The first Read Along post:
I read Neverwhere years ago. I first started to read Gaiman through Sandman and then found his books.
1. What do you think of our two villains thus far, Messrs. Croup and Vandemar?
They’re certainly quirky and memorable and very, very creepy. One of the creepiest things is that Gaiman uses funny descriptions for them. At the same time, they also don’t have any redeeming qualities; they kill people and enjoy it. They’re also not human. They seem to have the ability to travel through time, or in time, because we first see them in 1550 and they discuss going to London Below, four hundred years forward. And they don’t bleed. They’re certainly very effective and scary villains.
2. Thus far we’ve had a small taste of London Below and of the people who inhabit it. What do you think of this world, this space that lies within or somewhat overlaps the space the “real world” occupies?
It has very much an Alice in Wonderland feeling except that while Wonderland was somewhere else, London Below is right there, if you want to see it. It’s filled with the “undesirable people”; the homeless, the unemployed, the sick, and the suffering who have fallen down society’s safety nets. They’ve formed their own society with their own rules because they have to.
People of London Above don’t even see the people of London Below, much as we have a tendency to ignore the nastier sides of our society as long as we can.
3. What ideas or themes are you seeing in these first 5 chapters of Neverwhere? Are there any that you are particularly drawn to?
There’s the allusion to Alice in Wonderland with Richard obviously as Alice but he’s happy to get away and back to his normal life.
Above people also ignore Below people like the “ordinary” in society ignore the homeless and desperately poor.
There’s also commentary on the coldness of our society. Jessica is a prime example: she donates to charity but just steps over wounded Door like she isn’t there. She also says to Richard that “they all have homes to go to. Really.” In her priorities, her life and any advantage she can get, is far above anyone else.
4. We’ve met a number of secondary characters in the novel, who has grabbed your attention and why?
Door is an obvious one. She’s the damsel in distress, a plot device, but she’s also intelligent and resourceful. She also has to constantly make deals and think about politics.
However, my very favorite character in Neverwhere is Hunter: competent and deadly. She doesn’t flaunt her skills until she needs to impress Door and the Marquis. Her short conversation with Richard is funny and apt: She sells her body and Richard immediately jumps to the conclusion that she’s a prostitute. (What else can a woman be, right? Yet, from a certain point of view, that’s what we all do: sell our labor and so our bodies.) In my mind’s eye I can’t help but see her as Gina Torres (from Firefly).
The Floating Market is also a whole character by itself.
5. As you consider the Floating Market, what kind of things does your imagination conjure up? What would you hope to find, or what would you be looking for, at the Market?
Lost, stolen, forgotten items. Probably all the socks I’ve lost, especially just one of the pair… Possibly lost artwork, like unheard of Shakespeare plays.
I’d be looking for all the things I lost in my last move.
6. If you haven’t already answered it in the questions above, what are your overall impressions of the book to this point?
I still haven’t warmed up to Richard. He has the tendency to let others decide his life and do what is expected of him instead of what he really wants. OTOH, that’s probably true of most of us, to a point.
But I love, love the setting of the London Below and Above.
May 21, 2012 at 7:45 pm
I picture Hunter as one of those scantily-clad female superheroes who can kick butt and function as eye candy at the same time. I thought it was hilarious that Richard thought she was a prostitute, and I was so relieved that Hunter was the bodyguard instead of that creep that Croup and Vandemar sent.
May 22, 2012 at 5:05 pm
Yes, she’s very superhero like. However, I picture her wearing a comfortable and functional leather armor, definitely not scantly-clad. 🙂
May 22, 2012 at 5:22 pm
I pictured her clothing as being suggestive enough to make Richard guess the wrong profession, lol. It might not be quite accurate, but it’s a fun mental image.
May 21, 2012 at 9:03 pm
Yeah, where do those socks go?! Vandemar and Croup creeped me out too, but I hadn’t picked up why. I’m guessing the playful tone used to describe their dark expolits might have something to do with it though.
May 21, 2012 at 10:41 pm
You are so right on with Gina Torres as Hunter. That is exactly how I have pictured her for years. Such a beautiful, capable, deadly human.
May 22, 2012 at 4:57 pm
Oh, it’s interesting what you say about first seeing Croup and Vandemar in 1550 – I think we must be reading different versions! Yup, I’ve just looked, and that bit is at the end of the Author’s Preferred Version that I’m reading (because I think I lent my original copy of the book and it wasn’t returned, bleah). I’m glad you pointed it out because I said in my post I thought that they were very Shakespearean villains. It’s nice to know the author might have agreed.
May 22, 2012 at 5:08 pm
I’m reading the Finnish translation. It has two prologues: one where Richard meets the old woman and one with Croup and Vandemar. I agree, they are Shakespearean villains.
May 23, 2012 at 12:57 am
It is very creepy that Gaiman describes them in humorous ways, makes you think they are much more dangerous than they appear.
I too like that London Below is actually connected to London Above. Sure, there are some magical areas and portals but at the same time it is as close as the next homeless person that you choose to ignore.
Doesn’t surprise me that you haven’t warmed up to Richard yet. He does allow himself to get blown about on the wind an awful lot. In some ways it makes him easy to relate to and in other ways he is exasperating.
May 25, 2012 at 8:13 pm
Hi mervih,
I have been thinking on the comparison of Neverwhere to Alice in Wonderland this past week–a comparison that I definitely agree with, but there’s something about Neverwhere that feels SO much more realistic and thought provoking and I think you nailed it in your response above. It is because Wonderland is someplace else and London Below IS RIGHT THERE! That’s it!!!
May 26, 2012 at 2:24 pm
Quirky and creepy – yep, that’s Croup and Vandemar! I cringe every time they show up, and yet I can’t look away when they do. Richard does seem to have a lot of growing up to do; I expect that his character will change quite a bit as the book progresses.