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Neil Gaiman. Creativity, photo

One of the most outstanding writers of our time, undoubtedly, can be called Neil Geimana. His fame was brought by the comic book "The Sandman", but in his homeland he is more appreciated as an unusually talented storyteller. In the books of Neil Gaiman embodied the best traditions of fairy tales of English literature, based on an appeal to mythology.

Neil Gaiman is a science fiction writer

The mythology of England penetrates Neil Gaiman's works in various ways, for example, the author borrows its subjects and images, creates his own system of myths, conveying his unique interpretation to readers. Almost all the works of Neil Gaiman devote to the formation of the personality of the protagonist, everything permeates with folklore motifs.

The great-grandfather of the future writer lived in Eastern Europe, before the outbreak of World War I, he moved to Holland, and then emigrated to England. Grandfather Gaiman settled in Portsmouth, where he opened a small network of grocery stores. David (his son) continued the development of the family business. The mother of writer Sheila (in the girlhood of Goldman) served as a pharmacist. In the family of Sheila and David, there were three children: Neil and his younger sisters Lizzie and Claire. Neil Gaiman, whose books later became bestsellers, said that he was a child with oddities, and jokingly added that he was very lucky, because his parents had no one to compare their son with until they had younger children, so no one noticed, That something is wrong with Neal.

All the work of Neil Gaiman can not be covered and analyzed in one article, but I would like to have a short excursion into several of his books and scripts.

"Sandman" (1989)

Neil Gaiman "Sand Man" conceived as a series of comics, consisting of ten volumes. It was the only comics that received the World Fantasy Award. Comics talk about Morpheus, the lord of dreams, caught in the captivity of a sorcerer. The sorcerer planned to catch Death himself, but during the ritual something went wrong, and locked in the pentagram was Morpheus. Refusing not only to help the occultist, but also to talk with him, Sandman was locked up for seventy years. Having got out of the captivity, Morpheus noticed that the world has changed a lot, and he himself is not the same as before. As always in his work, Neil Gaiman created a new, amazing reality, a synthesis of reality and the world of various gods of ancient states.

"Good signs" (1990)

"Good signs" - a joint project of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett in the genre of urban humorous fantasy. It should be noted that for Neil Gaiman this was the first major work. In general, a humorous novel about the coming end of the world received positive assessments of critics, was awarded several prizes.

"The Doorway" (1996)

Urban fantasy of Neil Gaiman "The Door" - the novelization of his own script and the first solo project of the writer. The plot of the novel is created in the best traditions of Geyman: Richard's life radically changed when he decided to help a stranger named D'Vere - two hired assassins pursued her. From the story of the girl, Richard learns amazing things. It turns out that under the streets of London there is another, completely unlike the real world, which people do not even suspect. In this world the word is a real force, but you can get there only if you can open the Door. Full of danger the world inhabited by angels and saints, monsters and murderers - right under the feet of the inhabitants of London.

After this meeting, Richard noticed that he was missing: records of him disappeared, and friends did not remember him, so the guy was forced to become a companion of an unusual girl who has the ability to open any door and help her solve the mystery of her parents' death. After all the adventures and accomplishing his mission, Richard returns home. But the old life seems to him dull and gray. Unable to resist the temptation, the hero returns to the mysterious world of "Sub-London."

"Smoke and Mirrors" (1998)

Neil Gaiman wrote "Smoke and Mirrors" in the form of a collection of short stories, at the beginning of each of which is given a small essay - something like a creation story. The collection contains several great stories, but mostly the stories are small: there are those that fit on one page. Well, the author has proved that it is not necessary to stretch a good idea into several pages.

All stories from the collection are surprisingly easy to read: for each writer creates his own world, separate from the rest, but in everyone reigns surreal atmosphere. The Holy Grail can be found in Sekond-Hande at a fair price, and the werewolf becomes a detective ... In this collection Neil Gaiman appears as a poet, however, it is better to read poetry in the original.

"Stardust" (1998)

"Stardust" by Neil Gaiman differs from his other works in the style of writing, as the author tried to follow the traditions of fantasy authors who worked before Tolkien, for example, such as James Branche Ceibell.

The plot is repelled from the village of Zastenie, which borders on a magical world where a youth Tristan goes in search of a fallen star for his girl Victoria. To do this, the guy sneaks into the world of fairies and wizards, who "with his character": it has its own rules and laws. Who knew that the star would not be a cobblestone, but a living girl? Or the fact that behind a pretty girl hunted by evil witches, for whom she is the source of eternal youth and beauty?

Neil Gaiman "Stardust" wrote as a fairy tale in its traditional sense. In it - actions, in it - living heroes: they learn, grow up, fall in love, become wiser. The courage of the main character leads readers to the idea that risk is a noble business, and everyone will be rewarded according to their merits.

Neil Gaiman, as always, excelled in originality: unusual twists of the story entice readers into the world of the book again and again. Even for fantasy, the story looks out of the box.

All new fairy tales

Neil Gaiman "All New Tales" was co-authored with El Sarrantonio - a collection of terrible stories. Authors-compilers collected in it the best stories and tales in the genre of suspense and horror, written by masters of the English word. Among the authors are Michael Moorcock, Michael Suenwick, Chuck Palahniuk, Walter Mosley and others. The collection "All new tales" presents a collection of subtle, exciting, intelligent and truly terrible stories.

"American Gods" (2001)

Neil Gaiman "American gods" created in the form of a novel. One of the author's best works is written under the influence of the writer's emigration to America. The events of the novel tell of the opposition of the Old World gods who emigrated to America, with the newly appeared deities of the New World: television, telephone, the Internet. The plot of the novel begins quite harmlessly. The shadow, which was released early from prison, falls into the cleverly woven networks of Odin (the god of war and victory of the ancient Scandinavians), the reincarnation of the latter is the innocuous Mr. Sreda. The shadows have to travel all over America in order to find all the reincarnations of the ancient gods: Bastet, Loki, Chernobog, Anansi and others.

"Coraline" (2002)

The novel "Coraline" Neil Gaiman conceived as a fairy tale for the night for his daughter, but later the writer published this fascinating story of the readers. Many critics draw an analogy to the fairy tale "Alice in Wonderland", but we can safely say that the writer did not recycle Carroll's ideas, but created his own, unique, unlike any other terrible fairy tale. The plot of the book is that the brave girl Coraline, unsatisfied with her boring life, after moving to a new house finds an unusual door. Unlocking it, it literally falls into a parallel world, and everything in this world is better: my mother cooks better, my father is happy to mess around in the garden, a friend does not talk much. The catch is that, in order to stay in this world forever, Coraline will have to sew buttons instead of eyes.

The girl demonstrates to young readers tremendous courage, a flexible mind, the ability to make decisions and limitless imagination.

The moral of this story is that you need to appreciate everything that you have, and be thankful for it. And Coraline is aware of this as a result of all the adventures that have taken place with her.

"History with a cemetery" (2008)

A children's novel in the genre of fiction by Neil Gaiman "The story of the cemetery" begins with the fact that a mysterious person kills parents No one, and the boy finds shelter in the cemetery. Raised by ghosts, werewolves and vampires, the boy grows up and finds friends, but still remembers that the fence of the cemetery is the one who killed his relatives ...

The atmosphere of the book is rather unusual: it is a little sad and gloomy, on the one hand, and it is very easy to read (and about some adventures of the boy you read with a sinking heart) - on the other. Like any good children's book, "The Story with a Cemetery" is assimilated equally easily by both children and adults, but for some reason does not at all evoke a feeling of naivety.

The author does not hide that he drew stories from familiar to many books "Mowgli" and "Harry Potter", but this does not spoil the impression of his work. As in Coraline, Neil Geiman manages to design a new world that is unlike any other, exciting world. It is safe to say that in this book the author demonstrates the best aspects of his talent.

Based on a brief analysis of the main works of Neil Gaiman, one can identify the main features of this author:

  • The ability to unobtrusively intertwine the reality and the world of the gods: biblical, pagan, mythological and modern.
  • Borrowing a plot from already written books and changing it so that as a result you get more than a unique and unique work.
  • The gloomy and sad atmosphere created by the author does not put pressure on readers, as a result of which books are perceived rather easily.
  • The author's ability to create books that are accessible and interesting to all age groups.
  • A special hard and dryish language of narration.

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