![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Good Morning
Jan. 11th, 2021 09:13 am
Jan. 11th, 2021
Book 4 - Neil Gaiman "Neverwhere"
Jan. 11th, 2021 10:29 amNeil Gaiman "Neverwhere" (Hodder Headline)
This is more of a re-read as I have read this book before some years back. Firstly, Gaiman is a brilliant storyteller, he creates worlds and characters with such depth that reading his books is such a joy. Here is a master of the urban fantasy genre.
Richard Mayhew gets caught up in a murder mystery involving the inhabitants of London Below, a place where the people who fall through the cracks live. The many adventures take him on a whirlwind tour of alternative London and he finds himself meeting real Blackfriars, the Angel Islington, the earl of Earl's Court and other great London place-names come to life.
He is helping the Lady Door discover who is behind the murder of her family and their quest takes them on a very dangerous route. They have the infamous Hunter (amazonian-like warrior) as their bodyguard and the devilish rogue the Marquis de Carabas as their information guy. Richard, as he once describes to someone, is simply wet.
I adored this tale the first time I read it so this re-read was quite interesting. This time around I discovered slower parts of the tale that weren't there the first time and I'm thinking it definitely helps to know a bit about the London Underground to truly appreciate this novel.
I still think it is a work of masterly genius and I highly recommend this book but my reread has made me see that without the knowledge of the many stations in London, many readers might not connect with the story as much. If you are interested in reading the book but you don't know much about London, here is a great list to have a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_London_Underground_stations
Neverwhere belongs to a long and respected list of what can be aptly described as 'one-off moral fantasies', in the manner of Alice Through The Looking Glass, The Phantom Tollbooth, Erewhon, Gulliver's Travels. But unlike many such creations, it can be enjoyed superficially on its own narrative terms, as an exciting and absorbing fantasy novel.
This is more of a re-read as I have read this book before some years back. Firstly, Gaiman is a brilliant storyteller, he creates worlds and characters with such depth that reading his books is such a joy. Here is a master of the urban fantasy genre.
Richard Mayhew gets caught up in a murder mystery involving the inhabitants of London Below, a place where the people who fall through the cracks live. The many adventures take him on a whirlwind tour of alternative London and he finds himself meeting real Blackfriars, the Angel Islington, the earl of Earl's Court and other great London place-names come to life.
He is helping the Lady Door discover who is behind the murder of her family and their quest takes them on a very dangerous route. They have the infamous Hunter (amazonian-like warrior) as their bodyguard and the devilish rogue the Marquis de Carabas as their information guy. Richard, as he once describes to someone, is simply wet.
I adored this tale the first time I read it so this re-read was quite interesting. This time around I discovered slower parts of the tale that weren't there the first time and I'm thinking it definitely helps to know a bit about the London Underground to truly appreciate this novel.
I still think it is a work of masterly genius and I highly recommend this book but my reread has made me see that without the knowledge of the many stations in London, many readers might not connect with the story as much. If you are interested in reading the book but you don't know much about London, here is a great list to have a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_London_Underground_stations
Neverwhere belongs to a long and respected list of what can be aptly described as 'one-off moral fantasies', in the manner of Alice Through The Looking Glass, The Phantom Tollbooth, Erewhon, Gulliver's Travels. But unlike many such creations, it can be enjoyed superficially on its own narrative terms, as an exciting and absorbing fantasy novel.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}