Reviews with content warning for Animal death - The Sandman

TRIGER WARNING: Death, Murder, Moderate Gore, Child abuse, Anxiety, Depression, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Rape, Sexual Assault, Addiction, Confinement

The Sandman foi minha primeira leitura de Neil Gaiman e talvez eu não tenha começado pelo livro certo pois, apesar de ter gostado, o livro foi uma leve decepção para mim. Porém é necessário acrescentar que esta decepção se deve a questões de gosto pessoal, The Sandman em si é um bom livro.

Meus problemas com The Sandman, Volume I foram: Primeiramente eu acreditava que se tratava de um Graphic Novel com uma história continua, porém é na verdade uma coletânea de histórias curtas sobre o personagem Sandman em suas várias formas. Coletâneas de contos não são algo que me agrada, prefiro histórias longas, mas nesse caso foi falta de informação minha; Em segundo, algumas histórias estavam interligadas com o Universo de quadrinhos da DC. Assim houveram várias referências a acontecimentos dos quadrinhos dos quais eu não tinha conhecimento. Desta forma nessas histórias tive a impressão de ter compreensão apenas superficial do que era mencionado. Novamente, falta de informação minha e não culpa do livro.

Tenho que falar dos pontos positivos do audiolivro que foram fortes: As performances do elenco foram ótimas com destaque para James McAvoy como The Sandman (McAvoy é sempre ótimo); como toda coletânea de contos alguns foram melhores que outros, mas em geral todas as histórias mantiveram a atmosfera Dark e caprichosa pela qual Gaiman é conhecido; por último, personagens intrigantes que contribuíram para o clima do livro e em alguns momentos despertaram sentimentos em mim (Abel por exemplo, apesar de ter um papel menor me fez sentir sua angustia e medo por ser assassinado de novo e de novo por seu irmão Cain).

Em geral uma adaptação com excelentes performances, atmosfera e personagens fascinantes. Os problemas que tive foram por meu próprio desconhecimento do formato da obra e do universo em que a história existe. Dou 4 estrelas e tenho interesse em ler o Volume II.

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thecatsmother's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Sandman Audible Original is a multi-cast audiobook adaptation of the graphic novel series by Neil Gaiman. It was Audible’s free book of the month recently, and covers Act 1 of a series, with Act 2 coming out soon. I’ve never been into graphic novels - I don’t think I’ve read a comic since primary school - they just don’t interest me, so I didn’t know the main character, but have seen most of the recent DC Universe movies and some of the TV series. We wanted a change from our usual thrillers for our most recent car journeys - and it certainly is different! It’s exceptionally well read by the huge cast, including Gaiman himself as The Narrator, and supported by various sound effects which complemented the voices rather than getting in the way. Overall I enjoyed it - some parts rather more than others - but definitely would’ve got more from it if I already knew the series.

During WW1, Sleep, the Lord of Dreams, who goes by multiple different names, including Morpheus, is captured by the leader of an arcane cult and kept prisoner in the mansion’s basement for 70 years, despite never ceding any of his powers. His absence leads to global consequences - including an epidemic of Sleeping Sickness, and the release of horrific Nightmares into the world. Finally Sleep escapes, but before he can restore his kingdom, he must reclaim three objects invested with his power. Over twenty chapters across three volumes, we meet characters variously affected and interconnected by Morpheus throughout history - human, deity, superhero and myth - some brief self-contained stories, some extended plot arcs, many where he appears only briefly, but all linked in some way to the world of dreams & stories.

So what did I think? Considering this isn’t really my genre and I don’t know the source material, I was still able to follow and appreciate most of this. I didn’t like all of the stories - I suppose I was expecting a more traditional narrative arc, there’s a beginning but no end as this is only Act 1 so don’t expect a conventional story structure. The first part, about Sleep’s capture and subsequent escape, was brilliant. I did NOT like the Dr Destiny chapter - too dark and nasty for me (rape, necrophilia, self-mutilation...) and found some of the random ones like Hob the immortal soldier or the African coming of age story a bit tedious and pointless. Rose Walker’s quest to find her brother and gate-crashing the serial killer convention lifted my interest back up, and I was rapt by the Cat story (of course) until the traumatic scene with the kittens 😿

The voices - including some very well known actors - were superb: James McAvoy is perfect in the lead role, and there were wonderful surprise cameos like Joanna Lumley as John Constantine’s ancestor. I’m not sure if we’ll continue to Act 2 - I’ll see if The Cats’ Father is keen, but am definitely interested to see the upcoming TV adaptation, although hope it’s not too gory - we gave up on American Gods for that reason! Recommended to fans of the series even if you don’t normally listen to Audiobooks - having the creator tell the story himself is a definite coup!

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