I believe I picked this book up 2-3 years ago at a thrift store. Just got around to reading it in the last month. When I selected this from my bookcase and saw the author's name, I recalled that I had read another of his books (The Ocean at the End of the Lane) and hadn't liked it. I discovered I didn't like Neverwhere, either. Fantasy and sci-fi are usually not genres to which I gravitate but I have read some of both and enjoyed them.
I didn't like Richard, the central character. I don't recall what his job was but he was a "young professional" who had a beautiful but high maintenance girlfriend (Jessica). The pairing of Jessica and Richard didn't ring true. Richard's sudden disappearance into the underworld really had no explanation (unless I missed something)--he simply was no longer visible except to those in the underworld. I was intrigued enough to keep reading because I wondered who the top bad guy was, and that was a surprise.
POSSIBLE SPOILER: The end was thought provoking. Richard had managed to return to the real world and found that he had been promoted. I don't recall how long Richard was back in the real world (I finished the book 2-3 weeks ago) before he became disillusioned and decided he preferred life in the underworld. END OF SPOILER
So I think I have a love/hate relationship with Gaiman books. Everything about them says I should love them, but 50% of the time I...well I don't hate them, but I also don't love them. This was another that I didn't love. It's fantasy, adventure, intrigue, and good narration (I listened and read along with my nook because I won't take my paper books on the bus.)
It follows Richard, a Londoner who lives a fairly normal boring life with a very unlikeable girlfriend who seems to only want to control his every move. He gets mixed up with Door, who is from the London Under, which is the world beneath the regular world, the place where the people who fall through the cracks end up. After his first encounter with Door, rescuing her and helping her to get back to her world, Richard inadvertently becomes part of London Under. It's as if he doesn't exist in his world. So Richard adventures to London Under hoping to find Door and her guide the Marquis De Carabas. They are on a mission to learn who killed Door's family and trying to kill Door. Richard is hopeful that once their mission is complete there will be a way for him to fully return to his world.
The story just didn't hold my attention. I couldn't get into it and was easily distracted from the story. The best and most interesting part was the short story of the Marquis and his quest to find his missing coat. It was just meh for me. Maybe a re-read at a later date will be in order.
I tried with this book. I got half way and gave up. It seemed to me as though an excellent author who was drunk or really tired was trying to write this story, sometimes you were on track, then the next you had no clue what was going on.
I love Neil Gaiman, he is one of my favs, I loved, "The Graveyard Book", I thought reading, "Neverwhere" would be a cinch, surly it would be as good, well....no way, no how, NO. I know from other reviews people loved this book, I am not one of them. It felt like I was in a nightmare, I had to keep pushing myself to continue on. I just couldn't do it, by the time I finished half way, I was so confused I had no idea what was happening.
I have read Neverwhere a few times over the past dozen years and each time I wish Neil Gaiman would write a sequel, or prequel, or additional book set in this world. This book still has so many mysteries to explore. Neverwhere, my first Gaiman book, showed me a different kind of fantasy, one without princess-gobbling dragons, puns, elderly wizards, or lengthy sword fights. It is urban fantasy, but more than that, it is about Richard finding his place in the world. He hungers for a top job at the office, to impress his girlfriend Jess, and be a very popular guy. But none of that is happening. In fact, one might look at Richards life and think it is a bit of a joke. Hes a paper-pusher, his friend makes snide jokes at his expense, and his girlfriend has his life planned out to meet her exacting standards. Poor dude. But then one evening a bloody girl ends up on the sidewalk in front of him, begging for help. Lady Door is in desperate need of assistance. Her family has been massacred by unknown assailants for mysterious reasons.
Neverwhere isnt my favorite Gaiman book and I would even say it is not his best work. But it has a warm place in my heart and it is worth a reread every few years. The character development only goes so far and then plot drives the rest of the book. The story, while wrapped up for the immediate needs, leaves several questions churning in the readers head; hence, my desire to see another book set in this world.
London is a crazy city. Look underneath the no-nonsense streets full of busy shops and offices, and there you will find the pulsing blood vessels of the city, the Underground. Neverwhere is a novel with a plot based on London's filthy, dark and intriguing passageways mostly designed to transport people; Neil Gaiman weaves it into a fascinating story about a young man's descent into a mysterious and perilous other world. This story is a lot like Clive Barker's short story, "The Midnight Meat Train" that happens in the New York City's subway system, except this is classic Neil Gaiman, which means that it is a lot more sweeter with much more fantastic and mystical qualities.
Richard Mayhew is a decent sort of fellow, with a respectable job albeit under a terrible boss, with a girlfriend from a respectable background. He doesn't realize that he ought to be unhappy with his life, but goes with the flow nonetheless. When a young girl appears out of nowhere, bloodied, and collapses in front of him on the street, he decides to help her out despite the disapproval from his social climbing girlfriend. The young girl appears to be a derelict, but she has these special powers, and she is being hunted down by these nasty assasins from the underworld. Thus begins Richard's spiral into the mad, mad world of the Underground.
This book is definitely recommended. Also check out his other books, "American Gods" and "Anansi Boys," and if you can't get enough of it, his short story collection "smoke and Mirrors" features some of the characters from Gaiman's other books.
In Neverwhere, Gaiman's characters are believable and rich. Gaiman creates a fantasy world that the reader can imagine actually exists. This book kept my attention throughout, and I was anxious to find out what would happen next. This is a classic mixture of the dangling carrot and the grass is greener on the otherside, but Gaiman gives it a few twists to keep it really interesting. The main character spends a lot of time pining for the past while missing the excitement of the present. He does not relize this until after he encounters a few challenging obstacles. He must overcome these obstacles to regain what he's lost only to discover that the very thing he tried to get away from is the very thing he loves. Sound confusing? It is until you start reading. Neverwhere is much better than American Gods because the author picks one story line and sticks with it throughout. Good read.
