Reading roundup
And here I take my departure from prime number posting. Farewell, superlative geekery!
63. Jim Butcher, White Night -- *this* is why I like reading Butcher. ( MAJOR SPOILERS )
63. Jim Butcher, White Night -- *this* is why I like reading Butcher. ( MAJOR SPOILERS )
In reflection, I think you're right -- Preludes and Nocturnes probably is darker than The Doll's House. I'd forgotten that the thing with Dee happened in Preludes (I always just think of Dream getting his mask back).
And it's so *weird* to think of all this horrible stuff as coming from the same mind as officialgaiman's delightful blog entries
I know! Having read the comics first, for a while I was completely weirded out by how cheerful and... happy Neil Gaiman is in his blog. I've always thought of him as this very dark writer, not quite horror, but very close. Now I don't know what to make of him.
Then again, I write pretty damn dark stuff myself. And then I go and teach third-graders about dolphins all day. :/ I guess that's just how it goes.
Your attitude toward Dream is interesting to me, because I've met a lot of people who's second-favorite character was Dream, after Death, or Delirium, or Desire -- but I don't know that I've ever met anyone for whom Dream wasn't the favorite or at least second-favorite of the lot. I mean, he's got this kind of angsty goth-boy thing going on, which is admittedly a little grating now and then, but I always liked it because it made him less a Mary-Sue and more a flawed, believable, powerful but occasionally petty character. However, even though I really liked Dream, I do think it probably would have been better for Gaiman to have... rationed him more, I guess. I can see that his sheer ubiquity could tend to get on one's nerves after a while.
I'm so glad you liked "Men of Good Fortune," though! I think that's my favorite story out of the entire series. (Hence that toasting Morpheus/Hob icon I use all the time ;). I love the period outfits/hair/etc., and just... yeah, everything. Marlowe, OMG. (Hence my Marlowe icon, too, by the way. :D "At least it scans...")
Oh, and did you know that Fiddler's Green is based on G. K. Chesterton? :D So he's just innately awesome, I guess. And I love Cain and Abel. Hee.
Anyway, this is yet another disjointed comment because, yet again, I'm on a laptop and the TV is on, but someday I swear I'll have the internet again and then I'll say something more coherent about all these things. But I'm glad you're enjoying the comics, even if there's a bit too much Dream in them for you. :)
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Heh -- AWESOME timing! :DDD
It's not like I dislike Dream. He is interesting, and I definitely agree on the fact that it's good that he is flawed and petty and kind of an asshole to a lot of people, and condescending to pretty much everyone (except cats). I think my problem is probably that there aren't enough people around to tell him so. Death does, which is fun, and Desire does, though it is pretty ineffectual, and the occasional mortal/creature does -- like Unity, when she dies in Rose's place. But not enough of it, and I guess I just like to see the broody, self-involved characters taken down a peg, occasionally. I think that might be it. And I think I would've liked to see more of the other Endless, too.
"Men of Good Fortune" may well be my favorite as well. The other episode that I really was struck by was "24 Hours", with honorable mentions for the one with the dead schoolboys in Season of Mists and "The Sound of Her Wings". But all those other ones are just so dark that I would hesitate to call them a favorite. And, yes, Dream and Hob in period costume = awesome! (And, yes, I definitely noted the quote in your Marlowe icon showing up there, too! :)
Oh, and did you know that Fiddler's Green is based on G. K. Chesterton? :D So he's just innately awesome, I guess. And I love Cain and Abel. Hee.
Ooh! I did not know that, even though I thought he looked very familiar. That does explain some of the fundamental awesomeness!
I like Cain and Abel, too (I totally forgot to mention what a kick I got out of chibi!Morpheus and chibi!Death in the story Abel tells baby Daniel in "Parliament of Rooks") -- although Abel's stuttering is fairly annoying to read. But, after being slightly horrified by the casual, repeated fratricide, I've stated finding it really funny, in a bloody "Groundhog Day" sort of way.
I'm actually going back to the library just now for more Sandman just now -- finding myself rather addicted :)
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