On Saturday, Neil Gaiman read chapter 5 from The Graveyard Book to about 600 people. He's reading a chapter on every stop of his tour. If you missed it--and it was fabulous--he's had every reading videotaped and posted on mousecircus.com. He sat on a leather chair, surrounded by headstones, with a crow perched next to him. It was amazing. You should have seen the huge white spider that dropped from the rafters! Oh, and you can see what Neil thought of the reading in his own journal.
Gaiman says that The Graveyard Book is a reworking of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book about a young boy who escapes into a graveyard and is raised by ghosts (rather than into a jungle and is raised by animals). Here's the rather scary first lines:
"There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife.
The knife had a handle of polished black bone, and a blade finer and sharper than any razor. If it sliced you, you might not even know you had been cut, not immediately."
So, have you read it? What did you like best about it? Can you believe how many books he signed for us despite his broken finger? And if you're interested in things like what graveyard skill Neil would choose if he could have one, or whether he'll write more about Nobody Owens, please check the web site later this week when I'll post my interview with him.
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2 comments:
Hello,
I wanted to thank Kepler's for this amazing event. It was a special treat to have him read to us. I was entranced and wished he could read the entire book to us.
I just finished reading this little gem of a novel last night and was sad to close my book and say goodbye to Bod and all the cemetery residents. From the very first pages, you are taken in for an adventure that firmly holds you and pulls you in. It is the perfect read on a cold winter's night, situated on the comfy chair.
I highly recommend this inventive book to anyone craving a witty and suspenseful story.
I posted the event on my blog
http://curlyshoe.blogspot.com/2008/10/neil-gaiman-and-chapter-5-dance-macabre.html
I spiraled into depression after missing Neil Gaiman. My heart has broken and will never be repaired. Not even John Green could fix the gaping whole that held my soul.
I saw the 'What is your favourite Neil Gaiman book' or something like that poll and saw that Stardust was the, er, most-liked (only 16 votes, but still --3 more than the Sandman, 1 more than Neverwhere). While Stardust was excellent and the film wasn't bad, Sandman is one of the best if not the best graphic novel series on Earth. His writing is...extraordinary and the accompaning art is...astounding. //end rant.
John Green may be an angel, but Neil Gaiman is a GOD. //end rave.
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