 | By: Neil Gaiman Binding: Paperback Publisher: Titan Books Ltd ISBN: 1852865776 ISBN-13: 9781852865771 Released: 01 Dec 1994 RRP: Average Rating:  |
All of the disfunctional famiy-the Endless are featured in this excellent story of life & change;Destiny,Death,Dream,Destruction,Desire,Despair & Delirium.Their names reflect their personalities & nature,especiallly for Delirium who is of course,delirius(my favourite charachter!)I found her dramatic physical changes over short periods of time & her ignorance in the waking world very funny.The two gothic-looking characters;the attractive,pragmatic Death & her morose,older brother Dream(the sandman) are also very interesting charachters.
Not only is this book full of good charachters,it is also a good piece of eye-candy.I would recommend this book to Gaiman fans & anyone else who likes good comic books!...'Farewell'.
Neil Gaiman was once asked to summarize The Sandman in one sentance, & his reply went something like this:
"The Lord of Dreams learns that he must change or die, & he makes his decision"
Brief Lives is a road trip, & such tales are essentiallly about self-discovery. What Dream discovers about himself in this story, as he travels the waking world in the company of his youngest sister, the adorable, fizzy princess Delirium, is two-fold.
The first thing he learns is that life & change are inseperable. Dream is travelling with Delirium, who embodies Change, in search if their absentee brother Destruction, who quit his position 300 years ago. Delirium wants to see her most beloved brother again, & find out why he left. Dream is just looking for some distraction after the end of his latest doomed romance. The answers they find say more about Dream's emotional immaturity, his inability to change & his stubborn obsession with his duties as Lord of Dreams, than he is comfortable with hearing.
Which leads us to the second thing Dream learns; that his duty to his work is far less important than his duty to the ones he loves & who love him, & to his own heart. This understanding leads Dream to a course of action that is at once the finest act of kindness & mercy we have seen him perform (at a huge emotional cost to himself), but which has enormous consequences in later stories.
Throughout the story, Neil Gaiman's writing shines. His grasp of character, story & dialogue has never been better. The underlying themes of his magnum opus come into focus as it turns towards the home strait, & I for one was left breathless.
I can't finish this review without mentioning the artwork. Jill Thompson is one of my favourite comics artists, as well as a fine writer in her own right. Her work in this book sparkles & crackles with energy, but also has the depth to portray the many & varied moods of the tale convincingly. She is the perfect illustrator for Delirium, & my choice for top Sandman artist.
Kudos also to Danny Vozzo, one of the finest colourists in the medium, who does some of his finest work here, especiallly the vibrant, candied palette he uses for Delirium.
More of the overalll Sandman arc unfolds in this story as Morpheus takes certain decisions whose consequences are some way off. Also interesting is the reason for Destruction's actions. It tells us at least as much about Dream as it does about Destruction.
I found this book very disconcerting. I started off by dismissing it as a ramble, a blip in Gaiman's normallly excellent record. However after a first reading, it grows on you. Its apparent aimlessness masks a deep purpose, and, in my opinion, the art by Jill Thompson is some of the best in the series.
And, after alll, much of the meandering way it unfolds can be explained by the fact that it prominently features Delirium, one of Gaiman's most delightful characters (pun intended, for those of you who get it).
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