Well...I recently finished reading Neil Gaiman's American Gods, and I got the impression that Gaiman is the upper middle class man's Stephen King. Similar elements and ideas and approach, but language that's not quite as fluid and characters that are neither as vivid nor as likable.
Any Neil Gaiman veterans out there who feel I'm wrong? Any books of his that might disprove my assertion?
Until I'm set straight, I stand beside this opinion.
Hey, nothing against Gaiman - he seems to be pretty good at what he does, even if "what he does" is "what Stephen King does." At the very least, we can probably all agree that Gaiman is more respectable than Nicholas Sparks.
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Neil Gaiman's tragedy is that his strongest work, by far, is way behind him (Sandman). I think his writing style is served better by the graphic novel format. It'll be interesting to see if Stephen King's venture into comics (American Vampire) is as strong as his novels. But I'm a sucker for both anyway.
ReplyDeleteDaily - I've heard good things about "Sandman" quite often. I might try that one out sometime, but "American Gods" burned me out. I'll have to wait a little while.
ReplyDeleteEh, I feel like it's apples and oranges.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I read King I always feels like H.P. Lovecraft is nagging me.
I've only read American Gods by Gaiman. When I finish book 11 of The Wheel of Time I'm going to read Gaiman's Anansi Boys. However, when reading Gods I picked up on slight influences from Ursula K. Le Guin. However, Gaiman's prose is no where near as stunning as Le Guin's. As far as I'm concerned there's very few that can hold a candle to Le Guin's prose. Or her concepts for that matter. Her storytelling ain't too shabby either. She's like J.K. Rowling on steiroids.
Ouch, mega harsh dude. I loved Stardust. But hey, I'm a chick, dudes may not like it.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you want a poor man's version of Stephen King, try some Bentley Little. He rocks.
Mark - I was interested to hear your thoughts on this, since you've mentioned Gaiman before. Now I'm wanting to pick up something by Le Guin. Sounds intriguing.
ReplyDeleteDawn - Ouch? Aw, come on! There are worse things someone could be called than an upper middle class Stephen King, right? That is...unless you dislike SK :)
JM, you can't go wrong with Le Guin. She was a pioneer of Science Fiction and Fantasy during the late 60s and 70s. The genre was dominated by men but she tore down walls and really became a trailblazer of the genre.
ReplyDeleteHer most popular novel is A Wizard of Earthsea. It was Harry Potter before there was a Harry Potter. It's a quick enjoyable read. Just a little over 200pgs. It was also made into a mini-series. The Sci-fi channel shame it horribly. The main character is black and they cast a white person. Horrid. That's one of many sins they committed.
Personally, I would recommend either The Left Hand of Darkness or The Dispossessed. Both have intriguing stories and deal with deep concepts. The Dispossessed is my favorite. Le Guin considers herself a mix of Libertarian and Anarchist. The Dispossessed is set on an alien-anarchist planet. The physicist who discovers it considers it his utopia. The novel explores the pros and cons of an anarchist society.
I've read different articles that compare The Dispossessed to Brave New World. I couldn't say though because I've never read the latter. I assume you may have. Therefore, it gives you an idea of what to expect.
Besides that she has a vast collection of works. She's been publishing since the 60s. Sadly she hasn't put anything out in 3 years.
She has a lot of advice and resources for writers on her site. Every morning when I sit down to write I read a short essay she wrote titled A Few Words to A Young Writer. It gets the juices flowing for me. This is my favorite part . . .
"A writer is a person who cares what words mean, what they say, how they say it. Writers know words are their way towards truth and freedom, and so they use them with care, with thought, with fear, with delight. By using words well they strengthen their souls. Story-tellers and poets spend their lives learning that skill and art of using words well. And their words make the souls of their readers stronger, brighter, deeper."
Apologies for the long post. There's two reason I wanted to become a writer. First, The Wheel of Time. Second, Ursula Le Guin. Her and Robert Jordan are my biggest heroes. I had to take the opportunity to give her some hype.
Mark - Geesh! You should have saved that comment and used it as a blog post. As it is, that comment is officially inducted into the "Comment Hall of Fame" on the page. Well done, and thanks for the in-depth look.
ReplyDeleteI'm one of the only people in the world who can't stand Neil Gaiman's stuff. I believe the reason is because all his protagonists I've encountered are the same mundane guy, sans personality. Whereas Stephen King's strength is the depth he gives his stories, usually with his characters. So I think I see what you're saying here, but I'm not sure I agree. Even with similar stories (which I'm not convinced they have) they're too different.
ReplyDeleteBecause SK tends to make comments that suggest his own view of himself is about on par with his level of popularity, my temples start to pound whenever he is mentioned at all. And because I love Gaiman's YA stuff--Coraline, the Graveyard Book, and Stardust are all exemplary in my opinion--I'd like to offer my vehement disagreement.
ReplyDeleteWhatever similarities two authors may have, you still can't call one a mere "version" of the other, especially if they are both well-established in their own right. And if there are no new ideas under the sun, then you could technically draw parallels between (almost) every writer--and rank them all as "versions" of each other in an endless circle. So, I think your argument is weak in its very premise.
But then, I'm still hot with fury over the argument in general. You've succeeded in eliciting passionate reactions, at least. We bookies get defensive of our loves.
Jen - You said this: "...his protagonists I've encountered are the same mundane guy, sans personality. Whereas Stephen King's strength is the depth he gives his stories, usually with his characters." Yeah, that's pretty much exactly how I felt!
ReplyDeleteHanna - You said this: "SK tends to make comments that suggest his own view of himself is about on par with his level of popularity..." And I laughed. Really hard. That was pretty awesome. Also, I think this is an excellent example of differing tastes. For instance: The book I read ("American Gods") had a Stephen King blurb on the cover. In other words, Gaiman respects and appreciates King enough that he asked him to blurb the book. But some people will feel that one is superior to the other, and some will feel that one is far superior to the other. Also, I think you made an excellent point about everything really being some sort of version of something else. Well said!
I think Hanna's right-- You've chosen two authors that people care about quite passionately. There'll definitely be some strong opinions on this one. :)
ReplyDeleteJen - There's nothing like some strong opinions to spice up a discussion, right? ;)
ReplyDeleteAh, valid points all around. If divided in our tastes, we're at least all united in our force of passion, eh?
ReplyDeleteHanna - It looks like we caught you in an amicable mood this morning, huh? Btw, I was perusing your website yesterday - I'm really glad that you write YA. You have a nice playfulness to your writing voice.
ReplyDeleteKing scares the crap out of me, but Gaiman just creeps me out. I can see your point of view. Loving the blog.
ReplyDeleteI have to confess, I may be the only person on the planet who's never read Gaiman. I plan to rectify the situation immediately!
ReplyDeleteTawna
American Gods was Gaiman's first solo attempt at a novel that wasn't first something else (Neverwhere was a TV show first and is much better suited as a novel, Stardust was a graphic novel). I don't think it's fair to compare American Gods with the whole laundry list of things you've read by King.
ReplyDeleteThey write two completely different genres for the most part, and I often find King's work to be lengthy and unnecessary. The only books I'm found of are the Stand and the Dark Tower series. While I enjoy every single thing that Gaiman puts out, whether it be a kid's fiction like Coraline or the Graveyard Book or graphic novel or novel, etc..
Okay--that first line really made me laugh, Jordan. I promise I'm only temperamental on rare occasions. Only, I can't ever seem to hold my tongue (or keyboard) when those occasions are sparked.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind words. I think it's beautiful that so many different types and styles of writing can come together in these odd little communities, and be so valuable to one another. Like you say in your most recent post, we all need each other. And whether we're agreeing or spitting fire, we're at least spurring each other on. So, kudos for being a spurrer, friend. Keep it up.