Gaiman, N. (2016). Neverwhere: Authors preferred text. New York, NY: William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins.
Awards:
- Adult Literature : 1998 Mythopoeic
Have you ever found yourself moving through life, step-by-step, following "the guide" that you believe was set down for you and indicated success? "This is the way things are supposed to be, and I'm ok with that," you find yourself saying. A few shallow friendships, a promising but not quite there career, a significant other who you have little in common with, but works in the context of the framework, even if they're not terribly nice and change the bits about you they don't like, similar to pieces on a chess board. But you smile, and go along, thinking how good things are, even if somewhere between the lines you're wondering who these people are and how you got there. It seems the plight of many, including Richard Mayhew.
One night, Richard is walking with his girlfriend, Jessica, to meet her all important boss, after she coaches him on what to say, how to look, what to wear....does he have his keys, did he check the reservation, hurry up, you're a mess, we are going to be late, don't give money to that homeless person. In a state similar to blurred vision, many of these details do fall through the cracks for Richard, only to have Jessica berate him, with him following up to fill in the gaps, always to her specifications, even though she is never quite satisfied. Yet he never stops to ask himself why, or why he doesn't seem to care, or why he's living his life according to someone else's rules. Numb and ordinary, he smiles and shrugs and moves one foot in front of the other...not quite the man he thinks he is but can't remember. Then, a door appears in the middle of a wall, a bleeding girl drops out of it onto the dirty London sidewalk and she croaks a simple cry for help, even as Jessica steps over her as if she didn't exist. Without question, without hesitation, even with the ultimatum from Jessica that they are through if he picks her up and helps her to safety, he doesn't think twice, and that is where his life completely changes.
After a brief encounter with the most vile and mysterious villains, the young lady he has helped, The Lady Door, recovers sufficiently enough to return to her home, to find the name of her family's killer, and discover the deep seeded plot which rocks "London Below," in the company of the mysterious Marquis de Carabas, with only a "thank you" and "I'm so sorry." Richard's life soon ceases to exist as he knows it, near invisible and insignificant to the mundane. His property management company leases his apartment to a couple, while he is in the bath in the very same apartment. His cubicle is removed from his office in his presence. His best friend doesn't know him. His fiance can't recall his name but swears he looks familiar. And good God, what happened to all his troll dolls?! Searching for answers, and determined to get his life back, Richard packs a bag and heads out for a subterranean adventure the likes of no-one has ever seen.
Through life-or-death trials with rat speakers, angels, monks, subways, night markets, portal-openers, murderers, and all those who slip between the cracks, not to mention the dreaded "ordeal", life is anything but dull in this land of muted, earthly light. Will Richard Mayhew make it out alive, and even if he does, will he regain the life he once knew? More importantly, can he be satisfied in that life, now that the lines have sharpened, he has been tested, and the volume of life turned to 11? Can he go back to simply being "normal" after becoming extraordinary? Could you?
A Little Extra:
There are a few different edits of this book, and I, of course, was grateful to read the author's preferred text. He was able to take his draft and revise it for television (yup, I'm gonna have to binge watch that one), revise it based on his experiences there, and eventually, defy his editors until the story resembled what his mind and pen weren't able to convey before. That's Art. That process is known to many of us. Never satisfied with the first attempt, we either re-work it into ruin, or into absolute genius. It's no surprise to me, that Neil Gaiman landed squarely in the genius category with this last manuscript.
I had a really hard time putting this book down for meals, for work, for sleep. I was constantly looking for the character I most identified with, and was ultimately shocked to find I related in many ways to Richard...previously dulling down my own character to present what I was brought up to believe was acceptable or expected, feeling slightly less that my full potential, and putting up with far more abuse than I ever should have, while everything else I should have enjoyed seemed muted, clinging to the tiniest piece of magic in the world, to feed my soul, even if no one else knew but me. By the end, I understood, for me, this book had a message for me...to continue to be my most genuine self; to be bold; to acknowledge fear but not to let it rule over me; to understand the "muchness" of my own self, not someone else's projection of me. We are stronger than we appear, even to ourselves. Richard ran a gauntlet, had a quest, and a trial. He was tested, and as battered and bruised as he came out each time, he knew himself better and luckily, someone else did, too. He found his place, his tribe, his people, in a world he never thought existed when he was too busy, trying to make it "above." Door may have fallen in his lap, and led to another world, but Richard...Richard held the key, even when he thought his hands were empty.
Now, my obsession with Neil Gaiman is cemented (as if it weren't before). This book is a good mix of mystery, fantasy, horror and crime. An adult fiction book, sometimes for language and dark violence only, and in only a few places, but just barely. It feels like a guilty pleasure that you don't fully understand the enjoyment of until you've completely finished. Like another reviewer mentioned, part way into it you start to berate yourself for not having read more Neil Gaiman, even while you ARE reading Neil Gaiman, and then you have to re-focus to dive back in, and remind yourself late to rush out and reserve the rest of his works from the library. And there are sequels people... SEQUELS (not to mention a graphic novel, of course...we expect nothing less from the man who took the Sandman so far into graphic history)! A short story about how the Marquis got his coat back, which presents as an epilogue in this edition AND "The Seven Sisters," which he was writing as of the release of Norse Mythology. It's a marvel. Give it a read.
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