Neil, I’ve neglected you…
I was first introduced to Gaiman’s work via his collaboration with Terry Pratchett on the very funny end-of-the-world Good Omens, but this man has a magnificent bibliography – from Babylon 5 to Tori Amos CDs to a bio of Duran to Duran to scripts to the graphic novels he is (perhaps) most well-known for, the shaggy-haired lad can turn his hand to just about anything. I’m going to focus on the novels, which are dark and funny in a sly and erudite kind of way.
Coraline is a children’s book with some spine-chilling imagery – the button eyes of the replacement mother made me shiver. Stardust is described as a fairy-tale for adults and is sweetly romantic and funny, and was recently made into a sweetly romantic and funny movie too. There’s Neverwhere, set in a strange underground Underground, also a TV series and perhaps in the future a movie.
His two big bestsellers for adults have been American Gods and Anansi Boys, both of which have the kind of depth behind them that you can just sink into without necessarily getting all of the allusions (but it’s fun trying to work them out). There’s also at least two collections of short stories, Fragile Things and Smoke and Mirrors.
And these are just the ones I’ve read…there’s plenty more. Gaiman has won a bucket-load of awards and he has an excellent website, including an entertaining and informative blog. His latest book will be released in about three months and is called The Graveyard Book, about a boy raised by ghosts in a graveyard. Looking forward to it.
Gaiman is certainly a master storyteller. He really knows how to unsettle the reader with imagery, without being gory. The Graveyard Book sounds great – I’m also waiting with bated breath!
It’s so nice to be following an author who is a) still alive b) productive but high-quality c) not writing a series.
I must admit that I was disappointed by Stardust, the movie. Although some of the actors did steal the show, I felt that the film lost some of the underlying darkness of the novel. It’s the underlying grit of Neil’s writing that I enjoy.
That being said, I feel that his offering of MirrorMask, with Dave McKean, was spellbinding, even for the obvious dualism in themes.
As for The Sandman graphic novels… In my opinion they are required reading for anyone interested in writing fantasy!
I’m looking forward to getting hold of Mirrormask…being in Libya does limit my consumer options slightly.