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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
Read this a long while ago. Listened to the radio presentation from BBC today. Man, I'd forgotten how much I like this book. This is a good introduction to the concept of Gaiman's view on magics.
Delightful. 4.5 stars if I'm being overly critical due to some noticeable word repetition and describing POC with food - two things that'll take me right out of my immersion. This is my first Neil Gaiman novel, but it certainly won't be my last!
A review radšej nenapíšem.. je mi ľúto hejtovať čosi s Londýnom a tak perfect obálkou :/ :(
Time Period: 20th c
Genre: Fantasy
Geographical Setting: London/London Underground
Plot Summary: Richard Mayhew, a young Scottish businessman, living an ordinary life is sucked into the parallel universe of Underground London when he helps a young girl named Door, who is being pursued by assassins. Underground London is made up of those people who have “fallen through the cracks” and is full of magic. Together Richard and Door run from her pursuers, attempting to discover who killed her family and why before they are killed. Along the way they are helped by a motley crew of characters and Richard discovers things about himself he never knew.
Subject Headings: Horror, Fantasy, underground homeless persons, businessmen, young men, Subways – England, London - fiction.
Appeal: Takes place in both modern London and the parallel universe of Underground London, which still has Baron’s and other such forgotten folks. The story is fast paced, filled with action, suspense and horror. As usual Gaiman weaves humor into his dialogue, though the story is dark in tone for the most part. The story is told in third person narrative with episodic chapters, which gives the book the feel of a film or graphic novel. The characters are well developed and places, people and events are described in detail, giving the story a cinematic feel. The ending is happy and resolved for the most part, allowing the reader to decide for themselves what happens to the couple.
Genre: Fantasy
Geographical Setting: London/London Underground
Plot Summary: Richard Mayhew, a young Scottish businessman, living an ordinary life is sucked into the parallel universe of Underground London when he helps a young girl named Door, who is being pursued by assassins. Underground London is made up of those people who have “fallen through the cracks” and is full of magic. Together Richard and Door run from her pursuers, attempting to discover who killed her family and why before they are killed. Along the way they are helped by a motley crew of characters and Richard discovers things about himself he never knew.
Subject Headings: Horror, Fantasy, underground homeless persons, businessmen, young men, Subways – England, London - fiction.
Appeal: Takes place in both modern London and the parallel universe of Underground London, which still has Baron’s and other such forgotten folks. The story is fast paced, filled with action, suspense and horror. As usual Gaiman weaves humor into his dialogue, though the story is dark in tone for the most part. The story is told in third person narrative with episodic chapters, which gives the book the feel of a film or graphic novel. The characters are well developed and places, people and events are described in detail, giving the story a cinematic feel. The ending is happy and resolved for the most part, allowing the reader to decide for themselves what happens to the couple.
I bought this book out of chance, found it in a random shelf in a second hand book store in Leuven (De Slegte, if it’s of use for anyone). I thought, “why not?”, even though I didn’t even know the author (now I’ve come to realise that he’s quite famous in the fantasy world).
In fact, the book stayed in my own shelf for nothing less than a year, as I forgot it was even there. And, I gotta confess, I couldn’t be more happy that I did.
You see, last year I didn’t use to take the metro to go to work. In fact, there’s not even a metro in Leuven. However, now that I’ve moved to Brussels, I spend up to an hour down there every single day. Having all that spare time, I decided I’d use it to read, my long lost favourite hobby.
After I had finished a couple of books in those rides to work, I thought it was about time that I read “Neverwhere”. I didn’t even remember what was it about, I just took it off the shelf one day and put it in my bag in the morning rush. What was my surprised when basically 90% of the story took place in metro stations and sewers, in the underground. I could almost see the Marquis de Caribas walking down the station, the Earl sitting in his trone at the end of the train, Door coming out from an entrance of dubious provenance. And, as you know dear reader, I happen to live in Brussels, which also happens to have an underground river around which the sewers where built barely a hundred years ago. A river and sewer system that I happened to have visited and walked by. So, though the story may have occurred in London Below, I came to picture and, pretty much “see”, the Brussels Below. I wasn’t just “reading” the book, I was “living” the book. Every day, in and out of work, Hunter, Door and Richard were waiting for me to continue their adventure, “our” adventure, deep in the entrails of the city.
I hope more readers will get to choose this book for their daily metro rides, and get to live “Their Own Cities Below”.
Thank you Neil for making my way to work something to look forward to. Sixty minutes never felt so fast.
In fact, the book stayed in my own shelf for nothing less than a year, as I forgot it was even there. And, I gotta confess, I couldn’t be more happy that I did.
You see, last year I didn’t use to take the metro to go to work. In fact, there’s not even a metro in Leuven. However, now that I’ve moved to Brussels, I spend up to an hour down there every single day. Having all that spare time, I decided I’d use it to read, my long lost favourite hobby.
After I had finished a couple of books in those rides to work, I thought it was about time that I read “Neverwhere”. I didn’t even remember what was it about, I just took it off the shelf one day and put it in my bag in the morning rush. What was my surprised when basically 90% of the story took place in metro stations and sewers, in the underground. I could almost see the Marquis de Caribas walking down the station, the Earl sitting in his trone at the end of the train, Door coming out from an entrance of dubious provenance. And, as you know dear reader, I happen to live in Brussels, which also happens to have an underground river around which the sewers where built barely a hundred years ago. A river and sewer system that I happened to have visited and walked by. So, though the story may have occurred in London Below, I came to picture and, pretty much “see”, the Brussels Below. I wasn’t just “reading” the book, I was “living” the book. Every day, in and out of work, Hunter, Door and Richard were waiting for me to continue their adventure, “our” adventure, deep in the entrails of the city.
I hope more readers will get to choose this book for their daily metro rides, and get to live “Their Own Cities Below”.
Thank you Neil for making my way to work something to look forward to. Sixty minutes never felt so fast.
Neil Gaiman is a fantastic author, and each of his works seems to raise the bar higher and higher. Neverwhere does what few other fantasy novels are able to by blurring the lines between the fantasy and real worlds while keeping them distinct. There is a clearly defined "real" world: London above, and a clearly defined fantasy world: London below. And yet, each can be seen from the other. As only the top tier of fantasy novels can do, Neverwhere makes you look at the world differently, imagining the secret lives of the patrons of the underside as you go about your day.
Neverwhere also handles a bumbling protagonist extremely well. In many novels, "everyman" protagonists are whiny and irritating, but Richard Mayhew managed to be both relatable, utterly normal, and yet still likable. By the end of the book you are absolutely rooting for him.
Neil Gaiman's prose is famous for a reason, and the story is backed up by a richly described world. A new favorite and a fervent recommendation.
Neverwhere also handles a bumbling protagonist extremely well. In many novels, "everyman" protagonists are whiny and irritating, but Richard Mayhew managed to be both relatable, utterly normal, and yet still likable. By the end of the book you are absolutely rooting for him.
Neil Gaiman's prose is famous for a reason, and the story is backed up by a richly described world. A new favorite and a fervent recommendation.
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
I think I’m the broken one here because I’ve had numerous people tell me how good this book is.
Honestly, I would’ve given it 2 stars. But the last third of the book bumped it up to 3 because everything /finally/ started to make sense.
I found this book very hard to follow, very random and vague, and with the most annoying and pathetic main character ever. I will admit he has substantial growth through the book, but this overall just wasn’t it for me.
Honestly, I would’ve given it 2 stars. But the last third of the book bumped it up to 3 because everything /finally/ started to make sense.
I found this book very hard to follow, very random and vague, and with the most annoying and pathetic main character ever. I will admit he has substantial growth through the book, but this overall just wasn’t it for me.
Slants a bit horror, and the topics, setting, and characters are not the kind of thing I like. For all of that, sometimes the writing is tremendously satisfying and there are moments or plot constructions that work very, very well. I started and abandoned this book many years ago, and again this time almost gave up after the first third. Glad I stuck with it.