Neverwhere

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Fantasy
Review: Richard Mayhew is your average Joe Citizen - an ordinary man with an ordinary life, working at a job he finds dull. His only spark of interest is his society-climbing, domineering and snobbish girlfriend. But this ordinary man is about to be plunged into an extraordinary adventure as he, much against his girlfriends wishes, stops to help a girl who is laying bleeding on a London street.

He discovers that he no longer exists in the London he knows so well. He is now an inhabitant of "London Below" - a world that is home to the people who have "fallen through the cracks" of London Above. Amongst the world of abandoned subway stations and sewers Richard meets some engaging characters, and some more deadly than he has ever seen in the familiar streets.

The girl he has helped is Door, a young woman who is investigating the assassination of her parents. They set out together on a mission of vengeance - travelling the labyrinth of tunnels to discover who hired the assassins, before Door becomes their next victim. On the way, they enlist the help of the Marquis of Carabas, a conman who deals in favours, and Hunter, a mysterious Amazon who is hired as Door's bodyguard.

London below is a beautifully created dark world of forbidding shadows and danger. Against this dark and depressing backdrop, Gaiman creates a cast of colourful characters as our odd trio encounter the angel Islington, the Black Friars, and a rather eccentric birdman - Old Bailey.

Regardless of the fantastic settings and characters, I found Gaiman's novel to be totally believable. Richard Mayhew is a character that we all know. Perhaps one that we see in the mirror on a daily basis. And he comes form the hustle and bustle of a world that we can all relate to. We even find familiarity in the bizarre characters of London Below - eccentrics, conmen and people out just to push their own agenda.

But, above all, I found the most poignancy in the allegory of London Below. When people who don't fit our moulds "fall through the cracks" of society and become invisible - whether they be homeless, runaways or just different, all of our cities have the dwellers who are invisible to the rest of us.

Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere" may not be everyone's cup of tea. However, I recommend that you buy a copy, draw the curtains, make yourself a hot chocolate and introduce yourself to the sheer brilliance that is "Neverwhere".

Welcome to London Below...

Rating:
Summary: Amazing and Beautiful..
Review: Reading this was making me feel in touch once more with the fairy tales that I had read as a child. I loved that anything was possible and that there was magic to be found in the mundane.

The one thing that I had really liked was that Richard Mayhew was a complete everyman. It made it more believable to get inside his point of view and relate to his situation. The characters were highly realized and were definately real. Door, The Marquis and Hunter felt like friends as I was reading it.

Also, Neil's writing style is just fabulous. I love that his writing is fast past. I have sat there, reading it and got through fifty pages of it without realizing how much time has passed. It is absorbing and engulfing.

Overall, a great book, possibly a classic.

Rating:
Summary: Mind the Gap
Review: Everybody traveling in London by Tube, is familiar with the loudspeaker's warning "Mind the Gap", that is the space between platform and train carriage. Reading Gaiman, "gaps" take on a much more complex meaning... People can fall through the gaps/cracks, literally, not only down onto the rails but much deeper, ending up in "London Below". Richard Mayhew, a young man with nothing much happening in his life, is an unlikely Samaritan. Still, when confronted with a choice he follows his charitable instinct and assists a wounded rag girl he finds lying in the street. To save her from her apparent killers he goes on a quest and from this moment his life turns into a rollercoaster of discovery and danger.

"Neverwhere" is a brilliant yarn of life in the underbelly of the city, with shady human characters, speaking rats and special "guides". There is more than one reality for sure. In London Above, Richard and the rag girl, named appropriately "Door", can be seen but not recalled beyond the moment. The real-life maze of London underground tunnels, hidden passageways and dead ends provide the existent, yet twisted, backdrop to the story. Time and distances have no meaning. The names of tube stations acquire new relevance: the Earl resides at Earl's Court, the black Friar monks are in Blackfriars and Islington is an Angel. Following Door and her unusual companions, Richard discovers the limits of his endurance. He has to question his existence and reality. While his desire to get back to his normal life keeps him going, his chances to shake loose from the shadowy underworld increasingly appear to diminish...

The novel, which expands on Gaiman's successful tv production, is a great read, whether you know London or not (yet). His style is fluid and engaging, his characters are very much alive and moving the various layers of intrigue along at a good pace. [Friederike Knabe]