The place you never knew exist
A fantasy novel "Neverwhere"
이 글은 영어소설 <네버웨어>를 읽고 영어로 쓴 독후감이다. 우리말로 된 독후감은 아래 링크에 있다.
Title: Neverwhere
Written by: Neil Gaiman
Note: This was BBC television series, and later it was novelized by Neil Gaiman.
Cover Image of "Neverwhere" Source: Goodreads.Where do you have to go if you want to enjoy an adventure? Do you have to go to the exotic country where speaks unfamiliar language? Or quit your job and go backpacking around the world for a year? That would work. Sometimes, however, adventures begin right under your nose. A simple and mundane action could lead to an adventure. Just like this book.
Richard, the main character of this book, lives in London. He's just an ordinary man: He has a small apartment to go to at the end of the day, a solid job, and a beautiful fiancée. Every day is just like the other day. It could be boring sometimes, but in this bleak world it is something you hang on to dearly.
Then one day, Richard saw a girl lying and bleeding on the street. He tried to help her, but she refused to go to the hospital. Seeing how badly she hurt, he brought her his home and took care of her. The next morning, after a good night’s sleep and rest, she got much better. She thanked him and left out of his life forever. Or so he thought.
From the day she left, something strange started to happen to Richard. People didn't see him. They didn't hear him. It's as if he suddenly stopped existing in this world. No matter how loud he yelled, he couldn't buy the subway ticket. No matter how hard he waved his hand, taxis didn't stop for him. At the office, his desk was removed, and his fiancée didn't recognize him. Having nowhere else to go, he went home. At least I have a place to go, he thought. But when he got home, he found out a real estate agent declared it was an empty apartment and tried to rent it.
It was the last straw. He thought he had to do something to make his life normal again. Richard realized that this all began after he helped the girl on the street. He decided to find her even though he knew nothing about her, except her name: Door. He thought if he ever found her, then everything would be back to normal again. Following her trail, Richard ended up entering an underworld of London, which was invisible to other people. An underworld where dangerous villains, monsters, and angel lived in.
Another edition of "Neverwhere" Source: GoodreadsI like this story especially because it's an adventure of an ordinary man. In most books, adventures are reserved for specific times or land. Or they are only for children. But this is about an adventure of an ordinary adult. It gave me a hope that if I look around carefully, I could start an adventure of my own right now, right here.
If you're familiar with London subways and station names, it's much more fun to read this book. Because each subway station unfolds many adventures and supernatural beings suited to their names. For example, at the 'Earl's Court' station you can meet an Earl. Many friars live in the 'Black friars' station, and of course there's an angel in 'Angel' station. If you take Seoul for example, it's as if there's still Tokkaebis raising silkworms under the 'Jamsil' station, or there's a big ice cave under the 'Seobingo' station. I sincerely hope that one day a very talented writer will write a fantastic story about subway/underworld of Seoul.
This book is a modern version of 'Alice in Wonderland' or 'Wizard of Oz'. If you like fantasy novels, I'd like to recommend this.
Memorable Quotes
1.
Richard had noticed that events were cowards: they didn't occur singly, but instead they would run in packs and leap out at him all at once.
2.
I'm going to go home. Everything is going to be normal again. Boring again. Wonderful again.
