So… this book is pretty well a comedy, maybe a satire, but most definitely a divine comedy.
Even the bad characters, the really nasty ones, are somewhat
likable in their single-minded devotion to a cause.
And, at least if I hadn’t stumbled upon the realization that
the whole “Good vs. Evil” argument was a bunch of hoppy-cock as a kid, this
book probably would have been a good way of opening my mind to thinking about
it.
I thoroughly enjoyed it. And I don’t want to go into the
plot.
About a hundred pages from the end something kind of clicked.
I thought it would be interesting if this all went the way of Henry Baum’s “The
American Book of the Dead” in terms of time lines and ends being the beginning,
which didn’t exactly happen. I also was looking at ties into Robert A. Heinlein’s
“Stanger in a Strange Land.” Honestly, I have no idea if Baum’s book was influenced
by “Good Omens” or if “Good Omens” was influenced by “Stranger in a Strange
Land,” but to me there are certain common threads and relations and I could see
a line of influence, even if there is none.
So, if you want a laugh, and don’t mind laughing at the
impending Armageddon as it looms over the characters (and is in some ways is
caused by them), you should pick up this book and give it a read.
Also, often times awkward situations and not so funny
situations are made hilarious by little sentences tacked on at the end of a
section. It is marvelously well placed. The presentation of everything in the
book is impeccable. So yeah…
Also, it should be noted that this is my first exposure to
Pratchett or Gaiman as authors. It was an excellent first exposure.
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