Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Neverwhere
Book Review: A Hero with Yet a Another Face
Summary: 4 Stars
Of course, Neil Gaiman's first novel has been compared to "Alice in Wonderland" and his own Sandman comic series, but what this story most embodies is a Campbellian Hero's Mythic journey. This includes almost every element of Campbell's journey: a call to adventure, threshold crossing, the tests (complete with helpers), transfiguration, and return to the world. Gaiman's also touches on these themes in his later work "American Gods"(and probably better there than "Neverwhere") and I think, no one is writing mythological stories as good as Gaiman right now. Gaiman manages to write about these themes with a wry sense of humour that never detracts from the importance of the stories he tells. This novel gets 4 stars instead of 5 only because I read "American Gods" first and I'm rating them relative to each other.Book Review: A Must Read
Summary: 5 Stars
This was one of the best books I have ever read! I found myself not only reading on the train (which is usually what when I get all my reading done), but also at lunch, at home, I even missed 2 dinners! Gaiman connects you with the characters in this book, you feel as if you're on their journey with them. A modern day Alice in Wonderland is the best way to describe it, full of weird and bizarre characters. I deeply regreted the ending of the book!Book Review: A New Hope
Summary: 5 Stars
I am an avid reader of everything I can get my hands on and of all things that I have read in the past few years Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere has been one of the greatest. The story is rich in detail and story maintaining a great literary presence throughout. This is a book that like the character Richard Mayhew makes you fall through the cracks and never want to put the book down until you have read to the point where you catch every tiny detail within the book. i highly recommend this book to anybody who has lost faith in the publishing world and is looking to rekindle that fire.Book Review: A Return to Clasic SF/Fanatsy
Summary: 4 Stars
One of the cover blurbs on this book calls it "A dark contemporary 'Alice in Wonderland'." I found it more a updated version of Robert Heinlein's Glory Road. The idea of taking a guy out of his normal life and forcing him to survive in an alternate universe is not original, but Gaiman, the author of illustrated novels (OK, comic books for literate kids or adults), had done wonders with it here.The only reason I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars is the somewhat overdependence on 'magic' to resolve plot problems. Otherwise a glorious read.
Book Review: A Wonderful Fantasy
Summary: 5 Stars
Richard Mayhew is your average Joe Citizen - an ordinary man with an ordinary life, working at a job he finds dull. His only spark of interest is his society-climbing, domineering and snobbish girlfriend. But this ordinary man is about to be plunged into an extraordinary adventure as he, much against his girlfriends wishes, stops to help a girl who is laying bleeding on a London street.
He discovers that he no longer exists in the London he knows so well. He is now an inhabitant of "London Below" - a world that is home to the people who have "fallen through the cracks" of London Above. Amongst the world of abandoned subway stations and sewers Richard meets some engaging characters, and some more deadly than he has ever seen in the familiar streets.
The girl he has helped is Door, a young woman who is investigating the assassination of her parents. They set out together on a mission of vengeance - travelling the labyrinth of tunnels to discover who hired the assassins, before Door becomes their next victim. On the way, they enlist the help of the Marquis of Carabas, a conman who deals in favours, and Hunter, a mysterious Amazon who is hired as Door's bodyguard.
London below is a beautifully created dark world of forbidding shadows and danger. Against this dark and depressing backdrop, Gaiman creates a cast of colourful characters as our odd trio encounter the angel Islington, the Black Friars, and a rather eccentric birdman - Old Bailey.
Regardless of the fantastic settings and characters, I found Gaiman's novel to be totally believable. Richard Mayhew is a character that we all know. Perhaps one that we see in the mirror on a daily basis. And he comes form the hustle and bustle of a world that we can all relate to. We even find familiarity in the bizarre characters of London Below - eccentrics, conmen and people out just to push their own agenda.
But, above all, I found the most poignancy in the allegory of London Below. When people who don't fit our moulds "fall through the cracks" of society and become invisible - whether they be homeless, runaways or just different, all of our cities have the dwellers who are invisible to the rest of us.
Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere" may not be everyone's cup of tea. However, I recommend that you buy a copy, draw the curtains, make yourself a hot chocolate and introduce yourself to the sheer brilliance that is "Neverwhere".
Welcome to London Below...