I very rarely recommend anything I haven’t completed, whether it be a movie, TV show, book, etc. But I’m gonna today. On my way back from Nashville, I bought Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, mostly because I’m a big fan of Gaiman and follow him on Tumblr. I saw him post one day about an upcoming TV adaptation for the book and figured that was enough to warrant a purchase.
Let me tell you. I’ve only read the first three pages of this book and I actually had to put it down because it raised so many questions and piqued my interest so much that I really want to take my time with it, seriously considering its subject matter. I’m a huge fan of any story that takes a belief that most, if not all, people hold to be true and takes a different approach in storytelling regarding that belief. Good Omens does just that. It opens up just after Adam and Eve’s banishment from Eden but does so in a way that immediately departs from the actual writings in the Bible, trading Uriel for Aziraphale who gives away his flaming sword and debates Right and Wrong with a serpent named Crawly.
Just the ideas and questions their conversation raises makes me a little anxious to continue reading because the themes likely integral to this story will almost definitely threaten my way of thinking. But that’s a good thing. I want to adapt and grow and such, but I’m also not jumping at the opportunity to find myself at a moral crossroads, unsure of who I’ve been up until now and who I will be in the days to come. Thus, I find myself a little hesitant to continue yet still overwhelmingly intrigued. And that’s what I love about Gaiman. He has so many interestingly complex ideas that I can’t help but relent and step out of my comfort zone. And the world certainly needs to hear stories like this and American Gods (my favorite novel also by Gaiman) specifically because they provoke us to re-evaluate things.
And now I’ll step off my soapbox or whatever the hell you want to call that and simply say: I highly encourage you to read Good Omens with me and American Gods while you’re at it.
mack rogers writes 