fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2809 ]

[ SECRET POST #2809 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2809 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 012 secrets from Secret Submission Post #401.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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02. http://i.imgur.com/NMdZd8L.png

I like Gaiman but he's definitely overrated.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2014-09-13 07:03 (UTC) - Expand

IAC, OP. I so want to like Gaiman's writing but it's so dull.

I don't care for Coraline and couldn't finish American Gods...Stardust (?) might be interesting to try.

Neil Gaiman is so divisive. It's interesting.

But, anyway...you don't have to like his writing. A lot of people don't. It's cool.

I used to really like his writing when I was a teenager. Not so much now.

The only book I actually rate by him now is Neverwhere... which I'm pretty sure is the one his edgy, hardcore fans don't even like.

(no subject)

th0rns_n_r0ses - 2014-09-12 01:03 (UTC) - Expand

Same anon!

(Anonymous) - 2014-09-12 01:13 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Same anon!

th0rns_n_r0ses - 2014-09-12 01:22 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

miarrow - 2014-09-12 03:21 (UTC) - Expand

Sandman, though.

No, fair enough, I'm not crazy about most of his stuff outside Sandman and maybe American Gods if I'm honest. There's no law saying you have to like Gaiman.

Edited 2014-09-12 00:54 (UTC)

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ketita - 2014-09-12 04:40 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2014-09-12 12:29 (UTC) - Expand

Yeah I read a few of his books and enjoyed them, but he's not that great. In fact I'd go so far as to hazard a guess that the reason for his incredible fame is because his prose and stories are middle-of-the-road and thus quite approachable to the average reader.

There's nothing wrong with that. He's a good storyteller, and a competent writer. But if you're looking for outstanding literary skill or truly thought-provoking themes, you won't find it there.

Well, if you don't like it, you don't like it. Nothing wrong with that. Tell you what, I'm pretty sure I like his writing enough for the both of us. And then some.

He's super overrated. I don't care to explore any of his works.

(no subject)

arcadiaego - 2014-09-12 21:54 (UTC) - Expand

Gaiman's one of those authors who I either really like the book or I absolutely cannot get into it, with no middle ground. I definitely enjoyed his parts of Good Omens more, though.

Neil Gaiman took a looooooooooong time to grow on me, OP. It took me twice through American Gods and twice through Anansi Boys to decide I actually kind of like him. But I ADORED Good Omens (didn't realize it was mainly because of Terry Pratchett) so much that I was determined to try and find out what's good about him.

...but I still think The Graveyard Book is not that great.

"Neil Gaiman, what are you doing in my Falafel?"

I find his short stories to be his best work, so maybe he just needs to be taken in small doses? And even then, some of them are pretty godawful but the ones that are good are very good, IMO.

Sandman is amazing but in many ways it's a bunch of short stories strung together that have some of the characters in common, which might be why it works so well.

I also find his Doctor Who episodes to be vastly overrated. They weren't bad but they wouldn't be anywhere near a favourite episodes list for me.

Same. I love Good Omens, but like you said, the Pratchett factor, and I also liked the movie of Stardust better.

Onthe flip side, I do like Princess Mononoke, and apparently he wrote the English script, and I like his comics/short stories, so maybe he's just better in small doses?

My terrible secret re: Neil Gaiman is this:

I thought his liner notes for Tori Amos' Strange Little Girls album were so annoying and pretentious that I haven't read anything he's written to this day.

I was a die-hard Tori Amos fan, yet I thought Neil Gaiman's liner notes were "too pretentious."

Does that even make sense? I have no idea. Still, I haven't read him for that reason.

I pretty much feel the same, OP. I enjoyed Good Omens, and I want to like his other work because the stories sound great, but I can't get into them. Tbh, I can't even peg why his writing doesn't do it for me, it just doesn't click.

I just picked up a copy of The Graveyard Book and I hope I end up liking it.

I liked the movie better too

I don't know that Good Omen's was largely Pratchett, though. AFAIK, they both claim that it's been so long and there's been so many revisions, they're not sure which parts belong to which author.

The Stardust movie is definitely better imo. The book is a bit of a slog.

As for the rest of his stuff, I loved Coraline but it's the only one I've been big on.

(Well and Good Omens, but I agree it's the Pratchett factor. Love, love TP's writing.)

Same. I used to not mind him, but then Amanda Palmer entered the picture. His tone seemed to change after he met her. (Or maybe I just got sick of hearing about her "ninja gigs" all the time.)

Gaiman, to me, is one of those dudes with great ideas, but weak follow-through. The stuff of his I really like (Sandman, Good Omens) was stuff that he had help with. On his own, I find him bland.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2014-09-12 23:01 (UTC) - Expand

I know FS is pretty meh on Gaiman, but I mostly see people slagging his novels. I think he is brilliant at the short form.

Fragile Things is an amazing collection of short stories. Similarly, I really love Ocean at the End of the Lane, a novella length work.

Don't feel bad, I wasn't impressed by American Gods, I mean it was alright but not my cup of tea (and Stardust was a brilliant movie, I thought they did an excellent job with it)

I agree with you. I think he has good ideas but his prose and the... I guess structure of his plots is really lacking. Also his characterization is bland at best and offensively wrong at worst. Like, I never believed any of his characters were any more than words on a page. I could never get into any of his writing.