You sure you want to start that hijack? 'Cause I’m more than willing to take this thread all the way to Cuba.
I thought the writing was VERY Pratchett-esque, down to the frequent use of footnotes. Admittedly, I haven’t read much Gaiman (just “American Gods”), but most of the dialogue seemed like classic Pratchett banter to me.
Minor note: the ending in Good Omens just seemed to fall down, after a top-notch book. What was that all about? It was like a Pratchett ending, but it pretty much collapsed.
I liked it, especially the ironic quote:- “And there never was an apple, in Adam’s opinion, that wasn’t worth the trouble you got into for eating it.”
The ending contained a parody of 1984, when he said “if you want to imagine a future, imagine a boot - make that a sneaker” (where in 1984 it described the boot crushing the Teeming Masses of Humanity).
Was the ending different in the American version? I read somewhere that they added a couple things to it. I’d go look but I don’t actually have a copy of Good Omens. Must rectify that soon.
I agree the book was more Pratchett in tone than Gaiman. Although I remember reading an interview that said the maggots were all Gaiman. Sorry for not including a link, it was a while ago.
It wasn’t so much bad as suddenly and wierdly melodramatic. I started to do these -> :rolleyes: when OUR LITTLE HERO yelled out, “Noooooooooo!”
I’ll back him up. Douglas Addams, *then * Terry Pratchett, and *then * Neil Gaiman, if at all.
Gaiman’s writing ain’t the greatest when he doesn’t have pictures to convey the story. His stories are really dry and in my opinion a little on the dull side. I haven’t read Pratchett, but having read a few things by Gaiman, I’d say that there was more of the “un-Gaiman” than Gaiman, because it was lusher and richer than most Gaiman works. Also, quite a bit wittier. A lot of Gaiman’s jokes fall flat, as one can evidence in American Gods. Gaiman is great on concept, weak on prose.
Erek
IIRC, they added a bit about a boy (the kid from the American embassy, that Adam replaced at the nunnery) flying across the Atlantic and thinking about what a fun time he’d have in the US or somesuch.
Miller, I got your back on this one. Adams is a hack.