“Why I Love” Wednesday is a regular feature focusing on things that I love and why I love them. It gives me a chance to celebrate some of my favorite things out there, and it covers a broad spectrum. I try to be light on plot discussion, but I cannot guarantee that what follows is spoiler-free.
To the right is the comic version of Neil Gaiman’s STARDUST, with artwork by Charles Vess. This is the first version of the novel that I ever read, and I specifically sought out this edition because I love Vess’ artwork.
The art isn’t what made me fall in live with this book, though it does add an extra layer to my enjoyment of it. If it were only the art that had won me over, I wouldn’t own a paperback version of the novel as well (also pictured).
What I love about STARDUST is not the characters either, although I do like them all. From Duncan and his Heart’s desire, to the three Lilim and their mirror counterparts, to even Mister Bromios at the tavern — they’re all dynamic and compelling, but they’re not the best part of the book.
As with last week’s entry, what’s really wonderful about STARDUST is the world. I wouldn’t want to live in, or even visit, Gaiman’s Faerie because it’s not a very pleasant place. In fact, even the village of Wall isn’t entirely safe. It’s right next door to the entrance to Faerie, which has to be guarded around the clock, lest someone go in or something come out.
As much danger as lurks in Faerie, there’s an equal measure of beauty and wonder that inhabits it as well. This is obvious from the beginning, with the description of the Faerie market. Every nine years, humans pass through the wall and wander through the stalls, which sell fantastic items like bottled dreams and storm-filled eggshells, yet they’re careful to only eat food from Mister Bromios’ stall. They know from ages past not to trust even the food from Faerie.
(It’s a mark of how much I love the world of this book that just talking about it makes me want to reread it.)
Part of what makes this world so fascinating is Gaiman’s way of writing about it. Here’s a sample from the first chapter:
“From time to time shapes and figures can be seen, among the trees, in the distance. Huge shapes and odd shapes and small, glimmering things which flash and glitter and are gone.”
One more, from the second chapter:
“But there were times when the wind blew from beyond the wall, bringing with it the smell of mint and thyme and red-currants, and at those times there were strange colors seen in the flames in the fireplaces of the village.”
Do you see what I mean? Gaiman has a knack for somehow describing a magical, unearthly place with mundane words, of taking the familiar and twisting it so that we can almost touch the inexplicable. It’s the only way to describe a place like Faerie, which is (as Lord Dunsany described it in THE KING OF ELFLAND’S DAUGHTER) “beyond the fields we know”.
Between the creative world and Gaiman’s superb writing style, STARDUST is the kind of novel that can be visited again and again. I’m not sure how many times I’ve read the book at this point, but I fall in love with it all over again every time.
And that’s what I love about STARDUST.
(images copyright DC Comics/Vertigo and HarperCollins, used without permission)
