A Houseboat on the Styx
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The premise of the book is that everyone who has ever died (up to the time in which the book is set, which seems to be about the time of its publication) has gone to Styx, the river that circles the underworld. The book begins with Charon, ferryman of the Styx being startled - and annoyed - by the arrival of a houseboat on the Styx. At first afraid that the boat will put him out of business, he later finds out that he is actually to be appointed the boat's janitor. What follows are eleven more stories (for a total of twelve) which are set on the house boat. There is no central theme, and the purpose of the book appears to be as a literary thought experiment to see what would happen if various famous dead people were put in the same room with each other. Each chapter is a short story featuring various souls from history and mythology. In the twelfth chapter the house boat disappears, leading into the sequel, The Pursuit of the House-Boat.
Series
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2 primary books3 released books#1 in Hades
Hades is a 3-book series with 2 released primary works first released in 1895 with contributions by John Kendrick Bangs, Carlton Mellick III, and Jeffrey Thomas.
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John Kendrick Bangs (1862-1922) was an American humorist who edited some popular American magazines such as Harper???s Weekly and Puck. His satirical novella A House-Boat on the Styx is responsible for the term Bangsian Fantasy, which refers to stories about famous people in the afterlife (e.g., Philip Jose Farmer???s RIVERWORLD series).
In A House-Boat on the Styx, Charon the ferryman is dismayed to discover that he???s got some competition in the transportation business ??? a posh new riverboat has appeared on the Styx and there???s no way his craft can compete. His fears of bankruptcy are relieved, though, when he???s asked to be the janitor of the new boat which belongs to an ... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/reviews/a-house-boat-on-the-styx/
Well... there were a couple of witty, funny bits, but all in all, it was pretty boring and rather prejudiced.
The idea that afterlife is inhabited by both actual people and imaginary characters is fascinating.
I am surprised to hear that he was married twice. But, August Strindberg was also married, three times.
