#fingers crossed the precautions i've taken will be enough

[sage-nebula]

Book Reviews: Good Omens - Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman

Rating: 3/5

I first read this novel in 2009, when I was 19 years old. At the time, I thought it was the best book I had ever read. I fell in love with the humor, as well as the themes it presented, and I went on to read works by each of the individual authors. (Learning in the process that while I loved Terry Pratchett's work, Neil Gaiman's was not at all for me.) Now, having revisited this novel fifteen years later (using the copy I already owned), I'm sad to say that I don't love it as much as I once did. And no, it is not because Gaiman has turned out to be an abhorrent human being (though he has).

Good Omens is a novel featuring an ensemble cast, but is chiefly about the impending apocalypse that is to be brought about by the Antichrist. Due to a mix-up at the time of the Antichrist's birth, however, he was raised independently from the forces of Heaven and Hell, and as a result the fate of the apocalypse rests solely on his humanity.

What I discovered a decade and a half ago, after reading both a Discworld novel and American Gods, is that the things I enjoyed about Good Omens came from Terry Pratchett. The humor, the use of footnotes, the things it had to say about both humanity and spirituality — that writing style and those themes are present in Pratchett's works. Whereas, Gaiman's style focused on presenting story through use of metaphor in a way that, after awhile, feels try-hard. While the first time I read this novel I thoroughly enjoyed it, this time I had a more difficult time getting through it, and I feel that part of it is due to the disparity of enjoyment I feel from the style of the two authors.

For the most part, the humor of the book still hit. There were definitely jokes that have not aged well at all (e.g. the "it's funny because he's homophobic!" miscommunication joke with the American soldier at the air base, as well as several racist "jokes"), but several of the jokes that I remembered loving from the first time I read the book still landed (e.g. Crowley putting the fear of himself into his houseplants, the footnote explaining Aziraphale's excuse about "misplacing" his flaming sword when God asked about it, leading to God not asking him again). I enjoyed most of the characters, and in fact liked the Them much more than I remembered; their banter with each other is extremely natural, and they come across as the endearing children they were meant to be.

Despite this, there were definitely parts where I felt the book dragged. It took me longer than I expected to finish this novel because I would begin reading, and then start feeling very drowsy shortly after starting. This is unusual for me; if I'm interested in a book, often it will override my desire to sleep no matter how little I've had. Yet with this, there were passages following less interesting or likable characters (e.g. Shadwell) that, despite my best efforts, put me to sleep. It was also wild seeing how quickly the plot ramped up to the apocalypse before even the midway point of the book was reached, only to have the actual day of drag on. (Did we need so many cut-backs to what the police were doing on the M25? No.) The pacing of the novel presents a definite problem.

The romances in the book felt forced as well — and no, I'm not talking about Crowley and Aziraphale, because while one can easily ship them if they want to (and I think I've heard their relationship was made explicitly romantic in the TV show), they aren't written as explicitly romantic in the novel, and can easily be dismissed as friends. No, I'm talking about Newt/Anathema and Shadwell/Tracey. The first is particularly egregious given that she only sleeps with him because a prophecy said she was supposed to (meaning — did she feel coerced into it? and why is she still hanging around with him after, when they barely know each other?), and the latter is awful because despite the book insisting that this bigoted, crotchety old man is likable, at no point does he actually come across that way. The romances were not a central tenet of the book, but their presence still did detract from it, in my opinion.

Lastly, I would be remiss not to mention the anti-Asian racism that crops up at multiple points throughout the novel. Off the top of my head:

1.) The broken English used for the voice alert system in Newt's Japanese car;

2.) A Tibetan monk is referred to as having an "Oriental" face, and I believe that "the Orient" is also mentioned a couple of times;

3.) The factory that produces Newt's fictional car is said to come from Nigirizushi, Japan. There is no such place. Nigirizushi is a type of sushi. Now, since the car is called a Wasabi, one could simply say it was meant to be a joke . . . but Gaiman and Pratchett had absolutely no problem listing so many different towns and places in England (yes Tadfield is fake, but it's south of Oxfordshire, which is real), and had no problem naming real places in the United States, yet they couldn't be bothered to grab a real city from Japan? Not even Tokyo, well-known enough without having to look it up? It feels disrespectful and yes, racist.

Now, this book was published the year I was born. I cannot tell you from experience what attitudes toward East Asia were at the time this book was written, because I wasn't conscious for that. I know that, once-upon a time, "oriental" was an "accepted" term. But plenty of racial slurs start off as "acceptable" terms by those in power. And having Asian characters and places be the butt of the "joke" so many different times in this book didn't feel very funny to me.

With all of that said, while this is no longer a book that I would actively recommend, it's not one I would dissuade people from reading, either. The comedy, in places where it is actually effective, is entertaining, and while it is very surface-level, the questions it raises about religion and the concepts of good or evil can make the book an enjoyable read.

However.

If you do choose to read this book (or any other book authored by Neil Gaiman), I implore you to check it out from a library, get it second-hand, or hell, even pirate it. As I mentioned at the top of this review, I already owned this book. The reason I decided to re-read it was so that I could have a fresh perspective on its place on my shelf. But if I didn't own it, and couldn't get it from a library, I wouldn't have. What Neil Gaiman has done to countless women is beyond heinous, and he does not deserve your money. I implore you to not give it to him. And certainly not over this book, which is average at best.

Regardless of whether there is a Heaven or Hell, we do have Earth. Let's make some good choices while we're here, shall we?