So I’m giving this another go due to book club and the series coming out (which looks awesome!) But there is a reason I didn’t read it until now. I bought the book a while ago (10 years ago?) and it was just hanging out in my TBR pile. Then I started dating a guy, and he recommended that I read it. So dug it out and put it on top of the pile. Then we broke up. And I couldn’t seem to get past the first few pages of the book! And so it was tainted by ghost of bad relationships past. But it’s been long enough! It’s time to stop letting the wispy ghost of some-guy-I-can’t-be-totally-sure-of-his-name-anymore influence my book choices!
The writing is a bit bouncy, and I think that’s the Pratchett influence (although I have no idea, not having read all that much Pratchett.) I can see how some people would be put off by that. But it all makes sense eventually.
I like our angel and demon duo. I like Crowley just fine, but I do believe we’re supposed to. He and the angel Aziraphale are kind of neutral opposites who have influenced each other over the years. They aren’t stuffy like the older angels and demons and they aren’t particularly fanatic in their roles either. Crowley seems rather like Loki, actually. (The fun, fan-fiction version of the Marvel one, to be precise. Aziraphale is not really Thor, but maybe a mix of him and Captain America?) They’re just two blokes trying to get by, and who are quite fond of the world as a whole. So they would rather like to put off its destruction.
It seems that to use his powers, Aziraphale has to “miracle” something, whereas Crowley appears to be able to use his powers at will. And he throws his powers about quite often. “Evil” is often quite easier than “good.” God is a bit stingy, it seems.
I think my favorite is the International Delivery Service guy. He’s so dedicated, and I feel so bad for him. He’s just trying to do his job, and he does it well!
I’m still not quite certain what happened at the end. I mean, I kind of do, but there are still questions that I’m sure will never be answered. Maybe the show will provide more clarity?
I’m glad I finally read (well, listened to) this. As some of my friends have told me, this book was completely self-serving for the authors. They wanted to write it, so they did, and they didn’t really concern themselves too much with what the eventual readers would think of it. And writing a book just because you want to seems like a very good reason to write a book indeed.
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