Books You Would Recommend to Strangers
551 books |
213 voters
book data
24,659 ratings,
4.08
average rating, 2,260 reviews
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published
July 1st 1997
by William Morrow
(first published 1996)
details
Hardcover, 352 pages
characters
setting
isbn
0380973634
(isbn13: 9780380973637)
description
Neverwhere's protagonist, Richard Mayhew, learns the hard way that no good deed goes unpunished. He ceases to exist in the ordinary world of London A…more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 33,757)
All ratings
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5 stars (9009)
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3 stars (4716)
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2 stars (932)
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1 star (182)
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avg 4.08
editions: all | this edition
editions: all | this edition
Read in December, 2005
recommends it for:
Kids
Picture Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Really good books right? Now imagine if someone took the first book and mad libbed characters, settings, monsters, etc, so that you were left with the exact same story except instead of travelling the galaxy with your crazy friend and the most powerful man in the universe, you were travelling in haunted British sewers with a nerd's wet dream of a Xena warrior princess rival and a Gothic princess who can unlock doors (sigh). I don't think there is muc...more
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(15 people liked it)
4 comments
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Read in March, 2008
Richard Mayhew is an ordinary young man working in London, with a fiancee, Jessica, a small flat and a life more-or-less figured out. By Jessica. He's not a particularly brave man, or imaginative, and Jessica has his life all sorted for him.
Everything in his life is turned upside-down - quite literally - when he stumbles across an injured girl on the footpath who asks for his help. Despite Jessica's insistence that he leave her there for someone else to take care of, he carries her ...more
Everything in his life is turned upside-down - quite literally - when he stumbles across an injured girl on the footpath who asks for his help. Despite Jessica's insistence that he leave her there for someone else to take care of, he carries her ...more
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(15 people liked it)
12 comments
Read in January, 2004
This story has a lot of interesting bits. When I started it, it drew me in immediately. I thought the storyline seemed interesting and it was well written.
However, the story is based upon a screenplay, and it shows. The story has so many horrible clichés it really, dreadfully, dragged the book down. The whole story reads like a film script, which, technically, it is. And this is all very well for a film, but the rules that apply to films don't apply to books.
There's the ...more
However, the story is based upon a screenplay, and it shows. The story has so many horrible clichés it really, dreadfully, dragged the book down. The whole story reads like a film script, which, technically, it is. And this is all very well for a film, but the rules that apply to films don't apply to books.
There's the ...more
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
Gaiman Fans
Neil Gaiman's influential penchant for dark urban fantasy presents itself in its least complicated form in his first novel, Neverwhere. The book has the simplistic characters and perfectly-even pacing of television, which should come as no surprise as it is, in fact, an adaptation of a BBC miniseries. The book is pure entertainment, which is as much praise as it is condemnation.
Neil Gaiman is reputed to have a near-encyclopedia knowledge of matters both historical and fantastical, an...more
Neil Gaiman is reputed to have a near-encyclopedia knowledge of matters both historical and fantastical, an...more
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(7 people liked it)
1 comment
Read in July, 2006
The first book I read by Gaiman was a collaboration with Terry Pratchett, Good Omens. Actually a pretty funny read, although the person who loaned it to me seemed to think it was the best book ever written. This was probably back in 2000. I laughed at a couple of the more auspicious stances (One of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, Famine, is responsible for the stick-thin models we see constantly…) but didn’t think much past this.
Last week I had a lot of travel scheduled. So ...more
Last week I had a lot of travel scheduled. So ...more
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(5 people liked it)
4 comments
Read in June, 2008
I didn't enjoy this book as much as I should have. I kept distracting myself with the thought, "Why the hell haven't I read more of Neil Gaiman's books?" Then I would have to tell myself to shut up, because I'm reading one right now, and I can return to berating myself later.
Neil Gaiman really understands fantasy. He understands that it isn't elves dancing in a forest and drunk dwarves mining for gold with improbably well maintained beards. No, fantasy is a reflection o...more
Neil Gaiman really understands fantasy. He understands that it isn't elves dancing in a forest and drunk dwarves mining for gold with improbably well maintained beards. No, fantasy is a reflection o...more
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1 comment
Read in March, 2008
Well done again, Gaiman. Well done indeed. I very much enjoyed this novel. The same thing happened to me here as with American Gods. I was a little uncertain at first, a bit skeptical, and then slowly Gaiman won me over with his writing and sucked me into his world until I was engrossed and turned over 100 pages in a day without realizing it, even despite some distractions that should have made it impossible for me to concentrate. It is a very special breed of author who is capable of that.
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24 comments
Read in May, 2007
recommends it for:
londonists and fans of vampires or sci-fi
I've meant to serialise this review across my worlds but I've just never got round to it. All I can really say is that for one who doesn't read much of science-fiction or vampires, despite my fading Buffy obsession, this is a brilliant read.
The person who turned me on to this wasn't too keen on his following book, American Gods. There's yet another, Fragile Things, that's just now out in paperback. I've picked that one up but nothing in it caught me as much as this one.
N...more
The person who turned me on to this wasn't too keen on his following book, American Gods. There's yet another, Fragile Things, that's just now out in paperback. I've picked that one up but nothing in it caught me as much as this one.
N...more
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2 comments
Read in January, 2007
i loved this book. i think i even like it more than american gods. a young man comes across door, a girl from the underworld, and helps her. this gets him kicked out of the london above into the much-cooler london below, that can be found underneath and in between. there are pigeon men and literal interpretations of subway names and bizarre bazaar's with everything and anything for sale. gaiman is so adept at portraying a fantastic universe that butts up against our everyday universe. in our ord...more
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Read in January, 2005
Another favorite Gaiman novel. This was the second I read, and the one that really hooked me on his writing. Neverwhere is painted in shades of Alice in Wonderland; somewhat hapless but helpful Richard Mayhew falls through the cracks and into London Below, and while trying to find his way home, he manages to find himself. This book is full of rich, imaginative supporting characters; the Lady Door is smart and brave, and the Marquis de Carabas is deliciously two-faced. I can read this book ov...more
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Read in April, 2007
Neverwhere is an urban fairy tale, taking place in modern day London. It uses the real world as a contrast to the underworld that Richard Mayhew is plunged into after he helps an injured girl he finds laying on the street.
Neverwhere has two of the best villians I've ever come across, Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar. They delight in their work and have hilarious conversations with each other. Gaiman did a great job giving them voices that are very different from the other characters.
Neverwhere has two of the best villians I've ever come across, Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar. They delight in their work and have hilarious conversations with each other. Gaiman did a great job giving them voices that are very different from the other characters.
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Read in May, 2009
I recently re-read Neverwhere for a Goodreads book group. While I am an avid Neil Gaiman fan, this is not my favorite Gaiman work. Nonetheless, it is still a very entertaining novel based on amazing conceptual ideas and deserving of 4 stars.
I would rate this as one of Gaiman’s weaker works for two primary reasons. Foremost, the story was a mini-series first then novelized and I think it shows. Some characters and plot aspects are flat on the page and I believe they probably had...more
I would rate this as one of Gaiman’s weaker works for two primary reasons. Foremost, the story was a mini-series first then novelized and I think it shows. Some characters and plot aspects are flat on the page and I believe they probably had...more
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Read in April, 2008
recommended to Kristjan by:
GR SciFi & Fantasy Book Clubrecommends it for: Monty Python Fans
I read the book, then watched the BBC series and I must say that I liked the series a little better. It seems that this story really does better with the visuals then the bare text.
The basic plot has an Alice in Wonderland quality with typical, understated British humor. The main character, Richard Mayhew, begins the story as a listless man who, despite having the 'good-life' finds something lacking in his existence. A chance encounter with one of the denizens of 'London Below' ...more
The basic plot has an Alice in Wonderland quality with typical, understated British humor. The main character, Richard Mayhew, begins the story as a listless man who, despite having the 'good-life' finds something lacking in his existence. A chance encounter with one of the denizens of 'London Below' ...more
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(3 people liked it)
1 comment
Read in February, 2008
This was my first Gaiman book and I went in with high expectations given all the praise I've read about the author. This is one of his earlier novels and I think it shows the transition period from serial comic (the Sandman series) to novelist. The writing is very visual and Gaiman appears to take great delight in describing each tiny thing in excruciating detail. Overall, I enjoyed the story but didn't always enjoy the way it was conveyed. It was a struggle to get through the entire book.
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Read in January, 2006
Neil Gaiman's first novel is an occasionally shocking but frequently funny fantasy thriller set in a London you've never seen before. At the beginning of the book, Richard Mayhew, an utterly normal businessman living in a London not too far removed from our own, rescues a damsel in distress: Door, a lovely girl whose entire family has been murdered and who would dearly like to know by whom and what for. Richard would like to help Door, but in order to do so, he has to enter a world whose existe...more
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Read in December, 2008
recommended to Elizabeth by:
Otis Chandlerrecommends it for: People who like fantasy
I finally finished it. And with all due respect to fantasy and sci-fi writers and readers, the verdict is in. I do not like this genre. Never. I've tried and tried: Dune, Lord of the Rings, Neverwhere...whatever.
I just don't care. I read about characters and I don't care if they find a ring or a magical door or some sand that supposed to be oil. No thank you. For the next employee book club choice...if we choose anything in those two genres...I'm going to have to abdicate. There are...more
I just don't care. I read about characters and I don't care if they find a ring or a magical door or some sand that supposed to be oil. No thank you. For the next employee book club choice...if we choose anything in those two genres...I'm going to have to abdicate. There are...more
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11 comments
Read in December, 2008
The character development wasn't what I think it could have been in a story that was this original and interesting. Although the characters weren't great (but not bad)-- I thought the imagery of the "underworld" the author created was impressive. I thought the whole premise of their being a whole other world of people living simultaneously with the "regular" world-- only not noticed because they "slipped through the cracks" is a really interesting concept. ...more
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Devenue accro aux mondes de Gaiman depuis peu, je me délectais d'en entamer un nouveau.
Surtout son premier roman !
Et là, comme dans tous roman gaimanien, l'objet livre n'existe plus et on entre tel un fluide dans la mer, dans le flux du roman. Très précis, démarrant de manière parallèle : mondes parallèles, temps parallèles et personnages parallèles... on s'immerge plus ou moins, on aime rester entre deux eaux. Comment ces mondes vont ils se téléscoper? Comment les...more
Surtout son premier roman !
Et là, comme dans tous roman gaimanien, l'objet livre n'existe plus et on entre tel un fluide dans la mer, dans le flux du roman. Très précis, démarrant de manière parallèle : mondes parallèles, temps parallèles et personnages parallèles... on s'immerge plus ou moins, on aime rester entre deux eaux. Comment ces mondes vont ils se téléscoper? Comment les...more
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Read in July, 2008
This is one of the best damn books I have ever read. I'm trying to make the last few chapters stretch out because I don't want it to end. Huge props to my friend Jessica for insisting I read it and then loaning it to me. Rich, funny, perfectly-crafted prose, beautiful work of imagination and ingenuity. Really, REALLY good.
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Read in September, 2008
A delightful read!!! :D A good friend loaned me his copy to read & I am ever so pleased to have been exposed to this book! It was a fascinating study in human nature, and I especially loved the character development aspect of the story.
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What book should we start with?
Edgar Allan Poe(The Fall of the House of Usher and Black Cat)
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