Neil Gaiman had one rule for the Good Omens adaptation: making Terry Pratchett happy

[war_machine_rox]

In a wide-ranging interview, Neil Gaiman discusses his #GoodOmens adaptation, including casting Jon Hamm, bringing in Tori Amos, and the cardinal rule: making Terry Pratchett happy https://t.co/gPNeMVZVt9 pic.twitter.com/VIPdcCFurz
- The Verge (@verge) May 31, 2019

Comments

[queenursula]

That's really nice of him.

Not to be negative and I generally like Gaiman but did anyone else find the book a bit hard to get through? I remember liking the devil/angel friendship but a lot of the other stuff was kind of a slog. This was a while ago though.

[ivy_b]

I never read Pratchett solo stuff, but I read some Gaiman I liked. Good Omens was ok, but I didn't *love* it, it was a bit too 'clever' with all the footnotes and whimsy with the shenanigans.

[clickyraptor]

I can tell where Pratchett was writing and where Gaiman came in, only because I've read all of STP's stuff. For something similar, I would try Diana Wynne Jones' Deep Secret.

[yurasama_love]

I liked it, but I think people who struggle with it aren't used to Pratchett's writing. I remember thinking it felt off at times, but that was because I had only ever read Gaiman and no Pratchett. After reading some Discworld the book was easier.

[eatmydustbinns]

I'd only read Gaiman before and never read Pratchett, but I immediately loved the book when I read it. I guess I should read some Pratchett. Anyone recommend where to start?

[nerwende]

I think ppl usually recommend starting with the Death trilogy (Mort, Reaper Man and Soul Music) - I think Mort was where I started, not sure what I followed it with. I'd say it doesn't really matter - there are these "miniworlds"/storylines that happen in the same universe but don't cover ALL of the books so you can sample one character/setting group and if it doesn't work, perhaps try another one. I mostly liked Death, City Watch and the Witches, but could never really get excited about Rincewind for example.

For some reason I also see people saying NOT to read them in publising order, although I don't know why.

[eatmydustbinns]

Ooh thank you for the tips! He has a pretty vast collection so I was boggled as to where to begin.

[eatmydustbinns]

Ooh ok thank you!

[felicityevans]

I also started with Guards! Guards! and I think it's a pretty good introduction to Pratchett's general style, plus it starts off one of the mini storylines another person mentioned.

[moonsenorita]

Haha, I'm the opposite of some of the people who posted above me, since I liked all of Pratchett's parts a lot, and then realized oh, I should read more of him and not Gaiman, because that's the humor I like.

[anydoppelganger]

Yes, the whole vibe of it feels like Neil and Terry were at a sleepover and took turns writing it and looking over each other's shoulders when it wasn't their turn at the keyboard, and giggling about it the entire time. And we the readers see their disjointed efforts. I mean they have* a cute friendship but the book is overrated imo.

I said despite having probably read like 80% of the Crowley/Aziraphale fanfics on the internet lol

ETA: *HAD, wow I totally forgot that Terry died in 2015. smh for some reason my brain kept thinking he was still producing work.
this was very sweet of neil then (his comments about his goal to make terry happy)

[dinkerd]

yeah I just finished it but it definitely took me a minute to get through the second half