

Loading... Neverwhereby Neil Gaiman
![]()
» 70 more Magic Realism (18) Books Read in 2016 (85) Favourite Books (358) 20th Century Literature (176) Books Read in 2020 (104) Books Read in 2015 (111) A Novel Cure (58) Urban Fiction (2) Books Read in 2014 (237) Books Read in 2013 (118) Ghosts (21) Top Five Books of 2018 (512) Books Read in 2017 (809) Top Five Books of 2016 (629) First Novels (12) Fiction For Men (28) Strange Cities (3) Year 9 Reading List (15) 1990s (193) Books Read in 2004 (162) To Read - Horror (37) My favourite books (74) Pageturners (38) Favourite Books (27) Books on my Kindle (79) Alphabetical Books (113) Speculative Fiction (13) Best Gothic Fiction (116) Fave Books (11) Best middle grade books (126) Five star books (1,281)
I only gave this three stars because it is derivative of so many epic quest/journey/growing up stories. I liked the story and the characters were well drawn and I found myself always wondering what was going to happen next so once I finally got into the book I charged through the second half. It was a well written fun read. I don't really have much more to say other than I liked the ending because we all know nobody really wants to go back to Kansas. ( ![]() Since I discovered Neil Gaiman with [b:American Gods|30165203|American Gods (American Gods, #1)|Neil Gaiman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1462924585s/30165203.jpg|1970226], it's kind of noticeable that this was the first solo novel, and never you mind whatever correction were made for APT edition. That is not to say the book isn't amazing. It's lovely, and I'm very much looking forward to coming back to London Below. I did feel like the start was a touch unpolished. And the writing does rapidly improve - at some point I could hear most of the character voices. Islington, for example, had a very distinct voice from the first introduction onward. (btw, this hearing voices thing does not happen to me too often, and only with high quality reads) This book is an adventure of the most wonderful and terrible kind both. And I cannot adequately express in words the depth of my affection for this gem. Neil Gaiman has real magic. His prose is enchanted and his ability to connect fantasy to reality is pure alchemy. In Neverwhere, the tube station Earl’s Court is the royal court of an Earl, Knightsbridge is a journey though the darkest of nights, and Down Street is a precarious journey down an ornate spiral path. Just below the surface of London, is ‘London Below,’ a fantasy world filled with strange places, people, and creatures. Poor Richard Meyhew is pulled into the underworld, due to an act of compassion. And once, you fall into Neverwhere, it’s nearly impossible to leave. What’s truly fantastic about this book, is that it’s a novelization of a 1996 TV Series which originally aired on BBC Two. I feel a bit of shame that I had never heard of the TV Series. It had six episodes, each with thirty minutes of running time. Both the book and the TV series were released in 1996. Gaiman has the imagination of child, but the storytelling of an elder. He has created a world where anything can happen, and evil is everywhere. It’s part “Alice in Wonderland,” part “Wizard of Oz,” and part “Odyssey.” Few authors excel with plot, prose, and characters, but Gaiman delivered on all three. He also slips in a bit of Douglas Adams/Terry Pratchett English wit, for which I’m a total sucker! A fanciful journey into a magical world that exists just outside of our reality, filled with memorable characters, distinct locales, and dangerous adventure. Five radiant, levitating, and mesmerizing stars. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (1998) He's writing is so sparkling and unexpected that it usually makes up for momentary lapses of the story. Which is, by the way, fine and unusual and dark just like you'd expect from him. But from time to time, I have this feeling that he does not really know where he's going with the tale, that he invents things as he goes along. And he often introduces characters that seem so interesting and fresh and seem to be getting an important role but then they disappear after a few pages. I liked the book anyway. And I'd recommend it.
Gaiman blends history and legend to fashion a traditional tale of good versus evil, replete with tarnished nobility, violence, wizardry, heroism, betrayal, monsters and even a fallen angel. The result is uneven. His conception of London Below is intriguing, but his characters are too obviously symbolic (Door, for example, possesses the ability to open anything). Also, the plot seems a patchwork quilt of stock fantasy images. Adapted from Gaiman's screenplay for a BBC series, this tale would work better with fewer words and more pictures. The novel is consistently witty, suspenseful, and hair-raisingly imaginative in its contemporary transpositions of familiar folk and mythic materials (one can read Neverwhere as a postmodernist punk Faerie Queene). Readers who've enjoyed the fantasy work of Tim Powers and William Browning Spencer won't want to miss this one. And, yes, Virginia, there really are alligators in those sewers--and Gaiman makes you believe it. The millions who know The Sandman, the spectacularly successful graphic novel series Gaiman writes, will have a jump start over other fantasy fans at conjuring the ambience of his London Below, but by no means should those others fail to make the setting's acquaintance. It is an Oz overrun by maniacs and monsters, and it becomes a Shangri-La for Richard. Excellent escapist fare. Is contained inHas the adaptationIs expanded inInspiredHas as a supplement
A man goes to the aid of woman pursued by assassins and discovers an alternative City of London, a subterranean, medieval world populated by "people who fell through the cracks" from the real city above. A fantasy tale, replete with demons and wizards. By the author of The Sandman. No library descriptions found.
|
Popular covers
![]() GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.914 — Literature English {except North American} English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:![]()
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |