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4.44 AVERAGE
4.44 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Murder
Minor: Confinement, Incest, Miscarriage, Grief, Sexual harassment
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I know Sandman is revered among graphic novel fans, and I know people say it gets better as it goes along. But I think I might be past the point at which it will get better and I'll start liking it. I've now finished volume 4, and there is still no glimmer of possibility that I'm going to enjoy this story. The artwork is some of the ugliest I've seen in graphic novels. I find the protagonist completely uninteresting. And the story in this volume was an incredible mishmash of whatever mythologies Neil Gaiman knew about and felt like throwing into the mix. Strangely, all of the mythologies seem to be under the authority of the Silver City, which (I guess?) is supposed to be like a Christian idea of heaven? But this dominant mythology is the least developed of all, which seems odd--as though Gaiman felt free to do whatever he wanted to with Odin, Thor, Loki, fairies, demons, and others, but didn't feel that he could improvise very far with God and angels. Very likely I'm simply misunderstanding something.
Anyway, I definitely feel that the writing is a strange and sometimes laughable mix of "high speech" and contemporary English. The contemporary English is not a problem--if that's how Gaiman wants to write al these characters, that can work. But it's the continual heavyhandedness of Gaiman trying to be "mythic" and deep; it just doesn't work. We get lines like "I am caparisoned formally" in the same world as "If you want her, dream-squatter, then come and get her--if you've got the balls." Sorry--no, this doesn't work.
Also in the middle of this volume we get an entire episode that takes place in a boys' school in England, which proves that it's inevitable that a British male writer will eventually write a story about how horrible boys' schools in England are. We get it, thanks.
One of the things that makes Sandman so difficult for me to read is that it is unrelenting in its portrayal of life (earthly life and otherworldly life) as basically ugly, cruel, twisted, and dark. There is almost no acknowledgement of beauty and joy. The end of this volume, with the sunset, is a rare moment of transcendent beauty. Other than that moment, every character is awful, love that doesn't devolve into something lustful, cruel, and fetishistic is almost nowhere in the series. I have a hard time reading a story that sees the world so differently than I do. I affirm that there is much ugliness and cruelty in the world; but that is not all, nor do I believe that's the final answer for this world. Christ will make all things new, and the story of what's happening in this world is bigger even than how Gaiman imagines it.
Anyway, I definitely feel that the writing is a strange and sometimes laughable mix of "high speech" and contemporary English. The contemporary English is not a problem--if that's how Gaiman wants to write al these characters, that can work. But it's the continual heavyhandedness of Gaiman trying to be "mythic" and deep; it just doesn't work. We get lines like "I am caparisoned formally" in the same world as "If you want her, dream-squatter, then come and get her--if you've got the balls." Sorry--no, this doesn't work.
Also in the middle of this volume we get an entire episode that takes place in a boys' school in England, which proves that it's inevitable that a British male writer will eventually write a story about how horrible boys' schools in England are. We get it, thanks.
One of the things that makes Sandman so difficult for me to read is that it is unrelenting in its portrayal of life (earthly life and otherworldly life) as basically ugly, cruel, twisted, and dark. There is almost no acknowledgement of beauty and joy. The end of this volume, with the sunset, is a rare moment of transcendent beauty. Other than that moment, every character is awful, love that doesn't devolve into something lustful, cruel, and fetishistic is almost nowhere in the series. I have a hard time reading a story that sees the world so differently than I do. I affirm that there is much ugliness and cruelty in the world; but that is not all, nor do I believe that's the final answer for this world. Christ will make all things new, and the story of what's happening in this world is bigger even than how Gaiman imagines it.
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A particularly excellent episode in Dream's storyline. I love the drama of manners with disparate, interesting archetypal characters. Love the resolution of Nada's sad tale.
A family meeting of the Endless sparks the idea for the Dream Lord to go back to Hell and try to set his old lover free. Lucifer has a different idea that disrupts all of Dream's plans. Dream ends up having to deal with a new burden and many different requests about it from a series of unexpected guests .
Another installment of a really cool story. I especially liked the depiction of hell and intermingling of the gods.