Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

It's funny to be writing about Good Omens just a week after a group of people got together to petition the wrong network to cancel the TV series because it means it's given me extra food for thought, which is always a very fine thing. Short version: Good Omens is a satire about the Apocalypse. Now the longer version.

Good Omens is about an angel, Aziraphale, and a demon named Crowley who have been on Earth since the dawn of humanity. There's a running joke about the flaming sword that Aziraphale loaned out when he was guarding the Garden of Eden (never returned), throughout the book. Aziraphale and Crowley have gradually become friends of the Odd Couple sort, dramatically different yet cordial and frequently thrown together so that they've become comfortable with each other's quirks and even playfully pick on each other a bit.

Now, the end of the world is coming. When the Antichrist is born, it's the demon's task to make sure he is placed with the right family (an underhanded, work-addicted American ambassador and his wife) so that he'll be brought up horrid and bring on the fight between Heaven and Hell. But, a little mix-up occurs and the Antichrist, Adam, is placed with the wrong family. They're a lovely, very British couple and Adam is brought up to be kind and curious if a little bossy. He has his gang of friends and is about 11 or 12 years old, as I recall, when the time comes and the Hound of Hell is brought to help him with his task.

Meanwhile, Aziraphale (who currently runs a book shop) and Crowley (who slouches about causing trouble and driving his beloved classic car) are not particularly thrilled about the coming apocalypse because they've grown quite fond of life on Earth and would prefer that it just continued on, as is. So, if it's possible to throw a spanner in the works, so to speak, they're going to do so. There's also a witch who is carefully counting down the clock to the end of the world and observing as the prophecies of her ancestor, Agnes Nutter, unfold, while a witchfinder who has failed at pretty much everything ends up tracking her down and finding that he's there primarily to fulfill the prophecies in Agnes Nutter's book.

The hilarious thing about people protesting the TV series is that Good Omens is not evil in any way. Rather, it points out the fact that people are basically awful but some are fairly pure and good. And, it's because of the inherent goodness in the parents of the misplaced Antichrist, Adam, that things turn out rather different than expected. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are in there, too.

Bottom line: This is really a book about how the good in the world can overcome the bad and a lesson that being surrounded by kindness and positivity turns out well, in the long run, although bad influences may try to thwart you. It's honestly quite a positive message in a tremendously funny, twisted satire. And, for crying out loud, it's just fiction. People need to get a grip.

Highly recommended - I'll talk about the TV series and how closely it follows the book, in a sec, but for now the book. The combination of Terry Pratchett's wit and humor and Neil Gaiman's wild imagination makes for an absolutely brilliant and immensely entertaining read. The dialogue is a hoot, the message that good influence can overcome evil intent well plotted, and the perfection of the writing a given. The only thing I had a problem with was that there was enough complexity that I had a little trouble getting it all straight in my head, at first. That was one reason I opted to go ahead and watch the Good Omens TV series while reading Good Omens, the book. I thought it might help me with some of the bits that I wasn't visualizing well. That worked out quite well.

How about the TV series? I went back and forth between book and series as I read part of the book and then watched an episode while eating lunch or supper (or split the viewing of an episode between both) and then went back to the book and read some more at bedtime, etc. Naturally, there are bits of the book that are left out because they're a little superfluous and that worked fine for me. Neil Gaiman did the screenwriting and he often chose to use the exact wording from the book, particularly in dialogue. So, it's not the kind of book that you feel like, "Ack! I can't bear it. So many changes!" It sticks pretty close to the book with just a few minor additions and deletions. The ending is where the biggest changes were apparent to me. Because the book was written and published in the 90s (then updated in the early 2000s), the technology is a bit dated. That just adds color, to be honest.

The Good Omens TV series can be gross, at times. There's one demon, for example, who has what appear to be festering wounds and flies buzzing around her head. I found myself cringing when that character appeared, but otherwise it's not too difficult to watch if you've got a weak stomach. The casting is fabulous. You can't beat David Tennant as a demon or Michael Sheen as a slightly incompetent angel; and, Jack Whitehall is absolutely perfect as the disastrous-with-electronics witchfinder. There's a bit of the bumbling, sweetly innocent Brit of Hugh Grant's romantic comedy days in Whitehall's performance. And, I adored Adam's parents. So, the TV series is highly recommended by me, as well.

I've read quite a few Neil Gaiman books and a couple of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series (my youngest son is a big fan of Pratchett, so I'm grateful that I had one of his books on-hand during one of those, "I'm bored and can't find a thing to read!" moments). Good Omens is definitely going on the favorites list for Gaiman, whom I've found iffy. I love about 60% of Gaiman's work, so far. The rest gets a meh. I like Pratchett but found his humor a little exhausting. I think it was nicely tempered by Gaiman's slightly darker bent.

I received a copy of Good Omens from HarperCollins (the TV series tie-in with the cover shown above) in exchange for an unbiased review. I had been thinking, "Oh, oh, oh, I've got to read that and watch the series!" before the offer to review arrived, so I was absolutely giddy when it arrived and I'm so glad I got to read and watch at the same time. I don't often advise people to read the book right away or watch the movie/series anytime soon if I've read and viewed both because the changes can be jarring but they really seemed to complement each other, in this case.

Many thanks to HarperCollins!


©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - Thoughts and F2F group discussion

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman was a reread for me and I'm not sure I ever actually wrote about it on the blog when I read it, before. At least, I couldn't find a review when I looked via Google. Incidentally, this serves as a great reminder that my blog search feature has not worked in years. The best way to look for a review on my blog is to go to Google and type in the title of a book you hope I've reviewed and "Bookfoolery". If I've reviewed the book at this blog (or even mentioned it), there will be a link.

Back to the book. The first time I read The Graveyard Book, I checked it out from my local library because I've always been a little iffy about Gaiman. I fall instantly in love with about half of his books and the other half are let-downs. I never know which will be the case and will often check his books out from the library before buying them.

I remembered exactly why I didn't love The Graveyard Book, the first time. It's got a pretty scary opening. At the beginning, a toddler's family is murdered but he's saved by the fact that he's a wanderer and the door to the house was left open. After roaming to the local graveyard (which is also a nature reserve and has been closed to new burials for some time), the murderer pursues him but the ghosts in the graveyard agree to let one ghostly couple adopt him and to work together to protect him from the man who wants him dead.

It was the gory opening that I disliked. I'm prone to nightmares and have been since I was small, so I tend to be sensitive to books that are marketed to children but which I think could give some of them nightmares. And, The Graveyard Book certainly would have given me nightmares as a child.

On the second reading, though, I knew what was coming and enjoyed it for the atmosphere, the unique setting, and the story. I didn't mind the murder at all because I knew it had to happen for little Nobody Owens, or "Bod", to enter the world of the ghosts in the graveyard. In other words, I was free to appreciate the book, the second time. And, boy, did I. Especially at the beginning of the book, I could imagine reading the book aloud to children. It's so beautifully written and atmospheric, just a stunning beginning with fog creeping around the door frame and this giggly little child completely unaware of the danger while you're thinking, "Hurry, child, hurry," and feeling the chill in the air.

And, then, the happenings in the graveyard are both wildly creative and somehow believable.  "What would happen to a human who grew up with ghosts?" One of the group members asked, and then answering herself, said: "He'd learn to fade." In other words, those little magical touches within the book seem utterly sensible, given the context.

We didn't do a show of hands but I'd say more than half of my group liked The Graveyard Book. Of the ones who didn't like it, one said it was just too geared toward children and he's not really interested in children's books. One was the member who had stopped discussion of Gaiman completely when I tried to recommend his books for discussion, earlier in the year, and she said she's just not interested in anything otherworldly at all - ghosts/spirits, scifi, fantasy, etc. She's only interested in realistic fiction. One woman said, "I don't have a problem with that. I've seen ghosts." One said, "I didn't understand the purpose of the murder, apart from placing the child in the graveyard. Why was the murderer after him, in particular?" And, another member said, "I can't analyze books like you guys do, but when I opened the book I stepped into the graveyard with Bod and stayed till I closed it. I enjoyed it. It was an experience."

What a fun discussion! We didn't have any discussion questions and we went off-topic a bit more than I think some of us would have liked to but the discussion was noisy because the opinions were so divided. I was not the only person who had trouble with a book with such a terrifying opening being marketed to children. But, apparently, I'm the only person in my group who hasn't read The Jungle Book. One member commented on the episodic nature of the book (which I noticed this time - it almost felt like interconnected short stories rather than a novel) and the group member who recommended The Graveyard Book noted that it's based on The Jungle Book, so that episodic aspect is deliberate.

OK. So, I have to read The Jungle Book, soon. Fortunately, I have a copy. The bottom line is that I liked The Graveyard Book much more the second time around. Whether or not it's appropriate for children seems to be up for debate, but the writing is stunning, you get a little peek into history via the ghosts from different eras (one of whom, for example, has no idea what a banana is), and it is, in fact, a book that won an award for excellence in children's writing, so somewhere there's a panel of people who thought it was just fine and dandy for kids. I'd still keep it from children who are prone to nightmares or read it with them.

©2017 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (review)

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Copyright 1996/1997
Harper Torch - Fantasy
386 pp.

You'd think I would have written about Neverwhere, by now, wouldn't you? It's been a month since I finished the book. The Read-along turned out to be more of a buddy read with just 3 or 4 of us reading and only two of us chatting about it, but that was fine. I really enjoyed discussing Neverwhere with Florinda (link leads to Florinda's review of the audio).

Richard Mayhew is an "every man" type character who ignores his girlfriend's insistence to ignore a tattered, bleeding girl they discover lying in the street. Instead, he takes her home and opens up a path to London's dark, magical and mysterious underground world known as London Below. The girl Richard has rescued is named Door and her name is apt; she has a special ability to open doors. Door is on a mission to find out who killed her family and Richard is swept along into the dark world that lies within London's Underground and its sewers. Once you enter London Below, you become invisible in the world above. Richard can't go home.

Door begins her search with the Marquis de Carabas and then another character with an obvious name, Hunter. The Marquis owes her a favor and the Hunter will serve as her protection as she attempts to solve the mystery. But, Neil Gaiman likes strong heroines and Door is pretty tough on her own. Richard initially tags along because he has no choice in the matter but eventually he finds his own strength. There are two extraordinarily creepy characters known as Mr. Vandemar and Mr. Croup who will turn your stomach, an angel in the British Museum, and all sorts of wonderful London references.

I began reading Neverwhere on the plane to London and decided to stretch out the reading for a while after we returned. It was particularly fun to open the book at night and see a reference to some place I'd just been and, of course, I would have loved the book for its London references even if I hadn't been there at the time. Neverwhere is a unique, intriguing, bizarre, sometimes humorous adventure. I was riveted.

Highly recommended - An immensely entertaining adventure in which the darkness and mystery of an underground fantasy world and the characters inhabiting it intersect with the sometimes-frustrating and often goofy, slapstick world of the human cast into its depths. Neverwhere is now up there with my other favorite by Gaiman, Stardust.

I've mentioned that I purchased the radio performance so an update on that . . . nope, I haven't listened. I began to listen to it but I have no commute and sitting still to listen on the computer would just be crazy. So, I'm going to either try to load it to my iPad for the next time I travel or pop the CDs into the CD player (yep, I still have one of those in my vehicle) the next time I take a road trip of any kind. Till then . . . I did listen to a tiny bit and I agree with Florinda that it's best if you read the book or listen to the full audiobook, first.

©2015 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman

Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman
Copyright 2015
William Morrow (an imprint of HarperCollins)
308 pp.

In the introduction to Trigger Warning, author Neil Gaiman warns the reader that the stories included are thematically diverse. Usually, he says, he tries to stick to a theme. But, in this case he gathered a variety. I doubt any diehard Gaiman fan will care and I certainly didn't. Subtitled "Short Fictions and Disturbances," the stories are indeed a hodge-podge of fantasy, suspense, sci-fi, whatever. Some will make your skin crawl in a satisfactory way; some are simply magical; one story is a Doctor Who fiction.

I'm not the typical Gaiman fan as my feelings about Gaiman's writings run dramatically hot and cold. Either I love a story or I don't. In this particular case, I liked or loved probably at least 85% of the writings. A couple simply did not work for me. One I disliked so much I abandoned it a third of the way in. I seldom ditch short stories, simply because they're brief (although this one was fairly long, as short stories go). That certainly puts a light on the hot/cold thing, doesn't it?

A few personal favorites:

"A Calendar of Tales" - This series of short stories takes on more meaning when you're aware of their origin, which the author shares (the author, in fact, describes the origins of most of the stories at the beginning of the book). One story for each month, each begun with a simple prompt tweeted to the author. One of those prompts was "an igloo of books" and just seeing those four words makes you realize the kind of writer in whose hands you've placed yourself -- a man who can take a four-word prompt and write a story that transports you to a world with an igloo made of books is definitely someone special.

"Click Clack the Rattlebag" - One of those stories that's just unsettling enough to give you goosebumps, makes you want to leave the closet doors open with the lights on, and makes you think, "I'm going to have a creepy nightmare tonight." I loved it.

"Nothing O'Clock" - The Dr. Who tale, in which the 11th Doctor and Amy Pond must defeat a creature formerly imprisoned by the Time Lords but set loose upon the extinction of Gallifrey. The characters are so true to those played by Matt Smith and Karen Gillan that Dr. Who fans may find themselves wondering why the story wasn't made into an episode.

Highly recommended - I especially recommend Trigger Warning to Neil Gaiman fans, but if you enjoy short stories and only occasionally like Neil Gaiman, you will still definitely find something to love in this book. Incidentally, a couple of the writings are poetry. And, it's notable that Trigger Warning contains plenty of atmospheric, disturbing stories, making it perfect for fall reading (including the annual RIP challenge).


©2015 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman - 2nd attempt

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Copyright 2013

William Morrow (an imprint of HarperCollins) - Fantasy

178 pp.

Going to the easy Q/A format for my second attempt at reviewing this book (I didn't like my first review, which was long, cluttered with too many quotes and didn't include my thoughts about its flaws, so I never put links up at Twitter and Facebook).

It was not pitch-black.  It was the kind of cloudy night where the clouds seem to gather up light from distant streetlights and houses below, and throw it back at the earth.  

~p. 79

Ursula Monkton smiled, and the lightnings wreathed and writhed about her.  She was power incarnate, standing in the crackling air.  She was the storm, she was the lightning, she was the adult world with all its power and all its secrets and all its foolish casual cruelty.  She winked at me.

~p. 86

What led you to pick up The Ocean at the End of the Lane?

Neil Gaiman is an author whose books are iffy for me.  Some I love, some leave me wondering what on earth that was about, but those I love become favorites that end up on the permanent shelves, so I look forward to his new releases.  

Summarize the plot but don't give away the ending:

While at home in his native Sussex for a funeral, a man returns to the site of his rambling childhood home and is reminded of events that took place when he was 7 years old.  At the time, his parents were having financial difficulty and he had to give up his room to be used by a string of boarders. Death, betrayal, loneliness, the love and companionship of a pet, friendship, and fear all feature in The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

Many of the story's elements imply "Animal-loving, book-addicted nerdy artistic type recalls childhood fears and experiences that made him what he is today." But, those bits are also tied into an adventurous and nicely creepy fantasy story with a fairy ring, an ocean that appears to be a pond, and what I think you could refer to as "old magic".  But while those hints at the author's backstory are the core of the novel and apparently its purpose, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is also about how people grow and change and narrow in many ways but the same child is still there, lurking inside us.

Capsule description:  A deeply personal story of childhood fear, wrapped in fantasy.

What did you like most about The Ocean at the End of the Lane?

I liked the fact that The Ocean at the End of the Lane was more personal in nature than any other book I've read by Gaiman.  It was only between readings (I've read it twice) that I found out I was correct in assuming that the author opened up emotionally in The Ocean at the End of the Lane as the book was written for (or, maybe to) his wife to explain himself in ways he apparently found difficult to share in person. I could relate to his childhood in many ways (in a broad sense, as in the bookish tendencies, love of a companionable kitty and awkwardness) and I enjoyed the fantasy portion because it was creepy without being nightmare-inducing, adventurous, highly descriptive of British childhood and a pleasant story of friendship.  

What did you dislike about The Ocean at the End of the Lane?

Actually, let's make this clear:  I loved The Ocean at the End of the Lane.  I thought it had one major flaw, though, and that's the fact that it plods along sounding like a bildungsroman and then suddenly the little boy and his new friend, Lettie, are walking into a dangerous fantasy world. In other words, the segue to the fantasy world was a bit of a jolt.  That didn't bother me, upon the first reading, but it stood out a bit more on the second reading and helped me to understand where the, "What was that about?" sensation some of my friends have mentioned comes from.  In fact, it kind of makes me want to give Coraline a second go because I so did not get that book at all.

The only thing I actually disliked was not part of the story but the acknowledgments.  Any nerdy guy who sprinkles quotes about books being his best friends throughout a book ought to understand that true book addicts are going to read the acknowledgments (and afterword, author's notes, etc.)  It matters not one whit that the reader knows absolutely nobody in the author's life.  For my part, I like reading lists of names.  I'm fascinated by the variety of ways people name their offspring.  

This is the first paragraph from the acknowledgements:

This book is the book you have just read.  It's done.  Now we're in the acknowledgments.  This is not really part of the book.  You do not have to read it.  It's mostly just names.

Um . . . yeah.  If this was a children's book, maybe that would be a nice little addition, but it is not and I think in the context of a "childhood story told to adults" that paragraph comes off as rather obnoxious and/or condescending, whether or not it was it was intended that way.  I read the acknowledgments anyway, of course.  I always do.

Share a favorite scene from the book:

I particularly liked the scene toward the end of the book, when Lettie plunks the boy into a protective fairy ring and tells him absolutely not to move, no matter what, the things that happen while he waits, and his exit from the fairy ring (which I suppose would be a spoiler).  It's delightful and creative.  

In general:

Highly recommended - I loved the blend of "what it was like being a young boy in Sussex" with Neil Gaiman's touch of fantasy.  I don't always "get" Gaiman's books but this one really worked for me.

Cover thoughts:

What a gorgeous cover!  It's got that little hint of creepiness, the color is beautiful and the image is relevant to the storyline.  Definitely a grabber and one of my favorite covers of the year.

Links:

Amanda Palmer's essay, "The Ocean at the End of the Lane (a Book and Marriage review)"

New York Times Book Review of The Ocean at the End of the Lane

The Guardian review of The Ocean at the End of the Lane by A. S. Byatt (contains spoilers) - The comments are interesting as they reveal elements the author has used in other books:

"I'm sure there are plenty of allusions which I missed, but did anyone else pick up that the Hempstock women have the same name because they are actually the three stages of womanhood - maiden, mother and crone?"

That comment by someone posting as "Gatz" led to some interesting discussion.

Stuff as Dreams Are Made On review of The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Estella's Revenge review of The Ocean at the End of the Lane

I received a copy of The Ocean at the End of the Lane from HarperCollins in return for an unbiased review.  My thanks to HarperCollins!

©2013 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.