Anca Segall

Neverwhere is the second book I read by Neil Gaiman, after The Graveyard Book - after those two I am truly hooked. More recently I have added The Ocean at the End of the Road to these, and a couple of others. The writing is clean, sparse, and doesn't get in the way of his flights of imagination. For me, Gaiman straddles the thin line of the imagination of a child and that of an adult, appealing to both, transporting the adult back into the freer flights of fancy of the child while not treating his child audiences with condescension. Neverwhere was a moving and warm book, one that I would recommend to those who are feeling jaded and cynica, or depressed,l to bring you out of those doldrums with a fresh, charmed and charming look at the world.

Great setting and research into the “backdrop” of the story. Terrific story, interesting and engaging characters. The noir went a little overboard at times, and the lead character, Miranda, had self-control around men that was superhuman. Still, those are relatively minor quibbles - the plot story moved along at a fast clip and kept me engaged and reluctant to put the book down. I look forward to her next one.

I enjoyed this, had been missing a good le Carre read. It isn't my favorite (I've read all his Cold War novels), and doesn't compare to Smiley's People, but I enjoyed the story and characters and the mood. Of course, it had to end in a typical le Carre way...

Quick read. Someone likened it to cotton candy - perfect description!

I read this during my first trip to the Galapagos, and it was extremely interesting, particularly in the place and within sight of the finches of the story. Terrific. Made me want to collect samples, sequence everything, and figure how it all works.