I dunno. I realized around the time of "Stardust" that Gaiman is an excellent storyteller, but a curiously afflicted writer. He seems to have a single dominant thread that runs through his work, and perhaps I'm only frustrated with it because I'm not from the UK. That thread is this: his protagonist always seems to get shoved, manipulated or dragged around in the story without ever exhibiting much control. Oh, eventually it will become clear that our hero is the hero because of his remarkable capabilities, but emotionally and mentally, they remain passive, directionless and often -- whether literally or figuratively -- completely in the dark.
Think about how naive and puzzled Morpheus was, most of the time. Think about poor dumb Shadow, probably figuring everything out long after we did. Think about the kid (whatever his name was) who goes after the star, hardly even noticing his maturation into a cliched sword-and-sorcery brick. And, of course, Mayhew in "Neverwhere"... I liked the world, but I'd've appreciated a hero who actually got a fucking grip sometime before, I don't know, the END OF THE FUCKING BOOK?
Anyway, that's my gripe with Gaiman. I understand how writers write themselves "into" their work, but I can't imagine that someone as successful and well-regarded as Neil Gaiman is as big a pussy as most of his main characters.
Clavis
[ 14-10-2001: Message edited by: Clavis ] |