[Subdue} Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Predictions of Agnes Nutter, 3 stars

[NancyJ]

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

This book is ostensibly about the fight between good and evil, leading up to a predicted Armageddon. It's a comedy of errors, beginning with the birth of a little boy who is supposed to be the anti-christ, and a mixup in the hospital with nuns who work for devil. It's about a friendship between two agents on opposites sides (an angel and a demon), and friendships within a group of childhood friends. It's ultimately about human nature, the fight between good and evil, and the similarities between the two sides. And of course Agnes Nutter's predictions carried through the generations to her family members.

I can see why this book has so many fans. It can be very charming and funny. I put it in this folder because it does address some MAJOR moral dilemmas, even though the humor takes a lot of the bite from them. I appreciated the overall messages of the story, and I enjoyed many of the smaller jokes. I was appreciated the few environmental points made in a book written in 1990 (not that the information was new even then). Some of the sexist comments were annoying. I'd like the think the 90's were better than that, but maybe they weren't.

I hated the book at first, especially the narration. I don't usually enjoy like this type of (silly) British humor (I don't enjoy Doug Adams). Whenever I was tempted to give up, I reminded myself that I liked Monty Python and the Holy Grail. (My husband and I still quote lines to one another after all these years.) I also didn't want to use my last SWAP option in Subdue. So I stuck with it (without skipping ahead or dozing), and it finally clicked for me. Overall I enjoyed it. While I didn't laugh out loud, I did smile quite a bit. I think if I read this with a friend when I was young, we might have enjoyed rereading it and quoting it to one another.

My favorite parts...(view spoiler)[
The scene at the Power Plant was one of my favorites of the whole book. Imagine if it was that easy. I enjoyed the kid's discussions of how they might change the world to suit them. I also had fun imagining what these authors might do with a new book about an anti-christ who grew up to become a politician in the current day. I'm afraid it might not end as well as this book did.

I appreciated the overall theme about human nature and the "ineffable plan," but I got really sick of hearing the word ineffable. It's a nebulous term made to sound profound, which is the point I'm sure. I also appreciated the point about the similarity between the agents of God and the Devil. I've read quite a few books in recent years about priests and nuns who did truly evil things to children. This book about demons and the antichrist wasn't nearly as scary as the realistic evils in the world. I was dreading the four horsemen of the apocalypse - but the four Hell's Angels weren't very scary. This book seemed to become a children's book by the end.

I didn't notice if this book was on the banned books lists.
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