 | Do you remember when you were younger, and owned one (or a few) of those autograph books? Some of them came with pre-printed info pages, where you could write your name, your address, telephone number, hobbies, best friends... all the spaces would inevitably, of course, wind up being insufficient for huge primary 1 handwriting. I would always list down "reading" as my main number 1 hobby when I wrote autographs for friends.
Over the last couple of years, my recreational reading tapered off in lieu of studying literature texts and doing research on technology. I didn't realise how bad it was until some kids asked what my hobby was, and I was hard-pressed to say. But now that I've started work, and have little pockets of nothing to do (such as this Chinese New Year holiday), I've started reading again. My find of the year is (surprise, surprise), Neil Gaiman. I'd always known the Sandman series was good, but I bought a couple more novels from him, and yesterday, I started and finished one of the best alternate reality stories I've ever encountered, and that was Gaiman's Neverwhere.
 
Set in London, England, Neverwhere is about Richard Mayhew, who helps a stranger out, and as a result, falls between the cracks of society. People see right through him, taxi-drivers won't stop for him, his fiance� doesn't know who he is, his job and apartment aren't his anymore. He belongs to another place now, one called London Below, where there are Earls at Earl's Court, Ravens at Raven's Court, Black Friars at Blackfriars, where Night exacts a toll on (k)Night's Bridge, and an angel called Islington... of course, there's the quest to take, an ordeal to undergo, a family to avenge, but it's all written so well, the cliches don't intrude. Anyone who's ever been fascinated by the London Underground should read this - it rocks! |
