Overwritten.net
Community => Entertainment => Topic started by: gpw11 on Saturday, April 19, 2014, 08:57:50 PM
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Yay or Nay?
I haven't been reading much lately and would like to get into it again more. Generally, I tend to mix up fiction with a lot of non-fiction Maclom Gladwell/Freakonmics type books, but I never really know what to look at for fiction. I've heard good things about Neil Gaiman, specifically American Gods - are these something any of you would recommend?
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I'm a big fan of Gaiman and have pretty much everything he ever wrote, barring some comics and children's books, including a few rarer/limited items, several signed.
I think whether you'll like him depends on the kind of stuff you like. He's unquestionably a great writer, but he tends to have a sort of almost fairytale quality to a lot of what he writes. This can take a darker/harsher turn, as with American Gods, or a little bit of a lighter one, as with something like Stardust, or The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Either way, it's either something you like, something you tolerate because you otherwise like his style and creativity, or something you're really not into. He's not what you'd call a fantasy author, and he's more literary than what you generally think of when it comes to genre fiction, but the stuff he writes does tend to have a sort of urban fantasy vibe.
Good Omens, which he co-wrote with Terry Pratchett, is one of the funniest books I've ever read. His short story books are great too (Fragile Things, Smoke and Mirrors). Coraline and The Graveyard Book are also excellent, but technically written more for kids (and thus probably not where you'd want to start ... though they're not at all unpleasant reads for an adult).
American Gods or Good Omens are probably where I'd suggest starting, despite being very different books. Some suggest Neverwhere, but that's a bit more of a grown-up Alice in Wonderland sort of thing, bit more on the fantasy end. If you're into short stories, any of his short story books are probably fine places to start with too.
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Okay, I'm in.
I liked the Stardust movie plenty so it's probably up my alley. Will start off with American Gods as it's on my reader already and will go from there.
Thanks!
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My pleasure! Update the thread with what you think. He's my favorite writer despite the fact that none of his books are my absolute favorites.
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I read through the first hundred pages or so of American Gods and just couldn't continue.
It seemed good but it just wasn't grabbing me. Except for small sections of it I felt pretty bored.
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I had a pretty hard time getting into it, to be honest. That said, at about 3/4 through I was really enjoying it.....it just took me forever to get there because I hate forcing myself through stuff.
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I'm also huge fan of Gaiman. I love Neverwhere and American Gods. I just finished reading Ocean at the End of the Lane when I was on vacation in January which was great too. It's an easy Gaiman read.