One of the most striking writers of our time, of course, can be called Neil Gaiman. The fame was brought to him by the Sandman comic book, but in his homeland he is more valued as an unusually talented storyteller. The books of Neil Gaiman embodied the best traditions of the tales of English literature, based on an appeal to mythology.
Neil Gaiman - science fiction writer
The mythology of England penetrates the works of Neil Gaiman in various ways, for example, the author borrows its plots and images, creates his own system of myths, conveying to readers his unique understanding. Neil Gaiman devotes almost all of his works to the formation of the personality of the protagonist;
The great-grandfather of the future writer lived in Eastern Europe, just before the outbreak of World War I, he moved to Holland, and then emigrated to England. Gaiman's grandfather settled in Portsmouth, where he opened a small network of grocery stores. David (his son) continued the development of the family business. The writer’s mother, Sheila (Goldman) served as a pharmacist. The family of Sheila and David had three children: Neil and his younger sisters Lizzie and Claire. Neil Gaiman, whose books later became bestsellers, said he was a weird child, and jokingly added that he was very lucky, since parents had no one to compare their son with until their youngest children were born, so no one noticed that something is wrong with Neal.
All the work of Neil Gaiman cannot be covered and analyzed in one article, but I would like to conduct a short excursion through several of his books and scripts.
Sandman (1989)
Neil Gaiman Sandman conceived as a series of comics consisting of ten volumes. It was the only comic book to receive the World Fantasy Award. Comics tell of Morpheus, the lord of dreams, who was captured by a sorcerer. The sorcerer planned to catch Death herself, but something went wrong during the ritual, and Morpheus was locked in the pentagram. Refusing not only to help the occultist, but also to talk with him, Sandman was locked for seventy years. Getting out of captivity, Morpheus noticed that the world has changed a lot, and he himself is not the same as before. As always in his work, Neil Gaiman created a new, amazing reality, a synthesis of reality and the world of various gods of ancient states.
The Good Signs (1990)
“The Good Signs” is a joint project of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett in the genre of urban humorous fantasy. It should be noted that for Neil Gaiman this was the first major work. In general, the humorous novel about the coming end of the world received positive reviews from critics and was awarded several awards.
The Doorway (1996)
Neil Gaiman’s urban fantasy “The Doorway” is a novelization of his own script and the writer’s first solo project. The plot of the novel was created in the best traditions of Gaiman: Richard's life changed radically when he decided to help a stranger named D'Vere - two hired killers were chasing her. Richard learns amazing things from the girl’s story. It turns out that under the streets of London there is another, completely unlike the real world, about which people do not even suspect. In this world, the word is real power, but you can get there only if you manage to open the Door. A world full of danger, inhabited by angels and saints, monsters and killers, is right under the feet of the inhabitants of London.
After this meeting, Richard noticed that he was disappearing from life: records about him disappeared, and acquaintances did not remember him, so the guy was forced to become the companion of an unusual girl who has the ability to open any doors and help her solve the mystery of her parents' death. After all the adventures and completing his mission, Richard returns home. But his former life seems dull and gray to him. Unable to resist the temptation, the hero returns to the mysterious world of “Pod-London”.
"Smoke and Mirrors" (1998)
Neil Gaiman “Smoke and Mirrors” wrote in the form of a collection of short stories, at the beginning of each of which a small essay is given - something like the story of creation. The collection contains several large stories, but mostly small ones: there are those that fit on one page. Well, the author has proven that it is not necessary to stretch a good idea over several pages.
It is surprisingly easy to read all the stories from the collection: for each writer creates his own world, separate from the rest, but each has a surreal atmosphere. The Holy Grail can be found in Second Hand at a reasonable price, and the werewolf becomes a detective ... In this collection, Neil Gaiman also acts as a poet, although it is better to read poetry in the original.
Stardust (1998)
“Stardust” by Neil Gaiman differs from his other works in writing style, as the author tried to follow the traditions of fantasy authors who worked before Tolkien, for example, such as James Branch Cabell.
The plot is based on the village of Zastenie, which borders the magical world, where the young man Tristan goes in search of a fallen star for his girlfriend Victoria. To do this, the guy secretly penetrates the world of fairies and wizards, which is “with its own character”: it has its own orders and laws. Who knew that the star would not be a cobblestone, but a living girl? Or the fact that evil witches hunt for a pretty girl, for whom she is the source of eternal youth and beauty?
Neil Gaiman “Stardust” wrote as a fairy tale in its traditional sense. There are actions in it, living heroes in it: they study, grow up, fall in love, become wiser. The courage of the protagonist leads readers to the idea that risk is a noble cause, and everyone will be rewarded according to their deserts.
Neil Gaiman, as always, was distinguished by originality: unusual plot twists attract readers into the book world again and again. Even for fantasy, the story looks non-standard.
All new tales
Neil Gaiman, "All New Tales," co-authored with Al Sarrantonio, is a collection of scary stories. Authors-compilers gathered in it the best stories and fairy tales in the genre of suspense and horror, written by masters of the English word. Among the authors are Michael Moorcock, Michael Suenwick,
Chuck Palahniuk, Walter Mosley and others. The collection "All new tales" presents a collection of subtle, exciting, smart and truly scary stories.
American Gods (2001)
Neil Gaiman created the “American Gods” in the form of a novel. One of the best works of the author was written under the influence of the emigration of the writer to America. The events of the novel tell about the confrontation between the gods of the Old World who emigrated to America, with the recently appeared deities of the New World: television, telephone, Internet. The plot of the novel begins very harmlessly. The shadow, which was released from prison ahead of time, falls into Odin's skillfully woven nets (the god of war and victory among the ancient Scandinavians), the reincarnation of the latter is the harmless Mr. Wednesday. Shadows have to travel all over America in order to find all the reincarnations of the ancient gods: Bastet, Loki, Chernobog, Anansi and others.
Coraline (2002)
The novel "Coraline" Neil Gaiman conceived as a bedtime story for his daughter, but the writer subsequently published this story that struck the imagination of readers. Many critics draw an analogy with the fairy tale “Alice in Wonderland”, however, we can safely say that the writer did not rework Carroll’s ideas, but created his own, unique, unlike any other terrible tale. The plot of the book is that the brave girl Coraline, dissatisfied with her boring life, after moving to a new house finds an unusual door. Having unlocked her, she literally gets into a parallel world, and everything in this world is better: mom cooks better, dad enjoys fussing in the garden, a friend doesn't talk so much. The catch is that in order to stay in this world forever, Coraline will have to sew buttons instead of eyes.
The girl demonstrates amazing courage, a flexible mind, decision-making ability and limitless imagination to young readers.
The moral of this story is that you need to value everything you have and be thankful for it. And Coraline realizes this as a result of all the adventures that happened to her.
"The History of the Cemetery" (2008)
Neil Gaiman’s children's fiction novel, The Story of a Cemetery, begins with a mysterious person killing Nobody's parents and a boy finding shelter in a cemetery. Brought up by ghosts, werewolves and vampires, the boy grows up and makes friends, but still remembers that behind the graveyard he lives the one who killed his family ...
The atmosphere of the book is rather unusual: it is a little sad and gloomy, on the one hand, and it is very easy to read (and you read about some adventures of the boy with bated breath) on the other. Like any good children's book, “History with a Cemetery” is easily absorbed by both children and adults, but for some reason it does not cause a feeling of naivety at all.
The author does not hide the fact that he drew stories from the books “Mowgli” and “Harry Potter” that are familiar to many, but this does not spoil the impression of his work. Like in Coraline, Neil Gaiman manages to construct a new, exciting world, unlike any other. It is safe to say that in this book the author demonstrates the best sides of his talent.
Based on a brief analysis of the main works of Neil Gaiman, you can identify the main features of this author:
- The ability to unobtrusively interweave the reality and the world of the gods: biblical, pagan, mythological and modern.
- Borrowing the plot from already written books and changing it so much that the result is a more than unique and inimitable work.
- The gloomy and sad atmosphere created by the author does not put pressure on readers, as a result of which books are perceived quite easily.
- The author’s ability to create books accessible and interesting to all age groups.
- A special hard and dry language of narration.