The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones
I feel numb, but totally blown away. I just finished reading The Kindly Ones, the ninth and penultimate volume of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman. I'm probably going to make a big post about the whole series after I've had some time to reflect, but it's been the most enthralling and emotional experience reading a piece of literature in a very long time. I teared up multiple times over the course of the book, and...um....yeah. I don't do that. Just powerful and moving and packs the hugest wallop, especially after having spent so much time with the characters throughout the story. So many amazing creations come back, even to play just tiny roles in this particular installment but everything they do is important.
The whole thing just conveys such a feeling of unfortunate inevitability. I mean, I guess I've seen the ending coming since about...Brief Lives (Vol. 7) at least, and it's been telegraphed across the entire series, if I really think about it. As a reader, I wish so much that he could have learned to change, but...The whole thing's a Tragedy, in the truest, Greek-est sense of the word. Bravo. Good on Gaiman. I'd been so invested and each volume seemed to improve on the previous one to such an extent that I really didn't know if the conclusion could hold up.
If I don't pick up the coda for Festive Season...I just really need to get some closure on the story, so I can pick up all those novels I have sitting on my desk. Plus, I need to reread Endless Nights, because when I read it two years ago, I hadn't read any of Sandman, so I'll finally be able to understand everything with context and answers.
The whole thing just conveys such a feeling of unfortunate inevitability. I mean, I guess I've seen the ending coming since about...Brief Lives (Vol. 7) at least, and it's been telegraphed across the entire series, if I really think about it. As a reader, I wish so much that he could have learned to change, but...The whole thing's a Tragedy, in the truest, Greek-est sense of the word. Bravo. Good on Gaiman. I'd been so invested and each volume seemed to improve on the previous one to such an extent that I really didn't know if the conclusion could hold up.
If I don't pick up the coda for Festive Season...I just really need to get some closure on the story, so I can pick up all those novels I have sitting on my desk. Plus, I need to reread Endless Nights, because when I read it two years ago, I hadn't read any of Sandman, so I'll finally be able to understand everything with context and answers.