Coraline - Gaiman

Coraline

Neil Gaiman

Almost a year ago I skipped a few classes to see Neil Gaiman speak at the One Book, One Chicago for his featured book, Nevermore. As far as authors go he is one of the nicest and most accessible out there. Plus I love his twitter and blog. Since I already owned Neverwhere , Stardust and had already read The Graveyard Book the next best option was for me to buy a signed copy of Coraline and expand my little Gaiman library. It was a good choice.

In a new, dull house chosen by her boring parents Coraline finds a locked door with nothing but a brick wall behind it. But what happens one day when she opens the door not to find a wall but an alternate universe, complete with alternate parents and a cat that can talk? And why do her "other" parents and neighbors have buttons for eyes? You'll have to read to see.

One of the things I absolutely love about Neil Gaiman's young adult/children's books is how accessible they are to all readers. Coraline is no exception. Above all it is a fairy tale worth of the Grimms. My only complaint about this 162 page child friendly adventure in fantasy and horror is Coraline herself. She's a clever girl, yes, and I respect her and the role girls like her have played in fairy tales, but she is whiny and really hard to relate to or like.

Overall Coraline is a great, fast read. It was everything I wanted from a modern fairy tale. The villains were the stuff of my childhood nightmares, the animals shout outs to some fantastic animated movies and the overall experience pretty great.

Stardust - Gaiman

Stardust

Neil Gaiman

Thristran Thorn doesn't belong in his small hometown of Wall, and when a promise to retrieve a fallen Star in the promise of love from Victoria leads him through the hole in the wall (in Wall, kinda how it got its name) into the land of Faerie he finds adventures bigger and more perilous then he could ever imagine. When he finally reaches his fallen star he is surprised to find it is actually a woman, and with that he changes the course of his life forever!

I'm a big fan of what I like to call Adult Fairytales, and Stardust easily fits into this category. Gaiman has a knack for creating really interesting 'other' worlds. After reading The Graveyard Book last year I'd been really interested in trying something else by Neil. I was really impressed with Stardust. I saw the film when it came out several years ago and remembered liking it, but very little about the story.

Overall I really enjoyed Stardust. The story was solid, with enough suspense to propel the plot forward, and really interesting scenario's. I mean people turned into animals? Magical glass flowers? Ships in the sky? It was nice to see a fresh fairytale. My only real problem was with minor characters. I remember watching the film years ago that the old witches were really fantastic, and the caption of the sky ship hilarious, and really, most of the people Thristran encountered were full characters. In the novel they fall flat. Thristran is a fully developed character, as is his star counterpart, but other then that people, or animals come and go, and they have no existence outside of the story. It would have been nice, especially with three intersecting stories to see more of the potential Stormhold Earls or of the Witches. Even with this complaint I would wholeheartedly recommend Stardust. It was a quick read, and really drew me in.

So, I guess that's my short review of Stardust. I've got my second to last day of classes for the semester today! I'm super excited to get back to really reading, because I've been slacking these past few months

The Sandman - Gaiman

A little over a week ago I was hanging out with my friends when one of them wanted to go to a comic book shop by my house. I didn't know this place existed and wasn't to interested in comics but piled in the car along with everyone and took the two minute ride to the shop.  We didn't stay long and it wasn't a comfortable space for me, but as I was walking along the aisles I saw Neil Gaimans name. Of course I stopped and picked up the comic, intrigued because I read The Graveyard Book earlier this year and have been interested in the rest of Gaimans work. My comic-knowledgeable friend had read the particular comic and thought I would like it, but as it was not the beginning of the series and being more expensive than most books I buy I shrugged it off and insisted we find dinner. I didn't really think any more about Gaiman or the Sandman until yesterday when, after hanging out with my friends again, the comic enthusiast shove The Sandman: Volume One in my hands and told me to read it. So I did. 


I don't really know how to review comics, but here's my best shot.

In PRELUDES & NOCTURNES, an occultist attempting to capture Death to bargain for eternal life traps her younger brother Dream instead. After his 70 year imprisonment and eventual escape, Dream, also known as Morpheus, goes on a quest for his lost objects of power. On his arduous journey Morpheus encounters Lucifer, John Constantine, and an all-powerful madman. This book also includes the story "The Sound of Her Wings," which introduces us to the pragmatic and perky goth girl Death (From Goodreads)


Now I'm not into superheros or graphic novels. Nothing against them, they've just never interested me. I started The Sandman with little expectation to enjoy it. I was pleasantly surprised. It took me a while to understand what was happening but once I did I couldn't put it down. I got through all 233 pages in an few hours and was curious about what the other volumes contain. My only problem was with the illustrations. I could see that they were detailed and required a lot of skill but they just weren't my cup of tea. Gaimans words, on the other hand were more than enough to make up for the images, in my opinion. I found Dreams and Bettes thoughts to be some of my favorite, for lack of a better word, dialogue.


As always, I love Gaiman's afterword. For some reason I find him writing about his own work more interesting then some of his stories.  


Overall it was an enjoyable read and good for me to get out of my comfort zone. Now back to Goblet of Fire

The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book

Neil Gaiman

Nobody Owens lives in an old graveyard. Lives is the operative word. When he was two his family was killed by a Jack, but by chance Bod survived and was protected by the ghosts in the graveyard. Every time he leaves he invites danger and the possibility that Jack will return and finish what he started in his infancy.

This is one of the more interesting concepts I've come across in ages. I never read Gaiman (Coraline, Stardust) when I was younger and wasn't sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised. Nobody, Bod for short, was a boy full of life. His livelihood pops against the majority of the people he came across, seeing as how most were dead. The dead all had their amusing stories and snippets of advice that everyone could use. I was a bit hesitant about picking up a book with pictures and was glad to see a visualization of ghosts done in a formful way. Once again I've found that not all YA/Children material is actually written for children. In short The Graveyard Book was a suspenseful, heartwarming story that left me with the advice to "leave no path un-taken". Would have been worth spending the $17 on, but I got it from the CPL.

My Rating
4/5



Also, My ratings have been higher than normal lately and I'm chalking this up to the amazing reviews I've been reading over on livejournal and all a dash of luck.