Neverwhere

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Reason for Reading: IRL Bookclub, Mythopoeic Award Challenge
Rating: 3.5/5

It had to come at some point. I knew the romance was fragile. I am a fickle person, and it takes a lot to satisfy me. No one person could possibly live up to my standards all the time. Still, it was disappointing all the same when the day finally came.

The day of course, I wasn't completely charmed by one of Neil Gaiman's books. That's not to say, by any means, that I disliked Neverwhere. I enjoyed it, found it intriguing and all, but for me the excitement, the passion I remember after finishing American Gods and Anansi Boys just wasn't quite there.

I had a feeling as I read this book that I might appreciate it more were I a Londoner, or had I ever visited London. In Neverwhere, there are two Londons, London Above and London Below. London Below seems to exist sort of simultaneously with London Above (the borders between the two are a little fuzzy).

Richard Mayhew is an ordinary guy on an ordinary date with his beautiful but demanding fiancee when he stumbles across a young girl bleeding on the street. Richard knows he can't just leave her there, so he ends up taking her home. When she leaves the next day, he heads back to his normal life... only his landlord is trying to rent out his flat, his ATM doesn't recognize him, his coworkers are cleaning out his desk, and his fiancee can't remember him.

Richard, it seems, has fallen between the cracks into London Underground. A reluctant Door agrees to let him tag along in her quest to discover who murdered her family. And so begins a most bizarre journey into the underworld of London. I guarentee you'll never think the same way about a subway station again.

This book had all the great elements of Gaiman's other books. Fascinating characters, especially the marvelously stomach-churningly disgusting villains, Mr. Coup and Mr. Vandemeer. Richard is particularly interesting, being clumsy, kind, disorganized, and completely oblivious to the horror he is engaged to. The plot is twisty and and full of challenges for Door and Co. to overcome. The setting was of course, incredibly imaginative. I wonder if maybe the setting, though was my biggest hangup. I kept waiting for a precise explanation of how exactly the Londer Undergrounders could kind of but not quite be seen by London Abovers, whether London Below is a literally separate place or if it just occupies space not generally used by London Above.

Most of the locations in London Below are taken from the name of the London Above station, but are literal. For example, at Blackfriar's station, there are Black Friars who guard a secret relic. And so on. Like I said, I wish I had been to London so all of the locations had meant more to me.

I'm not going to lie though, I really want to visit London now. While riding the subway, in between visiting Platform 9 3/4, I'll totally be hitting up the stations mentioned in the book.

Husband: Okay, we took the subway all the way to Knightsbridge. Was there a reason we are now on the opposite end of the city from where we were supposed to be?

Me: Yeah, see in this book I read one time, Knightsbridge was actually Night's Bridge, like you crossed over a bridge, and it was night. Get it? Night's bridge? And now, here I am! Yay.

Husband: (smacks his forehead) No more reading for you!

(Just kidding, my husband is not anti-reading. He is actually quite pro-reading, which is a good thing considering the fact I spend a lot of time doing it.)