I know, I know, you shouldn't see the film until you have read the book. But with "Stardust" - written by Neil Gaiman - I had no idea that there was a book until I had already seen the film. Twice. I really liked the film, I was completely sucked into the story so when I found out there was a book, I had to read it even though I was worried that it wouldn't live up to the film. How wrong I was. In my defense, I hadn't read anything by Neil Gaiman at the time so I had no idea that this wasn't just any author but a very very gifted one with a spark and an imagination that very few can match. It is hard to describe this book but it kind of reminds me of Willam Goldman's "The Princess Bride".
Since then I have loved "Stardust" and now I want to tempt you into reading it. So here are ten things I love about "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman:
1) One of the main characters is a fallen star and the reader meets this fallen star at a moment when said star is in a very bad mood and very ready to throw mud at our hero.
2) It manages to be both tough and whimsical at the same time.
3) The names of the characters - Tristran, Dunstan, Yvaine...
4) This quote from page 123: "As they travelled, the star cursed the day she had fallen to this wet, unfriendly world. It had seemed so gentle and welcoming when seen from high in the sky."
5) And this quote from page 167: "It has occasionally been remarked upon that it is as easy to overlook something large and obvious as it is to overlook something small and niggling, and that the large things one overlooks can often cause problems."
6) It features the word "gradiloquently" on page 37.
7) And on page 183 it features the words: "lackwit", "clodpoll" and "dunderhead".
8) Two goats are having to act human in one of the chapters. Not an easy task.
9) The villains are really evil. Not kind of nasty or had-a-bad-childhood-unpleasant. Evil.
10) This quote from page 135: "They sat side by side on a thick, white cumulus cloud the size of a small town."
I also loved the movie Stardust and have yet to read the book. I am a huge Neil Gaiman fan. But I had a similar experience to yours with Coraline. Saw the movie first and loved it, then immediately started the book the next day. At first I thought it did not even measure up to the movie at all but by the end I liked it even better than and in a different way from the movie. Thanks for your review. I must read Stardust this month!
ReplyDelete@Judy: Oh you must. The books is really beautiful, the love story works even better in the book than in the film.
ReplyDeleteI read the book but have not seen the movie! I really enjoyed the book, and I also liked how the star was in a bad mood :)
ReplyDeleteI haven't read anything by Neil Gaiman.
ReplyDelete*shame*
This might be a good one to start with!
The film got me to read the book too. I usually like Gaiman's ideas but not his writing, but I really did enjoy this one. He is so creative.
ReplyDelete@Jenny: Yes there is something really funny about a grumpy star.
ReplyDelete@Colleen: You have to read something by him and yes this is a good place to start.
@Sam: I know, I wish I had the same creative gene as him - or just a tiny bit of it.
Great post! I also LOVED Stardust - the movie and the book! Great quotes and totally agree with number 3. Now I wan't to read this book again!
ReplyDeleteI loved this book. The movie is great too, but the book is just a bit darker and so it's even more wonderful.
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