In true reading rainbow style, I've just finished reading
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman and will give you my review.
Neverwhere is best described as a modern day,
Alice in Wonder, fantasy tale. We follow our hero, Richard Mayhew, in to a parallel world called London Below where Gaiman provides a rich tapestry of characters and creates an intricate world for them to live in.
The good: the characters are well written and the story keeps a good pace; this book is not a hard read by anyone's measure. The actions of Richard and the characters he encounters come off as genuine and believable. Last, there are only a few areas of the plot I was left to question, and that would have more to do with my overly critical nature than any fault on Mr. Gaiman's behalf.
The bad: Though the telling was tight and it was obvious Gaiman is skilled at the art of writing, I felt the plot was lacking in conflict and suspense. I found the tale to be very linear, our hero goes from point a to point b and never encounters a detour. The point of view is from the hero most of the time, so the chance to develop layers of plot is kept low. Because London Below is very well described, I was left wanting to know more about the inner workings of politics, history into the major factions, and why things were as dark and troubled as they were. Last, I found the ending to be anti-climatic and expected - no surprise toy in my cracker jack box.
Overall: This is a tale worth reading - if you are an avid reader. If you only read a book a year, I would skip this one (if you don't even read a book a year, turn off the computer and go read a book). If you have read this book, you may find I've been extremely hard on Mr. Gaiman. This is because he gave me the impression he could do better, but for whatever reason didn't put forth the effort. I think of this book like your average pop cd... three songs you love to play, two you don't mind, and another five to six tracks you just skip over.
Posted By Mike On Sunday, October 30, 2005
Filed under review book |
Comments (2)
Daryl
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Monday, October 31, 2005
12:17:00 PM
If you want non-linear, give Thomas Pynchon or William Gaddis a shot. I can give you specific recommendations and even loan you books.
Mike
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Monday, October 31, 2005
1:20:00 PM
Cool, I can bring back your Yeats books and swap!
