Neverwhere, the Final Installment
I am a genuine “giver” applicant for the 2013 World Book Night. My first duty as aspirant was to nominate four books I deem worthy of giving away. It was my great pleasure to nominate Neverwhere, which I found to be a fantastic read.
Now, sadly, our group read of Neverwhere is over, and it’s time for final thoughts.
Our fearless leader Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings has asked us to consider the characters we found compelling as well as what impacted us when reading.
Characters:
I love what happens to Croup and Vandemar—the windy sweep into Never-Neverwhere. It is a darkly comic scene befitting two dastardly villains.
I wish Door could be my friend. What a great name and concept! She opens up a life of possibilities for Richard in her trademark brown leather jacket and worn lace. She is pure in heart.
I enjoyed the development of the marquis as mentor for Richard and adviser for the brave band of warriors. Following his resurrection, he becomes a noble figure and voice of authority capable of ferreting out truth and justice. It is he who discovers Hunter’s betrayal, and it is he, rather than Door, who opens the door to Richard in the end.
Angel fascinated me, the way the author played on the Lucifer archetype. It’s clear-headed Marquis who pronounces to a naïve Richard, “When angels go bad…they go worse than anyone” (303).
My Take-away:
As a writer, I was blown away (much like Croup and Vandemar, but in a good way) by Gaiman’s command of style. Pitch-perfect scenes. Crisp, cinematic vignettes such as the one in Earl’s Court. The author layers in back story an eye-dropful at a time to build the suspense of the marquis’s history with the earl.
The use of language is impressive, too, marked by the author’s ability to drop-kick words and expectations. I love this passage: “The angel took a step forward. It was as if it were dreaming with its eyes wide open. The light from the crack in the door bathed its face, and it drank it in like wine” (328). Echoes of the golden Atlantis wine we associate with this character, and just like the reader earlier, the angel is in for a bit of a surprise.
I am still musing over Gaiman’s theme of death, judgment, and resurrection.
This is not a book I will soon forget.
16 thoughts on “Neverwhere, the Final Installment”
I too appreciate Gaiman’s mastery of style and language, it’s what makes his books stand out as he is such a distinctive writer. Good choice of book to nominate for World Book Night:)
I know–I’ll be so thrilled if his book is selected. (And if I’m selected as a giver, too.)
I hope it is too, that would be wonderful.
Or at least one of the Gaiman books, he has so many worthwhile reads.
I’m open to reading more Gaiman, but since ghost literature is my focus (obviously Neverwhere was a bit of a stretch), I just hope there’s a ghost.
I know that a couple of the stories in “Fragile Things” had ghosts…
I loved the way that Gaiman could convey a number of different themes in this story while still being entertaining. His writing style kept making me smile throughout the book; it was funny and profound at the same time.
I will have to check out his ghost stories as well. I feel as if I have just scratched the surface of the world of Gaiman. I like that notation–funny and profound at the same time.
I am so happy that you participate in this one with us. It was so fun to have you along.
It is interesting how you pointed out the “drank it in like wine” as a reference back to the earlier wine-drinking sequence. I can’t recall ever having made that association before (didn’t even register with me) but I know from starting out with Gaiman’s Sandman series that he is indeed very good at referencing other parts of the story that way. Your descriptions of his work certainly strongly echo the way I feel about him and his writing.
Neverwhere is a very tight book in many ways. There is not an explanation for every tiny part of the world. Some characters are put in merely to give the reader the idea that there is a wider world out there and I love that, yet the focus stays on the parts of the story that are really integral to the tale Gaiman is trying to tell.
Croup and Vandemar’s demise is comically befitting of them, and yet I always find it a bit sad too. They need to be gone, they are murderous fiends to be sure, and yet I have a soft spot in my heart for those two. I mentioned before that I like to think they are causing mischief wherever they went and that in the process they are enjoying each others company and looking for a way to make their way back.
You mention Islington and one thing I hadn’t mentioned anywhere yet was how much I like the story detail of him being the angel that failed to protect Atlantis. I enjoy stories that have folklore and mythology woven into the mix and this was a nice touch that I enjoyed thinking about even though it is quickly mentioned and passed over in the book.
Yes, I, too, love the way Gaiman continues to circle back to symbols and motifs throughout the book. In my imagination I picture him in a beautiful writing studio. I envision one large, white wall devoted to six foot strips of butcher paper and hundreds of colored post-it notes and on the floor a line of 3×5 notecards filled with tiny script. But maybe that’s just my fantasy writing studio!
I like what you say about characters filling in the wider world for us and then disappearing. I read some interesting notes on this site (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115288/trivia) about Gaiman’s interaction with the filmed version of Neverwhere. At one point he left open the idea of revisiting this world with another book. I hope he does.
This has been a fantastic journey in so many ways. I’m so glad I joined in.
Yes, he had talked about a book that went back and told the story of the Seven Sisters, which would be very interesting. Of course the more selfish part of me wants a conclusion for Richard and Door, another story featuring them and the Marquis.
Deb – I just caught up on your last few posts. I re-read your post about self-publishing so wanted to clarify that I was one of your fans.
I love your writing style – it flows nicely with a touch of humor.
Kyung Ae.
It’s so great to have a fan! Thanks for reading.
I really enjoy Gaiman’s story telling voice, too and plan to read more of his adult fiction. After hearing him speak [his speech to the 2012 graduating class at University of the Arts on youtube!] I think I will hear him reading his books to me when I read them!
I didn’t know about his speech. I will definitely check it out. Thanks for mentioning it.
I’m glad you enjoyed this book. AJ and I are big Gaiman fans. It’s much less of a fantasy adventure, but have you read American Gods?
I started American Gods some years ago but got bogged down halfway through. I just couldn’t feel the narrative momentum although I realize it is an episodic novel. The beginning is at the back of the Neverwhere book. I re-read the opening pages and really liked them; maybe I should give American Gods another shot. Especially since the protagonist’s wife appears as a ghost–right up my alley!