I’m fairly sure I saw this movie, but I can’t remember it for the life of me. So I picked up the audiobook. (Neil Gaiman, why must you insist on reading your audiobooks softly? Talk louder!) Our protagonist, Tristram Thorn, doesn’t show up for a while. We see his origins first, and discover how he came to be. Growing up in an extremely small and isolated town, he is understandably a bit naive. He does take direction and advice well, though. Except in […]
“Every lover is, in his heart, a madman, and, in his head, a minstrel.”
I have never been a big fantasy fan but CBR (and, specifically, Badkittyuno) have led me to try new things to mixed results. Neil Gaiman has been a welcome addition to my author’s list beginning with last year’s American Gods– probably my favorite book from the CBR8 read. Stardust is Gaiman’s fairy tail for adults and it’s a pretty successful attempt. This was an increasingly rare instance when I saw the movie (granted, forever ago) before reading the novel and while they have similarities they are also […]
Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket
Every good fairy tale starts with a wish. The little mermaid wishes to walk on land. Cinderella wishes to go to the ball. Maleficent wishes someone would just throw her a fucking bone and invite her to a baby shower. And in Neil Gaiman’s Stardust, all our hero wants is to get the girl. The other thing every good fairy tale needs is a quest. In this case, the quest is for the heart of Victoria Foster, the most beautiful girl in the village. Or […]
If You’ll Be My Star, I’ll Be Your Sky, You Can Hide Underneath Me And Come Out at Night
I’m always down for a good fairy tale, which is probably why Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite authors, since he is also always down to write a good fairy tale. Having seen the movie version of this story before reading the book, there were a few bits where I preferred the movie version, but mostly the book version wins out. Tristran lives in Wall – a town with a wall, surprisingly. The wall borders Faerie. One day, when shy Tristran works up the […]
They Don’t Actually Spend a Lot of Time on the Ship, Even Though It’s On the Cover
A couple of things have reminded me of the movie Stardust lately, which ultimately led to me feeling the need to read the book, of course! Because why wouldn’t I delve into the source material of something I like so much? And I wasn’t disappointed! As always, there is so much more to the story and more detail than you’d see in a different kind of medium, and Neil Gaiman is very creative and always seems to be able to produce some sort of vivid […]
There’s magic just beyond…
Well, this was just fun. I saw the movie years ago, before I knew who Neil Gaiman was, and I went in with no expectations. I remember being surprised at how much I enjoyed the movie, and that’s about it. A few years later, I picked up the book after finishing Gaiman’s American Gods, without realizing that this was the book the movie was based on. And now after reading the book, I want to watch the movie again. The story has all the elements […]