Stardust: Neil Gaiman

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One issue I had with Stardust was the writing itself. Gaiman tries to write an "adult fairy tale" with what I think are terrible results. The tone is light-hearted and sarcastic, but it really isn't funny when it tries to be. Perhaps to make his story "adult," Gaiman is sure to include occasional scenes of sex and grotesque violence, but they seem awkward and out of place in the otherwise juvenile text. The plot and character development are extremely simplistic (as is the dialogue) in a way that would be better suited to a parable, but Stardust otherwise follows a more usual novel tone, so the suddenness and implausibility just come off as poor writing. The writing basically seems like a failed attempt at Piers Anthony's Xanth novels that is neither clever nor funny nor original. I decided I wasn't going to read this as I had already seen the film, but then I came across this adaptation in my library catalogue and I decided to give it a try. One fateful night, as young Tristran and Victoria gazed at the stars, they witnessed a blazing star fall from the heavens. In a boastful wager, Victoria promised her hand in marriage if Tristran would cross the wall and retrieve the fallen star for her, believing the feat impossible. Determined to prove his love, Tristran confided in his father that he intended to cross through the breach in the ancient wall to find the star beyond in Faerie. It was only then that Dunstan realized his son was destined to return to his rightful home. Gaiman had potential ideas for more books following on from Stardust, one called "Hellflier" set about 5 years later, and another called "Wall" set about 150 years later. [6]

Obviously the dramatisation of the story is not going to be the same as the actual book, so I can’t actually talk much about the writing. But the production on this was outstanding. A full cast with sound effects was the perfect way for a fairytale to be told. You just feel like you’re living this story with the characters. All the voice actors were phenomenal.

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Note: I listened to the BBC dramatisation of this with a full cast. While my review is specific to that version of the book, the story, - and to my understanding - the dialogue and prose are the same as the original novel. This was sweet, utterly wholesome, and the perfect distraction for while I was doing a little bit of housework. It gave me such nostalgic vibes but was also so unique and captivating. Having said that, I was a little disappointed that the world was called Fairy, yet there were no fairies, at least we didn’t come across any. Besides that I highly enjoyed the world. The book’s ending is apt and wonderfully delivered, particularly given the way that you are not sure whether or not the ending will be a tragic one, after all Gaiman has already shown us this is one fairy tale where the heroes are not safe, indeed quiet though parts of the final section are, I was still holding my breath at certain moments. Acceptance Remarks – 1999". Archived from the original on 6 October 2012 . Retrieved 29 October 2012.

And thus begins his harrowing journey through the gap in the Wall and into the land of fairy to find an unwitting and unwilling star.I have heard Stardust by Neil Gaiman described as a fairy tale told for adults, and I think Gaiman himself said something of the kind. That is as succinct a description as comes close to this very entertaining novel. Challenged to retrieve a fallen star, Tristran Thorn leaves the sleepy English village of Wall and crosses into the land of Faerie and the realm of Stormhold. Locating the star, he discovers it is no meteorite, but a young woman, Yvaine. I really enjoyed Stardust. Say what you want about Gaiman (no really, I already do) but he is a master of whimsy with a great imagination. Stardust has all the likable aspects of Neverwhere whilst managing to have a main character who is not a whiny, little annoying bitch! I was actually quite fond of this novel! Since I saw the movie before I read the book, I must preface my review with that fact since a comparison between the two was inevitable and, moreover, greatly influenced my opinion of the book. I loved the movie! I liked the book. Unlike most book-to-film adaptations, however, I felt that the movie had more character development and more details; and, indeed, more heart and more humor. I cannot objectively consider the merits of the book because I missed so many aspects of the movie-story as I read. I just kept wondering if I would have liked the book better if I had read it first...

Stardust, to me, is the quintessential Neil Gaiman story. As much as I like Neverwhere and American Gods and Sandman, if there's one book I choose to give someone new to his fiction, it's Stardust. It's a fairy tale steeped in mythology, and if there's anything that sums up Gaiman's style, this is it. And that lovely, heartbreaking, bittersweet ending gets me every time. But to do that, he has to cross the Wall. Since he's young, dumb and full of love for his sweet, he takes off with nary a thought. Tristran, meanwhile, had undergone his own inner transformation during the journey. He realized now that his childhood affection for Victoria paled in comparison to the true, profound love that had flourished between himself and Yvaine. Heartened by this wisdom, he gently told Victoria that while he had won her hand, she should only marry where her heart truly lay, and he renounced their betrothal.

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Stardust was originally conceived by Gaiman and Vess as a "story book with pictures", created by both, to be published by American company DC Comics. During an interview to be included in the audio book, Neil Gaiman explained how one day while driving he had seen a wall on the side of the road and had conceived the idea of Faerie being behind the wall. This sparked an idea in Gaiman's head about an American novelist who moved to England where he would find out about this wall; at this time, the book was to be called Wall. Soon afterwards, Gaiman was nominated for a literary award, which he won, and at a celebratory party for the award he saw a shooting star and immediately came up with the idea of Stardust. Gaiman dragged Vess out of a party that he was at and outlined the plot to him and Vess agreed to do the illustrations. Initially, Stardust was released in 1997 as a prestige format four-issue comic mini-series. Stardust came out once a month in a square-bound, high-gloss booklet with high grade paper, high quality color and no advertisements. Actually it is a Faerie tale, since Gaiman depicts a journey into that magical world and the village of Wall, which is a “boundary” between the two worlds. Though the author pays homage to nineteenth century storylines, he eschews the flowery language and opts for more post-modern prose to narrate his retrospective, pre-Tolkeinesque fantasy.