| View Larger Image | Many Dimensions | Paperbackby Charles Williams (Author)
| List Price: | $15.00 | | Price: | $10.20 | | You Save: | $4.80 (32%) | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | Paperback | | Publisher: | Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company | | Edition: | New editionth Edition | | Page Count: | 269 Pages | | Publication Date: | July 01, 1963 | | Sales Rank: | 93,902rd |
|
FEATURES | - ISBN13: 9780802812216
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
- Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices
|
EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Amazon.com Review
Imagine Raiders of the Lost Ark set in 20th-century London, and then imagine it written by a man steeped not in Hollywood movies but in Dante and the things of the spirit, and you might begin to get a picture of Charles Williams's novel Many Dimensions. The plot turns on the discovery of the magical Stone of Solomon, through which one can move at will through space, time, and thought. Those who think they can manipulate the stone to serve their own ends, however, find to their horror that, as Jesus once ironically said, "they have their reward." While the story clearly deals with the extraordinary, through his humorous and loving depiction of his British characters Williams more deeply shows us the spiritual reality that lies inside the ordinary. --Doug Thorpe |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 7 reviews)
|
How does one measure God...or Spacetime..., for that matter? by L. Durham  5 Stars
February 10, 2006
Even to his fans Williams can seem a bit remote, but once you get used to the British inflection and syntax in his dialogs - and identify the parameters of the uncanny worlds he portrays - Williams can become exhilirating. His is a very unique and peculiar genius. This particular book has depths and images I will ponder for quite some time. It also has a very subtle and intelligent humor. I should probably read it again. Apart from the provocatively and profoundly problematic talisman of the Stone and a clever plot illustrating some fascinating ethical and theological conundrums, I believe Williams brilliantly (and prophetically?) explores (what I had previously thought was) the ultra-modern and ultra-sophisticated (or perhaps, if you prefer, science fiction) topic of teleportation in its many forms. No doubt this guy got his Images from a Dimension few of us visit during our daylight dealings and distractions.
| |
Freaky, Deaky, Sheiky by Loudon Is A Fool (PLANO, TX USA)  2 Stars
February 04, 2006
For a provoking supernatural thriller (to the extent early 20th century Brits can be thrilling) Williams can't be beat. But here Williams goes beyond his typical heterodoxy to apparently reject the Triune God and further poses a bizarre revisionist history where Persians have somehow maintained the engine of King Solomon's flying carpet. That's all well and good for ecumenical sorts I suppose, but, personally, I think Mr. Williams drew a bit too deeply from the hookah during the Golden Dawn ritual at which he conceived the plot of this particular metaphysical potboiler. Ultimately the book seems to abandon the cycle of redemption. Williams finds salvation outside of Christ's death on the cross and instead in the workings of a queer rock. Weird, Wilde stuff. So I would skip this one, unless it's raining and you don't have anything else to read, or you've read War in Heaven and have a burning desire to know the fate of Giles Tumulty.
Also, the quality of the Eerdmans books is disappointing. This is unfortunate since they're publishing a third of the current Williams catalog. My copy of Many Dimensions is already falling apart and the pages resemble a digital scan of the original. My Regent College copy of All Hallows' Eve appears to be of better construction. Read it or War in Heaven instead.
| |
Nice Follow-along to "War In Heaven" by C. V. Manning  4 Stars
July 30, 2005
On page one the reader finds that Charles Williams's "Many Dimensions" has a setup similar to his "War In Heaven"- namely, that the scholar Sir Giles Tumulty (a crossover character from "War...") has obtained an ancient artifact which purportedly has supernatural powers of a religious flavor. The remainder of the book develops as a struggle over the artifact between those who are aligned in someway with the forces of light and those aligned with the forces of darkness.
"...Dimensions" falls short of "War..." in that Williams's narrative in "...Dimensions" is less cohesive and more prone to various sidebars and extraneous characters - always a risk in a Williams novel. To his credit, however, the extraneous sidebars and characters allow Williams to perceptively comment on some character types and issues commonly encountered in the modern (or post-modern) world.
Though perhaps not as good as "War in Heaven", worth reading as a loose sequel to that book, or can be read as a stand alone. Somewhere between 3-4 stars and generally better (if only by being more substantive) than most contemporary fiction and certainly better than "The Da Vinci Code".
| |
Very funny for Charles Williams, and well done 5 Stars
December 13, 2001
Charles Williams is always deep, and often thick and meaty. Happily, in this novel, he is extremely funny. Watching what the British do when a spiritually powerful stone is dropped into their outstretched hands is a fine pursuit. Some situations are farcically funny, others witty, and some are, in the end, pitiful- the kind of jokes about the human race that are rooted in our failure to do all we should with our great gifts, that we wish we didn't have to make.Williams combines an ultimately serious theme with high poetry, good plot and characters, and his highly individual treatment of the supernatural and mysticism for a very satisfying read (and re-read).
| |
Does God Play Dice? by Karl (England, Great Britain) 4 Stars
April 02, 2001
Contrary to popular belief, I'm fast coming round to the idea that Williams was a *philosophical* writer rather than a *religious* writer. And not only because he himself described his seven novels as "metaphysical thrillers".Unlike "Descent into Hell" - which is quite frankly an overwrought gothic monstrosity - "Many Dimensions" is a 'typical' Williams story, with standard English prose (standard for the 1930s, that is), a straightforward plotline and plenty of pace. In fact you could put "Many Dimensions" up against later fiction of a similar tone - like Dennis Wheatley, for example (not very well-known now, but immensely popular in the 50s and 60s) - and be hard put to pick a winner.So where does the philosophy come in? Primarily in the form of a series of very basic, but also very important, questions that lie just below the surface of the story - and sometimes not even below the surface.Questions like: "If you can restore all of the people in group A to health, but in the process throw at least an equal number of people in group B out of work - at a time when work isn't that easy to come by in the first place - which group should take priority?"This question, and others closely related, run all through the story yet, due to Williams' writing skill, they do nothing to impede the plot unless the reader actively chooses to think them through.The final answer Williams gives, I *think*, is that there is no *easy* answer. Only he frames his conclusion far more lucid and impactful manner than that last observation might suggest.In short, this writing has the power to enthrall and satisfy a wide range of readers. The only reason I don't give it five stars is because the literary style is typical of British writing in the 1930s, which I guess won't necessarily be to everyone's taste. Having said which, I really do recommend the majority of Williams' novels as a taste worth acquiring.Oh yes, why did I give this review the title "Does God Play Dice?"? When you read the book I think you'll know exactly why. Good reading!
| |
SIMILAR PRODUCTS |
| War in Heaven, A Novel
by Charles Williams (Author)
Here Williams gives a contemporary setting to the traditional story of the Search for the Holy Grail. Examining the distinction betwen magic and religion, War in Heaven is an eerily disturbing book, one that graphically portays a metaphysical journey through the shadowy crevices of the human mind.
| 
| Descent into Hell, a Novel
by Charles Williams (Author)
The key to William's mystically oriented theological thought, Descent into Hell (arguably William's greatest novel) is a multidimensional story about human beings who shut themselves up in their own narcissicstic projections, so that they are no longer able to love, to "co-inhere". The result is a veritable hell.
| 
| The Place of the Lion
by Charles Williams (Author)
Charles Williams had a genius for choosing strange and exciting themes for his novels and making them believable and profoundly suggestive of spiritual truths. Beneath the brilliant and imaginative surface of his "supernatural thrillers" lies a concealed and meticulously thought-out Christian message.
| 
| All Hallows' Eve
by Charles Williams (Author), T. S. Eliot (Introduction)
Charles Williams had a genius for choosing strange and exciting themes for his novels and making them believable and profoundly suggestive of spiritual truths. Beneath the brilliant and imaginative surface of his "supernatural thrillers" lies a concealed and meticulously thought-out Christian message.
| 
| Shadows of Ecstasy
by Charles Williams (Author)
Charles Williams had a genius for choosing strange and exciting themes for his novels and making them believable and profoundly suggestive of spiritual truths. Beneath the brilliant and imaginative surface of his "supernatural thrillers" lies a concealed and meticulously thought-out Christian message.
|
|
|
