Rating: 
Summary: ...indescribable...
Review: Second in the Sandman comic book series, The Doll's House is much better than its predecessor, Preludes and Nocturnes. I find that with most Sandman stories, you read the whole thing just going "wow, this is really cool"...and then just when you thought it couldn't get better, at the end Neil Gaiman suddenly ties it together and leaves you absolutely breathless. The Doll's House is probably the most disturbing Sandman, along with P&N, but it's also one of the most beautiful, one of the best. It features the first appearance of Dream's sister/brother Desire, and the story of Dream and Nada, and this guy called the Corinthian who's going to a Cereal Convention. There's something kinda weird about his eyes. You'll see...
Rating:
Summary: ...indescribable...
Review: Second in the Sandman comic book series, The Doll's House is much better than its predecessor, Preludes and Nocturnes. I find that with most Sandman stories, you read the whole thing just going "wow, this is really cool"...and then just when you thought it couldn't get better, at the end Neil Gaiman suddenly ties it together and leaves you absolutely breathless. The Doll's House is probably the most disturbing Sandman, along with P&N, but it's also one of the most beautiful, one of the best. It features the first appearance of Dream's sister/brother Desire, and the story of Dream and Nada, and this guy called the Corinthian who's going to a Cereal Convention. There's something kinda weird about his eyes. You'll see... <g>
Rating: 
Summary: Very, very good
Review: A house full of eccentrics. A voyage into an abused boy's imagination. A convention of serial killers. A man who just won't die. A vortex of dreams. This book shows the Sandman series shaping up very good. Finally, comic books are living up to their potential.
Rating:
Summary: a house with dolls in it
Review: Considerably better than preludes and nocturnes, this is where the Sandman line began to delve into the strange and beautiful. This contains several character introduced in preludes and nocturnes. the best stories however, had nothing to do with the main running plotline. The opening story "A tale in the Sand" and a later story about a man who refused to die. But the main plotline is also very interesting, and this book allows to sandman mythos to slowly begin developing.
Rating:
Summary: The cultural mix of dream creatures and humans, GREAT STORY
Review: Gaiman has written a wonderful set here. Except for the prolouge and the part with Hob Gadling, the story is knitted together incredibly. It leaves you with questions about the Endless and how they actually view mortallity
Rating:
Summary: Excellence, pure Excellence!
Review: Gaiman shows just what a wonderful artist (that's right, artist; although he never picks up a paint brush, his words are pure art) he really is. This trade paperback collects issues 8-16 of the groundbreaking Sandman series. From "The Sound of Her Wings", a truly moving and fantastic look at Death, to the thrilling conclusion of "The Doll's House" arc, this is a must have for all lovers of comics (however, this book is far too mature for the younger folk, as can be seen by the Serial [or is that Cereal?] Killer's convention). Still, if you're a fan of Gaiman, you must buy this book. If you've always thought that comics were just for kids, I suggest you pick this up, and see what you've been missing.
Rating:
Summary: How wrong you are...
Review: I am having a hard time understanding the motives of people who claim that The Doll's House is too "rough around the edges", and "not as brilliant as later volumes". These people are not only wrong--they are completely misguided. You want to know the truth? The Doll's house is probably the best volume of Sandman that there is. I have read it four times. Yet there are moments in The Doll's House, where I find myself literally sweating from tension as my eyes follow the words on each page. When Dream finally catches up to the Corinthian, I still applaud. Whenever Barbie and Ken share the page, I still laugh, and then shudder as I think of their future. When I see the horrible things happening to Rose Walker's brother, I still have to look away, and when The two siblings are finally reunited, I still shed a tear. It's that good. All of you people calling it "unfocused", and "flawed" have completely missed the boat, and need to do some serious swimming to catch up to the rest of us. Doll's House introduces us to so many memorable characters, so many fascinating insights of humanity, and so much memorable dialogue, that it cannot be labeled as anything less than the pinnacle of the series. Whether it shares this spot with the likes of "Brief Lives" and "Season of Mists" can be debated, but no other episode of the Sandman series can capture every human emotion and channel it so perfectly. Please do not start with this. Wade through Preludes and Nocturnes first, and consider this one your dessert.
Rating:
Summary: How wrong you are...
Review: I am having a hard time understanding the motives of people who claim that The Doll's House is too "rough around the edges", and "not as brilliant as later volumes". These people are not only wrong--they are completely misguided. You want to know the truth? The Doll's house is probably the best volume of Sandman that there is. I have read it four times. Yet there are moments in The Doll's House, where I find myself literally sweating from tension as my eyes follow the words on each page. When Dream finally catches up to the Corinthian, I still applaud. Whenever Barbie and Ken share the page, I still laugh, and then shudder as I think of their future. When I see the horrible things happening to Rose Walker's brother, I still have to look away, and when The two siblings are finally reunited, I still shed a tear. It's that good. All of you people calling it "unfocused", and "flawed" have completely missed the boat, and need to do some serious swimming to catch up to the rest of us. Doll's House introduces us to so many memorable characters, so many fascinating insights of humanity, and so much memorable dialogue, that it cannot be labeled as anything less than the pinnacle of the series. Whether it shares this spot with the likes of "Brief Lives" and "Season of Mists" can be debated, but no other episode of the Sandman series can capture every human emotion and channel it so perfectly. Please do not start with this. Wade through Preludes and Nocturnes first, and consider this one your dessert.
Rating:
Summary: Dream me a dream
Review: I belong to that great unwashed mass of people who have not yet read every Sandman comic collection in existence. I came to the series only recently, and as such I decided to systematically work my way through each chapter in the Sandman Chronicles. Thus far, I have finished two (count `em) two collections of the series. The first was the well-known and regarded "Preludes and Nocturnes". The second is the less regarded, "Doll's House". Before I picked up this collection I was informed by my husband that with this collection he no longer felt the necessity to read any more Sandman comics. Something in this book turned him off the series for good. Bearing that in mind I went into "The Doll's House" with some trepidation. It is a difficult book at times, and probably has a small flaw here and there. Nonetheless, I found it just as enticing and well-written (better illustrated even) than its predecessor. "The Doll's House" does not, contrary to the opinion of some, disappoint.
The last chapter in "Preludes and Nocturnes" is included at the beginning of this book, allowing people who skipped the first to still understand the second. And if THAT wasn't enough then Neil Gaiman himself has included a helpful introduction that sums up everything that has come before. The first official story of this collection is a little bleaker. An elder African man tells a story to a younger of the only woman the Sandman ever loved and the consequences that arose from that loving. It is a good way to telling the reader right off the bat that our hero is not, at times, much in the way of a good guy. In fact, he can be downright evil and petty. Other stories are less disturbing (in that particular way). We meet Rose and view her adventures as she attempts to locate a long lost little brother. We find that the Sandman, while he was imprisoned for so many years, has lost four of his major arcana dreams and he must personally track them down. As he does so, his destiny and the destiny of Rose herself become intertwined.
Gaiman does a couple things with this book that I highly approved of. For one thing, he finally makes a direct reference to the great "Little Nemo" comics of Winsor McCay. You would think the greatest dreaming comic strip (until "The Sandman", of course) would have earned itself a mention before now. As it is, Gaiman does a spot-on imitation of McCay's style. Other elements in the collection are especially good. There is a storyline about a man who wishes to never die, and who meets with Morpheus in a pub every one hundred years throughout the centuries. There's a rather amusing convention of serial killers who tell the hotel hosting them that they are a cereal convention. And then there's the fact that Gaiman is constantly bringing elements from previous plots into current ones. The dreams in this book are remarkably similar to those you've had in your sleep. His nightmares, however, are worse. Much worse than anything you might conjure up from your own unconscious.
I don't think this collection is quite as strong as its predecessor, but it doesn't have to be. It's just a well-written exciting fantasy about a nicely mysterious protagonist. It's amazing how Gaiman can take a hero who basically has all the powers of the world at his command and still keep the plotline interesting. It's also not every graphic novel that ends with you mentally pleading for the hero NOT to kill someone. A nice touch. Overall, a strong companion to previous Sandman efforts.
Rating:
Summary: Very confused
Review: I don't understand why people consistantly refer to this title as the weakest entry in the Sandman series. I have read all ten volumes, and have to say that it is in fact one of the best. Of course, finding a bad Sandman book is like finding a bad Beatles album. It's really not about which one is the "worst", but which one is the least memorable; the one you are least likely to refer to over and over again and re-read just for the hell of it. And Preludes and Nocturnes is certainly one of the more memorable episodes. Gaiman was new to his series, and he did not have very much direction. Preludes and Nocturnes leans towards classic horror, whereas other volumes, such as The Wake, and A Game of You, are closer to fantasy. So Preludes and Nocturnes is different then all the others. So what? There are so many classic moments that are contained within its pages, moments that stick in your mind and don't leave. Moments such as Dream's escape from his prison and the logic that followed, the introduction or Cain and Abel, John Constantine and his quest to find the pouch of sand, Dream's journey to Hell and his battle with Choronzon over the helm, the ENTIRE FRIGGIN CHAPTER OF 24 HOURS, and the final introduction of Death at the end--the sweet, good natured goth girl who just happens to be the same person we often see personified as a dark cloaked figure with a scythe. The list goes on and on and on. Of course the same could be said for any of the other volumes, but that is exactly my point. Preludes and Nocturnes is not better then Brief Lives, nor is it worse. It exists to advance the story to its eventual conclusion, and it does a great job. There are some flaws--but everyone will find something they don't like in each of the volumes. Don't listen to those people who say "if you read this one first, you'll get the wrong impression of Sandman". Bull. If you don't like this volume, then Sandman is not for you, end of subject. The worst thing you can do is skip this volume in favor of another, later chapter, such as Season of Mists. Start at the beginning--Gaiman did, and his work turned out just fine in the end.
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