Title: Neverwhere
Author: Neil Gaiman
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Harper Collins
Release Date: March 17, 2009
Format: E-book
Acquired: Amazon Purchase
Pages: 400
Date Finished: January 7, 2015
Goodreads Description
Under the streets of London there’s a place most people could never even dream of. A city of monsters and saints, murderers and angels, knights in armour and pale girls in black velvet. This is the city of the people who have fallen between the cracks.
Richard Mayhew, a young businessman, is going to find out more than enough about this other London. A single act of kindness catapults him out of his workday existence and into a world that is at once eerily familiar and utterly bizarre. And a strange destiny awaits him down here, beneath his native city: neverwhere.
My Review
This is my second foray into Neil Gaiman’s work. The first one I read was The Ocean at the End of the Lane and let’s just say I was disturbed by his writing. How a person can make a pink tent so freakin’ creepy is beyond me! But, I digress. Gaiman has a way of making things funny, creepy, disturbing, weird, and enjoyable all at the same time. Don’t ask me how, because I honestly can’t explain it. I always come away from his books feeling they were really good, but all I can focus on are the parts that made me uncomfortable or creeped me out. The interesting thing is that Richard Mayhew, the main character in Neverwhere, is pretty much in the same boat as me, amazed, confused and horrified.
There is one thing that cannot be disputed, Neil Gaiman is a wonderful writer. His style is simple and beautiful, yet it evokes such strong emotion in the reader. It’s as if he reaches into your soul and digs about to see what he can bring to the surface…joy, hate, fear, anguish, etc. The best description I can give of a Neil Gaiman book is this…
It is like reading a dream.
Wrap-Up
I probably didn’t do a very good job selling you on this book, but I can’t seem to express how I felt about it. Fans of Giaman’s work will back me up on this, I think. You cannot put his work in a box. I do recommend the book! It was fast-paced and extremely interesting. The plot reminds me of a fairytale, but it’s more believable (sort of). If you like fantasy, you shouldn’t have too much trouble with it. If you’re not a fantasy fan, you may struggle with surrendering to Neal Gaiman and the worlds he creates. I hope you’ll give it a shot.
Bibliophage 