Neverwhere

This is my first Neil Gaiman novel, and I must admit I never would have picked it up, had it not been part of Chicago’s One Book, One Chicago city wide book club. I try to keep an open mind when it comes to books I choose to read, but it’s hard sometimes, so I welcome the opportunity One Book, One Chicago brings, in offering new titles for me to try. This is my second one, Toni Morrison’s Mercy being the first and each time so far I have not been disappointed.

Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere is still not the kind of book I would ordinarily read, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it. For the first few pages I couldn’t even understand why I was still reading it, I thought the writing was not that good and the tone overly juvenile. But soon enough I was sucked into the story, and was quite curious to find out how it would all turn out. There are quite a few wonderful characters you get to meet and the overall arc was not too predictable and kept me engaged.

However, the whole time I was reading I kept making comparisons to Harry Potter in my mind. I could not believe the similarities and Gaiman’s audacity at first – only to find out that this book was published a lot earlier than I thought, 1996. A full year before the first Potter was published. After that, while I was reading, I just couldn’t believe it has never been made into a movie, each new chapter and each new character, everything in the book, seemed so wonderfully cinematic.

Well, no wonder – lo and behold – the novel is based on the – no not the movie but the television series. What? That’s a first for me. This is all a lot crazier than I would ever have thought when I first picked up this book, but I would still recommend it. It’s a fun read. As for me, I ‘m off to check out the tv series that started all of this.

I Am Love

Another one of my faves. Fits in with the style that I like most. A minimal, slow, elegant, tragic, film. Perhaps too dramatic? Some have used words like melodrama or even soap-opera, for me the story (and maybe some of the acting) fits the arc (and style) of many a classic be it shakespeare or maybe even the greeks, but the filmography (combined with a fantastic score) is what does it for me. Gorgeous, Powerful, Italian.