I have always read across genres but I had not been a big fan of science fiction, fantasy or comic books for the first thirty years of my life. Fortunately for me, a friend lent me the movie Stardust when he purchased the DVD. Well we sat down to watch it and were completely blown away. I'm not sure how this well-received film flew under the radar of the masses but it's a shame especially in this era of the prequel/sequel/remake, etc. Here was a unique story that was charming, scary, funny and just downright good. I started to think twice about what stories may be hiding inside these books that I had dismissed because they were grouped in one of the above genres.
So, I picked up a copy of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere and liked it well enough but not enough to be singled out for a One Great Read profile. Then I kept hearing about Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.
On LibraryThing, Shelfari and Amazon people rave about this cult classic. This made me hesitate as very few things in life live up to this much advance hype. It reminded me of how excited I was to read Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons after hearing the (mostly) guys gush of how mind-altering amazing this comic book was and how they reread it every year. Now, don't get me wrong, I enjoyed Watchmen but it did not rock my world. Of course, I read it this year, not when it was released in 1986. In 1986 this book was revolutionary, in 2008 it was just good. I will go see the movie when it is released but I doubt I will ever reread it...although I may reread From Hell by Alan Moore. That comic novel chilled me in a way that I did not expect and for that it is worth praising. All of this is prologue to my first One Great Read selection...Good Omens.
Good Omens is one of those rare treats in life. A book that is as good as everyone says it is. A book that makes you chuckle to yourself as you read it. I will admit to a feeling of mild depression following the completion of this book. I was actually sad that I there was no more and started thinking about when I could squeeze a reread into my book-worming schedule. Good Omens is the story of the end of the world. It focuses on the actions of the main characters of Armageddon namely, a demon named Crowley, his arch rival and best friend an angel named Aziraphale, the Antichrist, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and several other characters such as the charming members (the remaining two of them) of the witchfinder army which had a lot more to do in centuries past. Good Omens is also not just a funny book, it's a really unique story which is one of the things I love best about Gaiman. He writes such different stories and when you read as much as I do that is a definite selling point. Gaiman also seems to be that most charming (to me at least) of personality types, namely a cynical optimist. Although there is a good amount of dark humor and cynicism in Gaiman's works there is also a certain level of humanism. When you are searching for that one book that will reawaken your love of reading I highly recommend a dip in the refreshing pool that Gaiman and Pratchett provide with Good Omens.
Don't take my word for it, read the excerpt below and see if it seems like something you would enjoy. Life is too short for books that don't excite you and books, like much in this world, are highly subjective. Here's an excerpt from Good Omens:
So, I picked up a copy of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere and liked it well enough but not enough to be singled out for a One Great Read profile. Then I kept hearing about Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.
On LibraryThing, Shelfari and Amazon people rave about this cult classic. This made me hesitate as very few things in life live up to this much advance hype. It reminded me of how excited I was to read Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons after hearing the (mostly) guys gush of how mind-altering amazing this comic book was and how they reread it every year. Now, don't get me wrong, I enjoyed Watchmen but it did not rock my world. Of course, I read it this year, not when it was released in 1986. In 1986 this book was revolutionary, in 2008 it was just good. I will go see the movie when it is released but I doubt I will ever reread it...although I may reread From Hell by Alan Moore. That comic novel chilled me in a way that I did not expect and for that it is worth praising. All of this is prologue to my first One Great Read selection...Good Omens.
Good Omens is one of those rare treats in life. A book that is as good as everyone says it is. A book that makes you chuckle to yourself as you read it. I will admit to a feeling of mild depression following the completion of this book. I was actually sad that I there was no more and started thinking about when I could squeeze a reread into my book-worming schedule. Good Omens is the story of the end of the world. It focuses on the actions of the main characters of Armageddon namely, a demon named Crowley, his arch rival and best friend an angel named Aziraphale, the Antichrist, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and several other characters such as the charming members (the remaining two of them) of the witchfinder army which had a lot more to do in centuries past. Good Omens is also not just a funny book, it's a really unique story which is one of the things I love best about Gaiman. He writes such different stories and when you read as much as I do that is a definite selling point. Gaiman also seems to be that most charming (to me at least) of personality types, namely a cynical optimist. Although there is a good amount of dark humor and cynicism in Gaiman's works there is also a certain level of humanism. When you are searching for that one book that will reawaken your love of reading I highly recommend a dip in the refreshing pool that Gaiman and Pratchett provide with Good Omens.
Don't take my word for it, read the excerpt below and see if it seems like something you would enjoy. Life is too short for books that don't excite you and books, like much in this world, are highly subjective. Here's an excerpt from Good Omens:
Crowley had always known that he would be around when the world ended, because he was immortal and wouldn't have any alternative. But he hoped it was a long way off.
Because he rather liked people. It was major failing in a demon.
Oh, he did his best to make their short lives miserable, because that was his job, but nothing he could think up was half as bad as the stuff they thought up themselves. They seemed to have a talent for it. It was built into the design, somehow. They were born into a world that was against them in a thousand little ways, and then devoted most of their energies to making it worse. Over the years Crowley had found it increasingly difficult to find anything demonic to do which showed up against the natural background of generalized nastiness. There had been times, over the past millenium, when he'd felt like sending a message back Below saying, Look we may as well give up right now, we might as well shut down Dis and Pandemonium and everywhere and move up here, there's nothing we can do to them that they don't do to themselves and they do things we've never even thought of, often involving electrodes. They've got what we lack. They've got imagination. And electricity, of course.
One of them had written it, hadn't he..."Hell is empty, and all the devils are here."
Crowley got a commendation for the Spanish Inquisition. He had been in Spain then, mainly hanging around cantinas in the nicer parts, and hadn't even known about it until the commendation arrived. He'd gone to have a look, and come back and got drunk for a week.
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