My Whole Expanse I Cannot See…

I formulate infinity stored deep inside of me…

Jun 1

Neverwhere

Category: Opinions

Yesterday I finished Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere. Basically, it’s a story of a man, Richard Mayhew, who after saving the life of a young girl, ends up being erased from existence in his own world and forced to journey to a parallel world. The girl’s name is Door, she’s from London Below, a shadow version of Richard’s London Above. After her entire family is murdered for reasons unknown to her, Door desperately flees her would-be assassins by opening a magical portal to London Above. Enter Richard, who happens upon Door bloodied and semi-conscious lying on the sidewalk near Richard’s flat. Nobody bothers to help her because people from London Below barely register in the minds of people from London Above. Yet, Richard can see her, which is the start of all his troubles.

Neverwhere is a great concept set in lush and interesting world. Unfortunately, Richard and Door are two astonishingly flat protagonists who pale in comparison to the book’s far more rich lesser characters. The story itself, while “fun,” is definitely a little formulaic. Luckily, Neverwhere is one of Gaiman’s first novels and they do get much better.

My current book is Chuck Palahniuk’s newly released Snuff.

3 comments

3 Comments so far

  1. THEO June 1st, 2008 11:13 am

    I was tempted to pick up Snuff the other day at Barnes & Noble, but I’d just ordered Nixonland from Amazon, so I figured I had enough to read for the time being. Seen the trailer for Choke yet?

  2. Miriam June 3rd, 2008 11:48 pm

    Have you read Un Lun Dun by China Mieville? It’s much the same concept as Neverwhere, but with a MUCH cooler protagonist.

  3. michael June 4th, 2008 12:10 am

    Thanks for the recommendation, I just bought it!