The United Kingdom packs a huge variety of experiences for travelers – from posh and fast paced London to incredibly green Scottish highlands. While it is impossible to cover even half of what UK has to offer in a single trip, I tried to include a good mix of everything in my 10 day trip to UK.
If you are visiting UK for the first time, chances are that you will have a lot of questions – what to pack, where all to go and what to skip. I hope my experiences can help answer some of these questions!
Title: Neverwhere (London Below #1) Author: Neil Gaiman Publish Date: 16 September 1996 # of Pages: 370 Rating: 3/5 Buy it*: Amazon
Synopsis – Neverwhere
Richard Mayhew was just another London businessman, leading a perfectly ordinary life with work in the day and date with his gorgeous fiance at night. This was until he had a strange encounter with a girl named Door, which turned his life upside down. What follows is an extraordinary adventure in a world removed from the one which everyone sees, a world of people who have fallen through the cracks, a world where things seems oddly confusing but eerily familiar, the world known as London Below, which quite literally, is situated below London.
My Rating
Review
While the plot is not that great, what charmed me was the highly graphic picture of the characters as well as the twisted world of London Below Gaiman has managed to paint through his words. The fantasy world created by Gaiman is exciting and oddly unsettling at the same time, and the elaborate details reflect his depth of research and creativity. Since the London Below is a twisted version of London Above, there are a lot of references to the actual places in London, which a reader from other parts of the world might not be too familiar with. This makes imagining this world a little frustrating, with all the googling for images of these places.
“He had gone beyond the world of metaphor & simile into the place of things that are, and it was changing him.”
The people of London Below seem strange at first, but then you just make your peace with them. Through the novel, you will fall in love with the courage of Door, and understand what lies beneath the tough exterior of the Marquis. The character of Richard Mayhew begins as a simple at heart, content with his ordinary existence kind of guy, and emerges into a brave-hearted and demanding for something more from life kind of person. I would have also loved to hear the story from the perspective of Door or the Marquis, since there is no mention of what they think or feel living in this crazy world.
“Richard did not believe in angels, he never had. He was damned if he was going to start now. Still, it was much easier not to believe in something when it was not actually looking directly at you and saying your name.”
Overall ‘Neverwhere’ is a fun read, more so ever if you live in and/or love London. It has a bit of mythology, a bit of fiction, and a whole lot of London. I would not call it a must read, but it can definitely be a good entry point to the genre of urban fantasy.
Fun Fact!
The book has an interesting history attached to it. It is an adaption (or maybe more of a elongated version) of a BBC Series devised by Nail Gaiman and Lenny Henry, directed by Dewi Humphreys and aired in 1996.
Lets Talk!
Have you read Neverwhere? What are your thoughts on the book? Also, have you had a chance to see the BBC series, and did you like it?
Note: The link above is an affiliate link. Purchases made after clicking the link help support this blog
Lifestyle Whiz 