Neil Gaiman Appreciation Thread

[Sundae]

This is not a fan-gurl thread.
If you have touched Gaiman's hair, or picked up a used napkin then I'm sure you're lovely but we don't really need to know.

This came out of another thread with a drift so extraordinary, it might have been in one of NG's own books.
If it was spun by Ariadne who was now a webspider I mean.

Happy Monkey - I'm not sure I remember the Ramadan issue of the Sandman?
Can you enlighten me?
I lost my whole back catalogue (both originals and graphic novels) when I moved from Leicester to London. And yes, it still hurts when I think of it.

Am I right in thinking it involved the lady he consigned to Hell for refusing to be his consort?

[Happy Monkey]

It was about a Baghdad king who sold all of the magic of his civilization (think Arabian Nights) to Dream, so it would live forever in Dream's realm. It ended with a coda of a child in bombed-out Baghdad hearing the story, and experiencing the dream.

[Griff]

I just checked Amazon and it looks like he has quite a catalog on kindle. Now I just need time and recommendations.

[Griff]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

It was about a Baghdad king who sold all of the magic of his civilization (think Arabian Nights) to Dream, so it would live forever in Dream's realm. It ended with a coda of a child in bombed-out Baghdad hearing the story, and experiencing the dream.

Wow, that sounds intense.

[Sundae]

What I always loved was missing one of Gaiman's references (not many, sez me all haughty) and then picking them up from another source. Oh! That was was in a book/ comic/ short story! THAT was what it meant!

The great thing with NG is you don't have to know all his references to "get" the narrative. It just adds depth if you do. And it's not a closed society - he often explains his sources.

I read up on Anansi after Small Gods. I had not known him before but he was a welcome addition to my pantheon. I knew next to nothing about Native American Gods either. At the very least I've read up on Old Man Kiy-ote and Whisky Jack [not his real name] now.

[Happy Monkey]

Sandman is amazing. I love almost everything he's written, but Sandman has an epic scope that will be all but impossible to duplicate. It is an "Arabian Nights" in itself, with incredibly varied stories, drawing the scope incredibly wide, and an overarching plot drawing the scope extremely deep. The title character is often a secondary character in the story (sometimes barely appearing, if at all), however by the end you feel you understand him, but know that you don't.

[Sundae]

Sandman was an extraordinary journey.
I loved the way Dream was sometimes sidelined.

And he certainly was NOT always right and certainly not a hero (as before) when he put his human lover in Hell. And the creatures of Nightmare (the Corinthian? shit that was a filthy and terrifying comic) and John Constantine guest-starring early on (I have not watched Constantice the movie because MY Constantine is a smart talking, blonde Londoner who chain-smokes and doesn't give a fuck).

I loved the depictions of Loki throughout the series. And the bureaucracy of Hell, and the Endless and Faerie. As an athiest I loved the winding tales which encompasses myth and fantasy and Christian "truth". And the one about the City of the Dead where all burial aspects were revered - it was my first introduction to Hindu high caste funeral rites - I'd never knowingly spoken to a Hindu at the time I read it. I've had Hindu friends since and understand more of course.

But in every case I went out and read around the subject. Aleister Crowley for example. The hierarchy of angels (I knew about Hell because I read Dante at 16, even if I didn't really appreciate it until years later). A stray comment by NG was always worth a trip to the library. Not because it opened up much more of the text - only a little - just because there was something intersting to foloow up on.

Yeah. Am a fan-gurl. But I don't need to touch his hair.

[classicman]

ok, I'm game. Should I read Sandman first or is there another book I should read first?

[Happy Monkey]

The only order that comes to mind (other than to read all of the Sandman volumes in order) is that the two Death series should be read afterwards. Most of the rest of Gaiman's work is standalone, and order shouldn't matter.

There are series with Sandman characters (Lucifer, Books of Magic), that come later as well, but Gaiman only wrote the beginning of the latter, and none of the former.

[Sundae]

The Sandman is a "comic".
It tells a story in panels which incorporate pictures and words.
Not quite in the same way Batman and Spiderman do, but closer to them than, say, Calvin & Hobbes.
Graphic novels are collections of the comics.
Might be 1-10 for example, bound in a single edition.

Sorry if the above is obvious, it wasn't to my colleagues 10 years ago, who were embarrassed to be seen with me reading said graphic novels on the Tube, thinking them "comic books". Which in England are like Andy Capp, Garfield etc. Things have moved on slightly, I admit.

IF you want to read The Sandman I suggest you start at the beginning.
Ease yourself in.
Which means getting Preludes and Nocturnes.

The Sandman was the first series I committed to.
My ex owned a comic shop. I read a lot in the years we were together - in fact he came to rely on me for an opinion of the comics he (secretly) despised. All DC, all Vertigo.
It took a while to overcome my resistance.
But once immersed I easily found comics that I loved.
I found Gaiman myself - recognising the name from his collaberation with Terry Pratchett.

I realised about a year later that The Doll's House which Stephen King reviewed was the graphic novel I'd been reading in individual installments (you date a comic book guy you get the original prints).

If you don't get on with it Classic, do try Gaiman's novels/ novellas. He has a sharp mind.

[classicman]

Ohhh ... Hmm. Not so hot on the cartoon theme... I'm thinkin this may be what my bro loved and recommended to me. No thanks....

Lets try a novel - Gimme something. I'm feeling daring and wanna try something new and different.

[Happy Monkey]

American Gods is IMHO his best novel. It's about what happens to old gods when their people move on.

Gaiman cowrote Good Omens with Terry Pratchett, if you're in the mood for apocalyptic comedy.

Most of his work is short stories, and there are many collections of his work.

[classicman]

cool - thanks.

[Happy Monkey]

One irony with introducing Sandman to people resistant to comics is that Gaiman was young when he started it, and the first volume is very comic-booky, with guest stars from the DC universe. Some work very well, like Constantine and Dr. Destiny. But Martian Manhunter is a very odd fit. The storyline is very linear and MacGuffiny (track down three items). Given that, it is very good, and even Martian Manhunter is used to give the reader an important piece of information about Dream, where a different character might not have done as well. However, somebody who doesn't like comics would probably not be convinced by the first Sandman collection that this book is unique.

It is in the second volume that he starts to come into his own. There is still a very MacGuffiny overall plot (track down some escaped dreams), but the DC guest stars are much more obscure, and he makes them his own. One of the creepiest issues is in this collection.

By the third volume, it is what it eventually became in total - a story about stories.

This introduces the issue of introducing it to someone out of order. On the one hand, you can skip stuff that might be a turnoff, but on the other hand there is stuff in the early work that could change how the later work is interpreted.

Babylon 5 (which Gaiman wrote an episode of) has a similar issue.

[wolf]

Originally Posted by Griff

I just checked Amazon and it looks like he has quite a catalog on kindle. Now I just need time and recommendations.

American Gods
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (with Terry Pratchett)
Anansi Boys
The Graveyard Book
Neverwhere