Stardust - Neil Gaiman
Posted on Sep 29, 2008 under science-fiction / fantasy |
I like most part of Neil Gaiman’s work. I loved some stories in Sandman (one of the most popular comic books series ever made), I really enjoyed American Gods, I laughed when reading Anansi Boys. And I loved the first chapter in Stardust. I would have wanted to like it as a whole, from the beginning till the end but this could not be, for Gaiman has many “hit or miss” moments.
Stardust begins very well, in an English village named Wall, set at some granite hills. Beyond those hills there is the fairy land. Young Tristan Thorn promises his lover, Victoria Forester, that he will find the star they both saw falling beyond the wall and she will marry him. Inevitably, Tristan begins his journey to the fairy land, although the star proves to be a young woman, not a piece of a meteorite. The adventures will reach epic proportions when many parties prove to want capturing the girl, from various reasons.
The most impressive thing is right from the start, the language, that in some moments, it becomes rather poetic, rivaling with Shakespeare (especially when they cite from Shakespeare). From metaphors to epithets and comparisons, Stardust is a refined text from the esthetic point of view. The fantastic world is a world pre-Tolkien, evidently and abundantly influenced by British folklore. Characters are though stereotypical, from the young man looking for adventure, to the bad witch, the dying king, or sociopath princes that kill each other for the crown (the dead princes’ choir is still remarkable).
Stardust is a fairytale from a modern perspective and that is obvious when talking about its tone and rhythm. It is a strange mix of modern intrigue and traditional atmosphere, but this doesn’t go as well as we hoped for. Characters are one-dimensional, there is an inconstancy regarding the development of the story, and many turn-ups seem forced, many situations are solved in a deus ex machine style and the ending is disappointing.
The book is fit for an occasional reader, the kind of reader who wants a simple and short story. The screening is as fit as the book. But for the passionate for fantasy literature, Stardust is disappointing especially because Gaiman already proved he can do more that that.
Written by: Cristi