Neverwhere

Nov 25, 2008

Posted by: John Admin

Uncategorized

Let
me say first thing that this is one of the more enjoyable books I’ve
read. Ever. Yes, I know, I tend to squee about almost everything, but Neverwhere
really has all of the elements that has made Potter one of my
favorites. It’s a solid hero myth that takes place in modern London…
sort of. It has another reluctant hero who accomplishes… well, maybe
he doesn’t save the universe, but he does a lot more than he ever would
have expected himself to do.

Gaiman, Neil. Neverwhere. New York: HarperCollins, 1996.

Within
pages, I was hooked on the story of Richard Mayhew, whose fairly boring
and incredibly normal life is disrupted when he finds a young girl
bleeding on the sidewalk, ditches his screaming fiancé, and saves her
life. In doing so, he accidentally looses his grip on all of “real”
London, a.k.a. “London Above.” Instead of continuing his job and life,
he is tramping around sewers, through non-existent walls and subway
stations, through Harrods after closing hours, through a statue. I do
wish I had read this before I had traveled to London last year,
because I certainly would not have stayed in Shepherd’s Bush if I had,
and I would not have wandered around some other tube stations
unescorted. However, even more interesting are the characters, who are
often very, VERY funny (seriously, one of the villains made me laugh
out loud every few pages, even while making me cringe) and whose names
are derived from what they do and who have created their own
semi-feudalistic society to keep some semblance of order in London
Below.

In
the last third of the novel, I found even stronger links to Potter than
I was expecting. I won’t spoil them for you, but my eyes definitely
bugged out a little bit in a few places. Without spoiling anything,
Gaiman borrows heavily from concepts in traditional fairy tales and
many mythologies but then subverts them just enough that it feels new when you read it.

Rowling’s
readers will not be disappointed. Characters grow, new places are
explored, foes are defeated. Gaiman also has a few word plays and one
riddle, but these are not as strong as Rowling’s. On the other hand,
there is a satisfying mystery and also a few small twists to the plot,
but the strength of Gaiman’s writing in the two books I’ve read of his
now is the way he makes you feel a part of this “new” world. The first
market scene took me right back to Diagon Alley, but in a
sense of something both more normal than selling a Nimbus, but also
more nefarious… there are definitely some hints of Nocturne in there,
too. I may as well have smelled raw sewage with Chanel number five; I
definitely could see Islington and Old Bailey and the Beast. Like when
reading Rowling, you have stepped into London Below the instant his
protagonist does.

I
desperately want to tell you more about this one, but the fact is that
you should just go read it. Now. Run to the shop or library (or support Leaky!).
It may not be of as much interest to middle schoolers and the younger
crowd as the characters are all (mostly) grown, but for everyone else
it’s a delectable, fast-paced, grimy fantasy.





The Leaky Cauldron is not associated with J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., or any of the individuals or companies associated with producing and publishing Harry Potter books and films.