Giveaway will end May 14, 2012
As One Devil to Another is an astonishing debut work that C. S. Lewis’s biographer and foremost Lewis authority Walter Hooper calls “a stunning achievement, the finest example of the genre of diabolical correspondence to appear since this genre was popularized by C. S. Lewis.” Enter into this chilling and diabolical tale, one that reveals the very tricks and strategies of Hell.
Through a series of letters between devils created by Platt, senior devil Slashreap trains his young protégé, Scardagger, to win an individual soul away from Heaven and into their clutches. As the devils plot their way to triumph, they reveal the spiritual dangers and risks we face in today’s society. Their frighteningly accurate perspective on issues such as contemporary technology and sexual mores is interwoven with timeless matters such as the power of prayer, the purpose of suffering, and the promises held out by Heaven . . . and Hell.
Destined to become a modern classic, As One Devil to Another is a brilliantly written, deeply unsettling perspective on twenty-first-century society . . . a glimpse of ourselves through the eyes of those who have embraced their underworldly existence.
About the Author: Richard Platt has been in love with words and the music of language all his life, but he did not begin writing until his early forties. He is a contributor to literary quarterly Slightly Foxed and was a finalist for a 2012 San Diego Foundation Creative Catalyst Fellowship for his one-man play, Ripples From Walden Pond: An Evening with Henry David Thoreau. As One Devil to Another, his first novel, is dedicated in grateful homage to C. S. Lewis. Richard and his wife, Susan, live in California.
Disclosure: I received a free copy of the book in exchange for my honest opinions and review of the book. All opinions are mine and I was not compensated in any other way. I was not required to write a positive review.
is that it is grouped and organized together nicely. There are sections or rather as she has named them “Conversations” dedicated to colors, animals, a walk outside, where are we going, and such as that fit into ordinary everyday life! I love it because it is easy to focus on a particular subject and spend a day just constantly working on that “Conversation”! I find myself printing out parts of her book and sticking it in my pocket as I do not know Spanish very well and cannot remember what I have read!
