Saturday, November 17, 2007

what happens to my brain when Knitty needs to come out

My blog posts get short and pointy.

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I saw commercials for Stardust, and at first glance, mistook it for The Golden Compass. Figured out within a minute that it wasn't, but maybe I wanted to know what it was anyway. I subsequently found Stardust as an audiobook on Audible.com, listened to the sample and bought the audiobook, narrated by the author. I listened to it every night before I went to sleep while at SOAR.

As a result, I am now so deeply in love with not only the sound of Neil Gaiman's voice, but a] the words he chose to put on paper b] the way he tells his complex, beautiful, occasionally quite scary stories gently in my ear and c] the sound of his voice (yes, I repeat myself), that I used up my remaining Audible credits to buy everything he's narrated himself.

I'm more than halfway through Neverwhere and am quite sure that, should I ever meet the man in person, I would actually faint, dramatically, Victorian-style.

Don't tell my husband.

Labels:

posted by amy [Knitty] @ 10:27 AM 21 comments

Comments:
Chris met Neil when he came to the store Chris worked at for a book signing. He is apparently quite nice and a gigantor Geek.

By the by he made Tori Amos a character in Stardust...can you guess which one?
# posted by Blogger Craftygrrrl : 10:38 AM, November 17, 2007
 
I love Neil Gaiman to a level that is utterly ridiculous. I want to be Neil when I grow up. :D
# posted by Anonymous Sarianna : 11:38 AM, November 17, 2007
 
Oh! Well then you better check out his book American Gods, and the Anansi Boys...and well...all of them, really... *grin*
I really wasn't a fan of the movie they made out of the book, but then who ever is, right? Ha ha! I also recently got turned on to the world of Neil Gaiman and have to admit to some Victorian-style swooning myself. :) Enjoy!
# posted by Anonymous Meredith : 11:40 AM, November 17, 2007
 
is tori the princess with the chain about her ankle at the beginning of the story?

mel, you kill me. you know EVERYONE.
# posted by Blogger amy [Knitty] : 11:41 AM, November 17, 2007
 
I have a huge crush on him too. I saw him speak about Anansi Boys in Austin a while back and tried very hard not to drool while he was reading to us. I'm not sure I was entirely successful.

He also signed my iPod for me since my Audible books were all on it. :)
# posted by Blogger JO : 11:44 AM, November 17, 2007
 
Well I have to brag a little as my husband is rubbing shoulders with Neil at this very moment..(they're at a conference together called Fantasy Matters in Minnesota)....my Husband is always going on about his wonderful reading voice....I've only read his younger kids books to my kids...like "The Day I sold my Dad for Two Goldfish" (think that's the title)..very good. I'm going to have to listen to something of his on audio now!
# posted by Blogger Gudrun Johnston : 12:06 PM, November 17, 2007
 
I discovered Neil Gaiman when I read "Corraline" and have read everything he's written since. Sounds like I need to get the audiobooks though...
# posted by Blogger Shanti : 12:27 PM, November 17, 2007
 
And on top of that all, Neil Gaiman is incredibly, gorgeously CUTE! Witty, nice voice, talented like nobody's business...

There oughta be a law!

Find his online journal at neilgaimaan.com
# posted by Blogger Susan : 12:36 PM, November 17, 2007
 
Another Gaiman fan. Welcome to the fold. Yes, he has a yummy voice. I have a cd of him reading Warning: Contains Language many years ago and fell in love with his voice as well (I was already a fan of his written work). I have read everything he's published and found them all enjoyable, thought-provoking and enthralling. I second the recs for American Gods and Anansi Boys, as well as Good Omens, which I think he and Terry Pratchett were channelling Douglas Adams when they wrote.

BTW, you can download the text or audio version of his Hugo nominated short story "How to Talk to Girls at Parties" free of charge here.
# posted by Blogger Not That Kat : 12:37 PM, November 17, 2007
 
I did! Meet him I mean, at a book signing. He was lovely, did not shun my well-worn copy of Neverwhere, and actually commented that he loves it when people bring books for him to sign that are falling apart, because it means that they have been well loved an appreciated. And he is very, very cute.
# posted by Blogger Tallulah : 1:25 PM, November 17, 2007
 
and please don't neglect reading the graphic novels such as Sandman...his writing paired with Dave Mclean's gorgeous art? wow!
# posted by Blogger catmum : 1:31 PM, November 17, 2007
 
I heard him read his short story, "A Study in Emerald" (Conan-Doyle/Lovecraft crossover), with a scruffy beard, leather jacket, and _that accent_. I've been a swooning fangirl ever since.

Of course, my husband got to see me do it, but he was also happy to take a picture of me with Neil. We had our copy of "The Wolves in the Walls" signed - that's another of his children's books, and there's a CD with it of him reading it, plus his daughter Maddy interviewing him.

I second the recommendation for reading his blog, and also the one for reading "Good Omens". Terry Pratchett is another author whose writings are fabulous.
# posted by Blogger DataGoddess : 1:57 PM, November 17, 2007
 
Neil Gaiman... mmmm. You should check out the BBC miniseries of Neverwhere (it's on A&E video in the US, so that might cover Canada if BBC doesn't). It's absolutely amazing, and a wonderful adaptation - Neil Gaiman was involved in making it, so it works really well.
# posted by Anonymous Christina : 7:44 PM, November 17, 2007
 
Another Neil Gaiman groupie here. He spoke a few years ago at a WLA (Wisconsin Library Association) conference and led one of the seminars. He lives in Menomonie, WI, which is only about an hour south of me. Sigh. I took a snapshot of my friend, the county library director, with him. He looks ambushed. Which he was, of course.

::scurries off to check out Audible for his self-narrated books::
# posted by Anonymous kmkat : 3:23 AM, November 18, 2007
 
I read it the old-fashioned way but I loved it and can't wait to see how the movie stacks up beside it. Never as good, but I'll be happy with "didn't ruin the book"! LOL
# posted by Blogger Wannietta : 12:39 PM, November 18, 2007
 
I couldn't be forced to decide which of NG's works is my fav. I wondered for the longest time where he got such a clear idea for the setting of American Gods, and then my hub informed me that he resides in Minnesota. And he has a blog. For those who care, Sandman is being re-released in gorgeously-bound compendiums as well. Mmmmm.
# posted by Blogger Mel : 12:43 AM, November 19, 2007
 
I'm on a Neil Gaiman marathon lately -- American Gods, Anansi Boys, Good Omens (again), and now Stardust. His voice is dreamy. :)
# posted by Blogger Becky : 12:44 AM, November 19, 2007
 
I LOVED Neverwhere. I think I loaned it to a friend, who has moved ... might have to buy another!
# posted by Anonymous Anne : 10:01 AM, November 19, 2007
 
You really should also check out the graphic novel version of Stardust. It's one of my absolute favs, and is such a treat for the eyes that it's easy to get lost in it.
# posted by Anonymous Kristin : 12:54 PM, November 19, 2007
 
Gaiman is outstanding. You might try Susannah Clarke, who, in Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norell, takes a bit of a cue from Gaiman. Her subsequent book of short stories, The Ladies of Grace Adieu, has at least 1 story set in the town of Stardust. Enjoy!
# posted by Blogger Jenni : 3:53 PM, November 20, 2007
 
For those who are interested, Tori Amos is a *tree* in Stardust.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stardust_(book)

Neil is a very nice person.

Having liked his work since the early 1990s, I do feel like my secret clubhouse has been invaded by the whole world, since he's become so popular. ("Did you know he had this one book called Neverwhere? I read it last week! You should try it!" "Yeah, I ordered it. From the UK. When it came out. Ten years ago.") But he deserves the success, and everyone else deserves his books, too... my secret clubhouse is surprisingly expansive.
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 4:32 AM, December 03, 2007
 
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