As Predicted, Good Omens was More Than Just “Good”

Well this was a thoroughly enjoyable read… about the apocalypse. Yup- you read that right. This a comedy about the end of the world. The likes of which only the combined genius of Pratchett and Gaiman could have come up with. Melding their equally sharp wits and sense of humour, they created one of the most entertaining books I’ve read in a long while. And obviously, it’s packed full with lots and lots of laugh out loud moments!

Brilliantly written, chock full of hilarious and colourful characters and with a great story to book- it’s no wonder this became a cult classic. Happily, there’s a great story as well. In an elegant fashion, we move from the beginning of the universe, right up until the point when it’s doomed to end. As you might expect, it’s an incredibly complex story, with a lot of layers, and the absolute worst thing you could do as a reviewer for such an ineffably multifaceted work is lose one’s notes… which is exactly what I’ve gone and done. Either that or I was too distracted by the book to write anything down, cos it’s just that good 😉

So, I’m working on the fly here, which is a little tricky when we’re talking about such EPIC scale things like god, global catastrophes and intriguing philosophies. Because of course this is more than just surface-level entertainment. As I’ve come to expect from these two powerhouses, this is a fascinating approach on the nature of good and evil, the shades of grey in between and whether angels can indeed dance on the head of a pin.

Ultimately, this small book packs a punch and is one I’ll more than happily reread (maybe next time I’ll manage to take notes 😉). Fortunately though, the fun didn’t stop there, because I managed to catch the adaptation on Prime!

Now, you’ve probably heard about the (patently absurd) scandal around this, which spectacularly backfired, so you might have already heard more sane people rising to the show’s defence and raving about how good it is!

Visually stunning and with a lot of great performances- especially from Tenant and Sheen (no surprises there)- this managed to both fully reflect the qualities of the book, whilst not being the exact same thing. There were changes- as expected- but nothing that was detrimental to the original. Some parts were streamlined and there were brilliant additions (I’ll get to in a moment), but most importantly, this captured the spirit of the original.

Speaking of parts not in the book (told you I’d get there), the opening to episode three, which explored Crowley and Aziraphale’s relationship in full was beautifully done. While taking up half the episode’s run time, it was so seamlessly integrated that I almost felt like I must have read it. What I liked best about it, however, was how it felt like a tribute to Pratchett and Gaiman’s friendship- and it felt all the more poignant for that. In fact, the whole backstory of how this show ended up being made makes me pretty emotional.

So, let’s hop skip and a jump to that final showdown before I tear up again! And gosh, it was done well. While a little different to the book, I did love the show’s twist ending and it certainly did its job of keeping me on my toes.

Gotta give these both 5 bananas- meaning ten in total- after all there’s no need to be stingy since they saved us from the end times…

 

Have you read or watched this? What do you think of them? Let me know in the comments!

Books That I Think Will Be Future Classics

No doubt whatever I put on this list will be controversial for academics and bookworms alike. So I do want to clear some things up: I’m specifically going for “classics” in the academic sense, not “stand the test of time” books (there is, in my humble opinion, a difference). You’ll probably be able to note the books that I think are simply wonderful, but that don’t fit well enough into that category. This is a combination of books I personally admire and my own experience of the canon, not what I think the most popular books of our time are and I do hope people won’t be offended by what is/isn’t on here. And obviously, this doesn’t mean that I think I’ll be right, because who knows what the future holds? University students might very well end up studying Noddy in 2200 for all I know- at least I won’t be around to see it 😉 Without further ado, here are some books that I reckon *should*/*will be* the classics of the future:

The Book Thief– I hadn’t mentioned this book in ages… and now I’m mentioning it twice in a week- figures 😉 It is an *amazing*, inventive and emotional book. I definitely think this is the sort of book that would be worth delving into a little deeper, whether or not it does end up getting studied in the future- at least in schools surely!

Homegoing– a modern day epic, spanning centuries, it’s a remarkable piece of literature. With so many embedded themes and stunning writing, I’d be amazed if this didn’t end up on a university syllabus in the future.

Memoirs of a Geisha- Again, I’ve mentioned this recently, but I do think it’s a singularly striking story. I think this already has the label of “modern day classic”- but I don’t set much stock in that label. Most of the time it seems like a marketing ploy to be honest. However, when it comes to this book it’s pretty apt.

Never Let Me Go– yep, this also falls into that category of “modern day classic”- yet it’s fully deserving of that moniker. The writing, while unshowy, is very powerful and there’s a lot of fascinating themes about what it is to be human here. I certainly think it’s worth studying in greater depth.

A Thousand Splendid Suns– I know a lot of people would put the Kite Runner ahead of this- and I’ve no doubt that both will end up as future classics. The reason I put this ahead of Hosseini’s other books is quite simply because I love it so much!! Beyond the emotional depth, the writing is seductively beautiful and the story itself speaks to the human experience.

The Shadow of the Wind– I’m trying to not include books in translation, but I can’t help it with this one, because what a gem this book is! In any language, this book speaks to my soul and truly captures the essence of what it is to fall in love with stories. There’s so much here to admire- the characters, the multi-layered story and the wonderful writing. I certainly think there’s grounds for further exploration of its literary merit.

The Northern Lights– this could be hit or miss, because there’s a snob-value that goes into these decisions, and depending on the university, some do not see fantasy like the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings as a classic (they’re wrong, but whatever). Purely going on my own experience at a redbrick, this could be studied…

Neverwhere– again, I can’t say for certain that this will end up as a future classic- but it definitely deserves to be. Unlike a lot of the books on here, this isn’t my favourite by the author (though it’s wonderful), only I think this is the best example of all the symbolism and intrigue that Gaiman has to offer. I do know someone that did their dissertation partly on American Gods, so it’s not totally implausible as well.

There are a couple of other books that I’d like to put on here but I’m a bit more sceptical about whether they’d make it into the canon (even if I think they should). In the meantime, which books do you think will be future classic? Let me know in the comments!

A Little “Triggered” by Trigger Warning…

Before you ask the question, the answer is no. No, you don’t actually need a trigger warning to read this book. To be brutally honest, I’m the kind of person that’s easily unnerved and a well-timed “boo!” on a Ghost Train can send me into full-scale panic. Yet, sadly while reading this, I didn’t find myself leaving the warm comfort of my living room and wasn’t transported to some upsetting place like I was promised.

The thing is I wanted to like this so much more, because I did appreciate Gaiman’s introduction (my only complaint is that he could have gone further). Still for all his talk at the start of these being unsettling, I found a lot of his tales less-than-scary. Don’t get me wrong, they were, in typical Gaiman fashion, wonderfully weird, amusing and mildly unsettlingly. They were somewhere on Gaiman’s usual scale, between handsomely unique to strikingly strange.  “Triggering” though? Not so much. I think the first line of his intro works as a better title for the whole book- these are “Little Triggers”.

Now, this may realllly sound like I didn’t like this book. Dare to take a sneak peek at my rating and you’ll see that’s not the case at all 😉 In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed a lot of these, respected the way he told each story differently and was never bored. But having had some time to reflect on this (it’s been about a month since I read it- ooh err, I’m always late with reviews!) this was a case of overpromising and under delivering.

That said, it was a really good collection, so here’s some of my highlights and (not-all-that-bad) lowlights:

The Thing About Cassandra– I really loved how this brought back my teenagedom. It was a super clever story, with a good twist.

Jerusalem– I felt a bit meh about this one, though, if I try to articulate why, I might sound like I have “Jerusalem Syndrome” myself. It’s just that I’ve been a number of times and this didn’t capture the city for me. It was a tad reductive.

Click Clack The Rattle Bag– Arghh!! This was the wrong story to read before bed! It was shudder-inducingly creepy!! And probably the most triggering 😉

The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury– I thought this was quite genius and absolutely admired concept.

Orange– I loved the style of this one the most and it was quite possibly my favourite. I adored the laugh out loud wit here.

My Last Landlady– atmospheric and a little spine tingling- I loved it!

Nothing O Clock– I liked the “what’s the time Mr Wolf” element- but the trouble is I fell out of love with Dr Who years ago (that whole Amy’s pregnant-not-pregnant thing drove me cuckoo) so it just wasn’t for me.

Ultimately while I wouldn’t advise reader discretion at all (but then I never do) one tip I would give before going in is that it helped to be well-versed in Gaiman, since a couple of stories were connected to American Gods and Ocean at the End of the Lane (which, FYI, are great books and you should read regardless 😉 ) Anyway, that’s enough rambling, my rating was:

4/5 bananas

Okay, yes, I realise that might be a surprise to some people given the review- but have you ever had a bone to pick with a book you liked before? Let me know in the comments!