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A review by peterkeep
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
4.0
Neil Gaiman has the unique ability to keep me reading his books, even after they turn from "surreal and fantastical" to "weird." Neverwhere had a healthy mix of both, and I really liked it. It's an interesting story with creative and unique characters and a plot that starts as a meandering wander through this new world of London Below and ends with a fast-paced sprint through a vengeance-driven quest on an epic scale.
I've also started noticing that a lot of Gaiman's books leave me with a ghost of a feeling that the story isn't actually about what it's supposed to be about. Neverwhere is obviously about people who "fall through the cracks" in modern society, but that's not what I mean. What if it's about something else completely? What if this is a story of a delusional man and his dissatisfaction with his life? What if Richard creates London Below in his imagination as a way of escaping the mediocrity of his role in London Above? Does that make the story any more or less enjoyable? For me, it doesn't. And there aren't enough clues to convince me of what this story is actually about - it could be a story of a man who journeys through a real (but hidden) world filled with the cast-offs of society, or it might be a story of a man who yearns so strongly for his life to have some sort of purpose that he escapes to an imaginary world where that is the case. Gaiman does a great job of making these two opposing stories exist in the same book, creating a sort of thematic tension.
I enjoy this tension: not knowing whether Richard is a hero for the characters in London Below or if he's simply sinking farther and farther into his delusions to try and escape reality.
Either way, Richard falls through the cracks of society and his story is interesting and compelling in a totally Gaiman-esque way.
I've also started noticing that a lot of Gaiman's books leave me with a ghost of a feeling that the story isn't actually about what it's supposed to be about. Neverwhere is obviously about people who "fall through the cracks" in modern society, but that's not what I mean. What if it's about something else completely? What if this is a story of a delusional man and his dissatisfaction with his life? What if Richard creates London Below in his imagination as a way of escaping the mediocrity of his role in London Above? Does that make the story any more or less enjoyable? For me, it doesn't. And there aren't enough clues to convince me of what this story is actually about - it could be a story of a man who journeys through a real (but hidden) world filled with the cast-offs of society, or it might be a story of a man who yearns so strongly for his life to have some sort of purpose that he escapes to an imaginary world where that is the case. Gaiman does a great job of making these two opposing stories exist in the same book, creating a sort of thematic tension.
I enjoy this tension: not knowing whether Richard is a hero for the characters in London Below or if he's simply sinking farther and farther into his delusions to try and escape reality.
Either way, Richard falls through the cracks of society and his story is interesting and compelling in a totally Gaiman-esque way.