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What's the deal with Neil Gaiman?
I've read an issue of the Sandman series, and have seen his movie Stardust. I keep hearing the guy is a GREAT writer, but with my experience, I find that his imagery is lovely, but his stories and characters seem to be cobbled together from 2-dimensional cliches. You can encapsulate any of them in a single sentence, typically beginning with 'classic example of,' or 'whimsical inclusion.'
I tend to really not like fantasy because I find that far too many fantasy writers fit this bill, in my mind. I don't like comics for the same reason. What passes for a storyline or 'character development' in comics is, to me, very very extemely lame. Simplistic characters and basic' cliche plots too run-of-the-mill and 2D to even be believed. I mean, Dorothy Gale (Oz) has more internal complexity. To me, comic or fantasy mechanics tend to really only work for folks who are exclusively fans of that genre.
Objective Gaiman fans: given my impression so far, is it worthwhile for me to pursue him at all?
Well, I know I can be guilty of creating a strong bias on initial impressions, and while that bias will tend to run true for me, I've also found that sometimes tastes will change or something else colored my initial opinion. It also doesn't mean that there might not be some other, more developed work by the author that I might really enjoy. I like to re-examine my prejudices from time to time. While I might have no intention of picking up his comic work, perhaps he has some real writing out there that is better.
3 Answers
- jplatt39Lv 71 decade agoFavorite Answer
Comics bluntly tends to promote this view of "Character Development" Gaiman's comics interest me because, for example, P. Craig Russell AND Malcolm Dean (who hasn't been distributed in the US to any great extent since he used to work for Michael Moorcock's New Worlds in the sixties) were illustrators of Sandman stories. It's his novels where he does what he does best. Read American Gods and the new One, Graveyard Book. Of course even he admits he wrote it now because he decided he would never be good enough to write it as well as he wants to write it, but he does stretch himself in a way that he never has an opportunity to in the material you are talking about.
- 1 decade ago
Read American Gods. It's his best work by far. I'm a huge fan of his, but even I have to admit Sandman was 'eh.' American Gods, on the other hand, is one of the best books I've ever read. :)
- BeanLv 51 decade ago
If you don't like it so far what could change that? Just read someone else, I've had a hard time getting into his stuff too.
