Good Omens
by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
p. 1990
Good Omens is a
book that wants to be read.
It doesn’t want much else. It doesn’t want to be revered or
lauded nor does it want to be proverbially ripped apart (though if you ask its
two loving fathers, it would very much like you physically beat the crap out of it, at least enough to show some
wear and tear). Good Omens wants you
to be amused and entertained and to love it dearly for 300-odd pages. Then it
wants you to tell all your friends. It may not be able to articulate exactly why, but it’s insistent that once you’ve
read it... you’ll know.
From the history surrounding this comedic tale, it seems
that this work of fiction—much like the universe and humanity itself—happened through
a confluence of events that appear very much like an accident. Terry Pratchett
was a somewhat established writer in the fantasy genre and Neil Gaiman was just
starting out and a fortuitous interview of the former by the latter inevitably led
to a plot several years in the making. Two authors just trying to pick the
other’s brain and make them laugh led, quite appropriately, to the story of an
angel and a demon, unlikely friends in the end times, just trying to do their
jobs and maintain a sort of friendship.
Crowley and Aziraphale are the demon and angel characters
respectively, and they have cultivated their unusual companionship since the
beginning of time—which, contrary to scientific belief, was only about 6000 or
so years ago. They, along with a cast of characters as equally charismatic as
themselves, must navigate the impending apocalypse as Heaven and Hell prepare
to duke it out over the soul of a young boy, the Antichrist, who doesn’t know
what he is yet. Also entwined in this convoluted plot are a young woman,
descendent of the author of a book of prophesies that predicted this mess, a couple
of witchfinders, a fortune teller, four precocious children, a
not-quite-of-this-earth dog, and the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, appropriately reincarnated
for modern times in the form of bikers.
I generally liked all of the plot threads; though it skipped
around quite often, I didn’t find it too hard to pick up where I left off.
Everything involving Dog’s point of view was gold, as was Shadwell, the last
head witchfinder, whose richly-depicted dialogue was a delight to pick apart
every time he spoke. Every character in this book had a ‘voice’ that you could
really hear in your head, transcending the pages on which it was written.
I found myself, at times, a little impatient with the
children's plot, especially about halfway through when it took over the novel
for a time. They got a bit tiresome, especially seeing as the heart of this
novel is the friendship between Crowley and Aziraphale, who vanished for a time
to let the others take center stage, and weren’t reunited until the end of the
story.
Reading this book, I couldn’t help but feel that the TV show
Supernatural took some of its cues
from Gaiman and Pratchett. The Horsemen evolution was one thing—though in the Supernatural-verse, the Horseman drive
fancy cars as opposed to motorcycles, and then of course there are the striking
similarities between each story’s version of the demon Crowley, though I would
have to say that Supernatural’s
Crowley has a definite agenda that Good
Omens’ Crowley explicitly lacks. That is one thing that struck me about
this book as being a distinctly British quality: the characters, though often
in positions of considerable power, never seem to take things too seriously and
rarely seem to have any idea what is going on. It is a classic trait of
farcical literature that makes this book so darkly comical. Here are characters
literally deciding the fate of mankind and their thoughts are preoccupied by
old books, expensive cars, and childish games. It’s hilarious in its
absurdness.
It was impossible decipher which parts were Gaiman’s ideas
and which parts were Pratchett’s because these two authors blend together so
seamlessly. Being that this was also my first foray into Pratchett’s
repertoire, I expect I wouldn’t have much say on that topic in general, but I
certainly intend to seek out more of his work now. The efforts of these two
authors, over the course of some years, has certainly paid off in the form of
this cult favorite, and their ability to create a story that—in spite of its
absurdity—makes perfect sense is what I had always hoped to accomplish writing
stories with my friends growing up (and may still do one day!). They just fit
together.
Gaiman and Pratchett share a common interest that many book
lovers and aspiring writers can relate to; they don’t want their book to change
the world. They just want people to read it and to love it and to pass it on to
all their friends, and I intend to do just that.
