Neverwhere

I have spent most of Friday and a good amount of Thursday night immersed in Neverwhere, finishing it Friday afternoon. In the end of the novel the publisher included some interview quetions with Gaiman, and in one of them he states that Neverwhere was written mostly for "entertainment purposes". As Gaiman has proved before, he has no small talent in doing just that, but that leaves me with not too much to say about the novel. It's filled with a crazy cast of fantastical characters (again no surprise for Gaiman) and he manages to desrcibe in great detail the intriguing Underground London, where "people and things that have fallen through the cracks" go. It's a scary place, filled with treachery and evil, but exciting, and there is, of course, a vague resemblance to our Above world. I particularly enjoyed that, though very obviously an archetypal "quest," Gaiman generally avoids too many clichés...except for perhaps overdoing the "boy turned to man" bit. I am spending then rest of the weekend finishing Good Omens and Long Day's Journey Into Night.

Speaking of which, my heart goes out to Mary, the mother in the play. After having been given heroin for the pain of a hard birth she became addicted for years. It is a strange sadness to see her family accept her relapse (for she has recently returned from a sanitarium when the play opens) with resigned helplessness. And though many may find the family in and of itself sad, with their lost dreams and resentments, I feel more than anything the true love underneath. The family consists of two sons and their parents, whose love, once passionate and true, has fallen victim to the trials of life. Tyrone, the father, is especially devastated by his wife's relapse, and in the first scene strong echoes of the tenderness that existed between them two can be seen. Tyrone is also disappointed in his sons, especially his eldest, whom he considers a drunken loaf, but he still supports them, still tries to teach them what he believes to be the "right way." They may be constantly biting down each other's throats, but everyone always apologizes and tries to keep their tempers to a minimum.

Happy Saturday, everyone!