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I keep hearing/reading about Neil Gaiman books. I checked out his website, and he seems to have a written a few novels, and whole lot of comics.
Can anybody who is familiar with his work point me to a good place to start? What is his best/most well known novel?
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I would go with American Gods first. Neverwhere and Stardust are both good, but American Gods and Anasis Boys were better for me. He also has a new book of short stories out that would serve as a nice primer for his style.
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Sandman isn't easy to find in order, unless you want to drop a few hundred dollars on the Absolute collections (libraries don't carry a lot of comics, usually). I think it might be one of those things that, frankly, you need to read from the beginning.
If you like short story collections, try Fragile Things. It's been buried in awards lately...
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Fragile Things was great overall. I was a little disappointed because I'd already read about half the stories, but they were all worth a re-read anyway. It will really give you a feeling for some of Gaiman's diversity, as well as what's consistent about his style.
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I have only read "Coraline." I also read it to my fifth graders and creeped them out, big time. they loved loved loved it.
Their comments were that the images were so clear(and evil) in their heads that they couldn;t stop thinking about them, but couldn't wait until I read more.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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Neverwhere. It's an easy read, so if you find you don't like his stuff it won't be too big of an investment. At the same time, it'll give you a good idea of how Gaiman writes.
I've thoroughly enjoyed all of Gaiman's books that I've read so far. Anansi Boys was my favorite.
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First thing I read of his was the American Gods novella in the Legends III (?) collection. Couldn't get into Neverwhere, because I'd seen the TV show which preceded it. I have no doubt it's good read if you are not too familiar with the source material (it just took the fun out of it for me).
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Stardust and Coraline and one of his earlier short story collections (Smoke and Mirrors, Angels and Miscellany). Sandman if you like comics (and probably even if you don't), most big public libraries carry the series since it's relatively famous, though it doesn't really get Gaiman-ish until issue #6 or so.
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I'd recommend Coraline, Stardust, or the story collection Smoke and Mirrors first, assuming Sandman isn't available (I still see paperback editions of the collections in book and comic stores from time to time.) You'll appreciate Fragile Things more if you read American Gods first.
I wouldn't start with Neverwhere. It's got some good stuff there, yes, but I found the hero irritatingly passive.
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
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I have the opposite opinion, Scott. I think that both Neverwhere and American Gods are flawed. But I think that American Gods is the superior book.
Neverwhere has a fantastic premise, but it suffers from a bit of squidgieness in the world creation, some laziness in the characterization, and a certain lack of humor in the latter part of the novel. It should have been darker, funnier and plotted with less overt mythic overtones and more urban overtones.
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Gaiman's most remarkable accomplishment will (most likely) always remain the Sandman series. Savor it. I read it far too quickly. =(
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Neverwhere is pretty darn good. So is Sandman. You could ILL it if you want to startign with the first one. But it doesn't have to be read in order because I didn't read it in order.
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I've read Stardust, Neverwhere, American Gods, and Smoke & Mirrors. I'd recommend Neverwhere to start, but go for American Gods if you're big into mythology. Neverwhere is what made me love Gaiman, but American Gods managed to get a couple of my professors hooked.
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The only experience I have with any of Gaiman's material is Mirrormask, which I watched once. That was some pretty trippy stuff. It figures that Coraline's plot follows that of Mirrormask pretty closely, at least content from the later portion of the movie.
But this American Gods book sounds pretty darn interesting. I'll have to see just how much mythology he managed to cram into this novel. Sounds intriguing.
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I enjoyed Coraline, but was creeped out. I thought American Gods was okay, but I have no pull to re-read it, and no pull to recommend it to anyone. Stardust was okay as well, and I enjoyed it more than American Gods, but it wasn't particularly memorable. Neverwhere was good, and the most recent read, and also my favourite of what I've read.
Except for Good Omens (which he wrote with Terry Pratchett). I find that book screamingly funny and smart, and it's a good place to start if you're not a fan of the darker fantasy that Gaiman writes.
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Oh! I completely forgot about Good Omens. It's one of my all-time favorite books. Absolutely hilarious.
I gave it to the last guy I dated. When he couldn't get past the first couple of chapters, I knew that it'd never work out.
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thanks, everybody. I picked up Neverwhere and Coraline at Barnes & Noble yesterday. Judging from what I've read here, American Gods is probably the book I'd be most interested in, but I just didn't want to commit to a 700+ page novel until I know if I like the guy. The other books are much shorter.
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I wish I could have enjoyed American Gods. I really wish I could have. The plot sounded excellent, and I really wanted to understand how he worked all of this epic mythology into a standard novel, and pull it off.
Unfortunately, its disturbingly gritty and offensive content put me off. I prefer books that could be rated as a PG-13, not an R or NC-17.
Just my opinion, of course. Everyone else seems to give it an A+.
Posts: 292 | Registered: Jun 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Celaeno: I just finished Anansi Boys. I happened to be at a bookstore last night, saw it, and thought of this thread.
Absolutely loved it.
That book made me smile. I got to see Neil Gaiman read it at me and he scribbled in it too.
Dood, you got to read the whole book of American Gods, but it does have a lot of men peeing in it for some reason.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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quote:it does have a lot of men peeing in it for some reason.
Sounds like Neil Gaiman solved the strange phenomenon in which most MCs mysteriously lack the need to defecate or urinate.
Hopefully he doesn't put too much focus on the release of bodily waste.
But seriously, do those first two chapters serve as any legitimate representation of the rest of the book? If so, I'll have to pass.
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Well, it's intense stuff. You got a war of the gods, violence, more violence, and some pretty neat stuff thrown in between the violence to make it more than a blood bath, and some quiet parts, plus a woman coming back from the dead, but it's typical Neil Gaiman and the first thing I ever read by him, A Game of You was nauseatingly violent.
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I'll look it up, next time I see it at the library. I heard the same thing, about the movie adaptation.
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"Profane" is an interesting word to use to describe anything with the word "Gods" in the title. This use of language pleases me.
Basically, all the gods in American Gods are kind of creepy/disturbing, but based on gods or goddesses that people once worshiped. The devouring goddess is just one of them, though many of them play on those primal, half-forgotten fears.
I have to agree with OSC's assessment of the book, though. Oh, and he totally nails the feel of the tourist traps he describes (though I found the House on the Rock slightly more disturbing than he did, I think).
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I just finished Neverwhere. It had a few F-bombs (maybe 5 in the whole book), but otherwise it could have been PG-13.
A fun, fast, enjoyable novel - not particularly profound or noteworthy in any way but good escapist entertainment, nonetheless.
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quote:Originally posted by Olivet: I have to agree with OSC's assessment of the book, though.
What does he say about it? And where does he say it? I just searched through the subject lines of all of his reviews and didn't see it mentioned (at least by name).
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It was in one of his Reviews Everything articles, quite some time ago now. It was one reason I picked up the book in the first place. Not that he claimed it was flawless, mind you.
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No problem. A washed up god always has a good sense of where to find info on other washed up gods.
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Dood OSC Loving the coolness of Neil Gaiman. So neet. And he was very honoured too. Two cool writers... Spiffy.
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