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Sandman; Preludes and Nocturnes
Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 2:26 pm
by peter
Have just ordered my first Neil Gaiman 'Sandman' collection entitled 'Preludes and Nocturnes from the library. Am exited about reading this series of graphic novels because they come with such a huge following and body of praise. not always the best auger for a good result, but in the graphic novel world it seems to be a pretty good guide as to what is worth reading.
Anybody else read the series?
Re: Sandman; Preludes and Nocturnes
Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 4:52 pm
by Vraith
berk peter wrote:Have just ordered my first Neil Gaiman 'Sandman' collection entitled 'Preludes and Nocturnes from the library. Am exited about reading this series of graphic novels because they come with such a huge following and body of praise. not always the best auger for a good result, but in the graphic novel world it seems to be a pretty good guide as to what is worth reading.
Anybody else read the series?
A few years ago, the series came up in a conversation with a friend of mine and I mentioned I'd never read it but wanted to...
He lent me the whole original series. I might have said things about it before here, but I re-read the whole thing it a little bit ago, and I've updated my thoughts [some may be the same, some different...below is the current]
There was much to like, art and story...but I slowly became less interested a bit after the 1/2 way point.
I think it's good and worth reading...and has a historical/genre place.
But I don't think Gaiman is that great a writer.
[[neither his language nor his plots are compelling to me.
This could easily be just a matter of TASTE. I haven't delved into it
too deeply]]
He's not the first, last, or best at updating/re-sourcing myth.
But the writing wasn't awful, and the visual aspects I loved...
both particular pieces and the flow between them.
Certainly worthwhile, not awesome.
Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 7:55 pm
by I'm Murrin
I read it a couple of years ago, and I think it's pretty great. It gets better as it goes on - I personally think it's at its best in the second half, volumes 6 onward, where Gaiman starts building toward the ending, which eventually draws together lots of things from the whole series.
Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2014 10:39 am
by peter
Interesting polarity of opinion there V. and Murrin. The series is I believe one of the few [the only?] graphic novel to feature in the NYT 100 best ever books [or some other such nonsense], so it must have garnered a pretty strong following in it's time. I'll let you know how I get on.
[nb Have not encountered Gaiman's work before, but he follows hard on the heels of my just having read 'From Hell' and 'The Black Dossier' - two of Alan Moore's 'greats', so the man has much to live up to.]
Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2014 7:49 am
by sgt.null
I love the entire series, and believe that the episode with Element Girl to be one of the best single issues of any series.
Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2014 4:22 pm
by peter
Finished 'Preludes and Nocturnes' last night and very much enjoyed it. Now have to continue ordering the other volumes starting with 'The Doll's House' . The work has a different 'feel' to Moore's, but one I can easily adapt to. I look forward to the 'Element Girl' issue as a high point to come!
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 10:43 pm
by Orlion
peter wrote:Finished 'Preludes and Nocturnes' last night and very much enjoyed it. Now have to continue ordering the other volumes starting with 'The Doll's House' . The work has a different 'feel' to Moore's, but one I can easily adapt to. I look forward to the 'Element Girl' issue as a high point to come!
Good for you.
Personally, I could not stand it. Coupled with "Whatever happened to the Dark Knight" or whatever it was called, I had decided that I just must not care for Gaiman.
Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2014 7:42 am
by I'm Murrin
Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader was pretty underwhelming, I agree. But I think Sandman is one of the great works in comics. Preludes and Nocturnes is one of the weakest volumes, however.
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 1:33 pm
by Wildling
I liked Preludes most of all the parts of Sandman. But then, I do have a habit of getting weak in the knees for Sam Keith's artwork.
The entire series was, in my opinion, pretty good. I'm not sure it's worthy of the amount of adulation it gets, but it was very different from any other series at the time, so that should count for something as well.