Neverwhere by Neil Giaman

370 Pages (Trade Paperback)
Fantasy Fiction

This is the first book I have read by Neil Giaman. I have heard of other stories and seen a couple movies based off of his books. I was pretty sure that I would be impressed with his writing.

Richard Mayhew is living the typical life of a middle aged Londoner. He is engaged to be married, has a steady job and is blissfully letting life pass him by. One evening on the way to dinner he finds a woman lying, bleeding on the ground. Against the warnings of his fiancé; he helps the woman. The woman, named Door, pleads not to be involved with a hospital or police. Richard has no choice but to take her to his place.

The following morning a strange pair of men show up at Richard’s apartment. They burst in the room and start searching for Door. They find nothing and leave him. Door seems to have quickly recovered from her injuries and, after talking to a bird and a rat, leaves. Richard starts to go back to his normal life when things start to take a strange twist. He hails taxis and they ignore him. He tries to interact with people and the act as if he isn’t there or quickly forget about him. He goes to work only to find that his desk has been cleared off. He soon finds that he has become a part of London Below. The place where people who fall through the cracks end up. He has to quickly learn how to survive in a place where nothing aligns with London Above. He eventually finds the Lady Door, who he helped, and is drawn into a mystery involving the death of her entire family.

Gaiman’s writing is easy to read. The story itself gets twisted and turned you seem to be lead one way only to be lead another. Interesting characters and a dreary background make this story what it is. A reader can take nothing for granted as the values of London Above mean little Below. Monsters and Monks are more common than money. Magical abilities are not uncommon and Rats sit atop the hierarchy of society. Only by joining with a unusual set of characters does Richard have any hope of returning to the life that has forgotten him.

I found Neverwhere to be a light read that was still entertaining. A teenager would be able to read this, but there is enough for an adult to enjoy.

Emotional/Intellectual 2 – I did enjoy reading this, but nothing stuck out as extremely dramatic.

Style/Readability 5 - Gaiman light hearted style combined with easy reading is a boon to the book. I was easily immersed and wanted to keep read each night. His

Long-Term Impact 2 – Gaiman has made a significant impact on the slightly strange side of things. His popularity deserves to only grow more. That said, other books of his will most likely be what make this possible.

9 out of 13. I did enjoy it and suggest it. I do feel that I may get more out of some of his other books once I get to them. That said, I certainly will be giving those others a try.

The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie

561 pages (trade paperback) Fiction

This book had a ton of press in the late 80’s and early 90’s. As most people know the Islamic reaction to this book was extreme and caused quite a commotion between different countries. This included a fatwa on Rushdie’s life that eventually held an almost 3 million dollar reward. There are a number of things in the book that a follower of Islam could find insulting. My understanding is the biggest problem stemmed from a poor translation of the title made it seem as if Rushdie called the Qur’an satanic. There are also depictions of people that have the same name or similar names to characters from the Qur’an. This is a violation of Islamic tradition that does not allow visual depictions of the religious test. Of course they are not drawn in the book, but are described in detail.

I attempted to read this when I was in high school, but both it’s foreign subject matter and dense writing style made it hard for my 17 year old brain. I eventually picked up other Rushdie books and have become a huge fan since. Anyone that reads my reviews will know that I am usually extremely pleased with his writing.

Unfortunately, to understand this book some spoiling is necessary. Part of this is just me attempting to understand all that is going on. I won’t try to reveal anything too important.

The book follows the lives of two men. Gibreel and Saladin. The book begins with both of them flying over the English Channel for different reasons. The plane cracks up and these two are the only ones to survive. They are found by a strange old woman and at that point there lives take a fantastic switch. Saladin starts to turn into a Devil. Gibreel gains a halo and becomes an Angel.

Their lives split apart. One takes the good life and the other drops into misery after misery; matching their newfound bodies. As this happens they start to go into dream like trances. It is as if they both have two lives. One: The continuation of their old life now being experienced in a new body. Two: A dream world that seems to be in the past. It is in this dream world that the cause of all Rushdie’s fatwa troubles is written. I am not a Muslim scholar. In fact I really don’t know much about Islam other than what a small amount of research tells me. My understanding is that in the dream we experience a “parody” of Mohammed’s life. Rushdie writes about people taking on the persona of famous people from The Prophet’s life. These people are poets, prostitutes, beggars and thieves.

This part of the book became very hard for me the first time around. Now, as a more experienced literary reader I still had difficulty. At first it isn’t made clear that you are in a “dream sequence”. For me it was if a different story was being told. It wasn’t until much later is it revealed that as the two main character go into these “trances” they are leading a separate life.

As always I find Rushdie’s writing to be fantastic. He has a style that is joyful to digest. He could be writing about anything and it would be good just for the construction of words and sentences. That said, this is probably one of the hardest books I have ever been successful at finishing. The main characters are Indian. Although I have a better understanding of Indian life then some, I am barely a novice when it comes to the culture. Knowledge of things such as jobs and names and locations are taken for granted. This book requires effort to read. This isn’t a Stephen King, thriller page turner. (I am not putting him down only making a comparison.) With that in mind, I really did enjoy the story. There are twists and turns. Rushdie’s ability to take the world as we know it, splash some fantasy in it, then tell a gripping story is as evident here as any of his other books.

3 Intellectual/Emotional – It is easy to imagine yourself being thrown a curve ball as these two men have. Coming to grips with their new life is a large part of the story.

4 Readability/Style – Rushdie’s writing is a pleasure. His ability to make small things a joy to read is done with an ability that few modern writers can match.

5 Long-Term Impact – This book is one of the poster boys of censorship in writing. It has been banned in countries around the world. Because of this it will have a long lasting place in the history of books. Even though I would not put this as my favorite of Rushdie’s writing even without the controversy surrounding the book it would stand on it’s own as great modern literature.

12 out of 13. I enjoyed this book very much. It was challenging and worthwhile. That said, this is NOT the place to start reading Rushdie’s books. I would suggest The Moor’s Last Sigh or Midnight’s Children. If you are not familiar with Indian writing or culture I might suggest you read some other people’s work to more familiarize yourself with it before delving into Rushdie. He is undoubtedly a great writer, but requires a lot of his readers to totally enjoy his books. I wouldn’t even claim to fully “GET” all that I read. BUT once you have the background and willingness to put in the effort this and all of his writing is worth your time.

As always,

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