2007 Book Log #78: Stardust, by Neil Gaiman

[annathepiper]

I have been horribly, horribly remiss. I have hardly read anything at all by Neil Gaiman, which I know is tantamount to blasphemy in SF/F fandom. (But hey, I've still only read the first three Harry Potters, too.) To date, the only thing of his I've enjoyed--and I did enjoy it quite a bit--was the team-up he did with Terry Pratchett, the absolutely delightful Good Omens. Having just seen the movie version of Stardust in the theaters, I felt compelled to finally correct this little problem and read the novel.

And to be honest, I think the book suffers in comparison with the movie so fresh in my brain. There are certainly moments of magic in the prose; Gaiman is after all a gifted writer, and more than once his descriptions made me grin. But there are large swaths of the movie that expand on things barely described in the story, and between that and the fact that I burned so very quickly through the book on my way home from work, the novel seemed barely substantial to me. Most importantly, the endings are very different. I can see virtue in the way the book ends it; it's a gentler ending, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. But for me at least it lacks a certain emotional punch, and I am not surprised in the slightest that they changed the ending when they took it onto the big screen.

Still, though, the novel's worth a glance just on the virtue of Gaiman's prose alone. Two and a half stars, or three if you happen to get hold of the illustrated graphic novel version with the lovely art of Charles Vess, also well worth a look.

Comments

[wingedelf.livejournal.com]

Stardust is one of my favourites. Give it a go again after the movie has faded a bit.

[janne.livejournal.com]

Haven't seen the movie, but read the book a while back. Was rather underwhelmed with the ending of the book, so I'm heartened to hear the movie chose a different one. Hmm. I think Stardust is actually the Gaiman book I liked least, though the illustrated version is very pretty!

[lickingtoad.livejournal.com]

"American Gods." Go now, seriously. :)

[mamishka.livejournal.com]

For me, reading the book without the art is, well, only getting half the experience. I was quite horrified when it was released as just a novel. I think it was in an effort to get Gaiman's 'writing' cred up, since he mostly was only know as a 'comic book' author. But yeah, I wouldn't have bothered to read it if there hadn't been the art.