Neil Gaiman's "Stardust"

Neil Gaiman's "Stardust".

Synopsis:

Catch a fallen a star... 

Young Tristran Thorn is not like other boys - in more ways than one. While Tristran knows he's not quite like others, he doesn't know that he's actually half man, half faerie. Tristran lives in the small town of Wall, a village that borders on the land of Faerie. Every nine years, the two worlds come together for a fair of magical proportions. A couple of fairs go by, but Tristran is always sent off to stay with distant relatives so he never gets to experience the festivities. One night when Tristran is 17, he and his crush, Victoria Forester, witness a star that falls in the land of Faerie. Desperate to win Victoria's affections, Tristran promises to bring her back the falling star if she promises to marry him!

As Tristran heads off on his journey to bring back the fallen star, he quickly makes friends with a furry creature who calls himself Charmed. Tristran and Charmed make their way through Faerie, encountering mythical beings, mirages and much more. It doesn't take Charmed long to figure out that Tristran has a connection to Faerie - one that isn't possible for a mere man.

If Tristran thinks he's going to be able to just wander through the land of Faerie, pick up his fallen star and return home to his beloved Victoria, he has another thing coming. Not only is he searching for the star, but also three lords of the land Stormhold and an evil witch! How will Tristran compete against them? Or will even make it that far?

[via]

Rich with adventure and magic, Stardust is one of master storyteller Neil Gaiman's most beloved tales, and the inspiration for the hit movie.

0

Project 365 - Photo #246

Neil Gaiman's "Fragile Things - Short Fictions & Wonders". 

Let me tell you a story. No wait, one's not enough. I'll begin again... 

Let me tell you stories of the months of the year, of ghosts and heartbreak, of dread and desire. Of after-hours drinking and unanswered phones, of good deeds and bad days, of trusting wolves and how to talk to girls.

There are stories within stories, whispered in the quiet of the night, shouted above the roar of the day, and played out between lovers and enemies, strangers and friends. But all, all are fragile things made of just 26 letters arranged and rearranged to form tales and imaginings which will dazzle your senses, haunt your imagination and move you to the very depths of your soul.

0

Book excerpts

"I painted the bathroom from a vile turquoise color to light pink and adorned it with white towels and furniture, delicate framed pictures following a French theme and pretty bottles of cosmetics. I quickly obliterated the revolting purple paint offending my eyes in the bedroom with a tasteful duck-egg blue and added white dainty drawers and wardrobes, pictures and paintings. Next I decorated the living room with big prints of Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe, a bird cage, a bust of a demure-looking Victorian woman and dozens of photos, cushions, and scented candles."

"There were always going to be offers, there would be temptations, there would be ups and downs, but you reach a point where you know this person in your life is someone uniquely special and you realize they can share with you the kind of companionship and love that no one else can come near to."

From Why am I always the one before The One? One girl's quest to bag Mr Right by Charlotte Ward

********************

"It was a perfect spring day, and the air was alive with birdsong and bee hum. The daffodils bustled in the breeze and here and there on the side of the hill a few early tulips nodded. A blue powdering of forget-me-nots and fine, fat yellow primroses punctuated the green of the slope."

From The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

********************

"Stories, like people and butterflies and songbird's eggs and human hearts and dreams, are also fragile things, made up of nothing stronger or more lasting than twenty-six letters and a handful of punctuation marks. Or they are words on the air, composed of sounds and ideas - abstract, invisible, gone once they've been spoken and what could be more frail than that? But some stories, small, simple ones about setting out on adventures or people doing wonders, tales of miracles and monsters, have outlasted all the people who told them, and some of them have outlasted the lands in which they were created."

From Fragile Things - Short Fictions & Wonders by Neil Gaiman

0

Project 365 - Photo #223

Neil Gaiman's "The Graveyard Book".

Synopsis:

Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a perfectly normal boy. Well, he would be perfectly normal if he didn't live in a graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor the world of the dead.

There are dangers and adventures for Bod in the graveyard: the strange and terrible menace of the sleer; a gravestone entrance to a desert that leads to the city of ghouls; friendship with a witch, and so much more.

But it is in the land of the living that real danger lurks, for it is there that the man Jack live and he has already killed Bod's family.

A fascinating story of love and friendship realized in the most unlikely of places, this new novel by bestselling author Neil Gaiman, with illustrations by award-winning Chris Riddell, is set to become a classic.

0

Project 365 - Photo #221

I've watched Coraline, an animated movie, based on Neil Gaiman's international bestselling book. Now, I'm reading the book. :)

Synopsis:

Coraline is not the kind of girl to be put off by a sign of danger read in some tea-leaves or indeed a message sent to her by some very talented mice! No, she is the kind of girl who faces a challenge with bravery, intelligence and a lot of determination. Which is just as well because she is going to need all those skills, and more, in this wonderful, spooky tale of a girl caught on the wrong side of a door, with counterfeit parents who have buttons for eyes and who clearly do not intend to set her free. 

Read it if you dare!

In this wickedly scary and brilliantly crafted story, Neil Gaiman has created a compelling novel that fascinates, frightens and surprises all at once. Neil is the bestselling author of American Gods and the hugely successful Sandman comics.

Reviews:

"This book tells a fascinating and disturbing story that frightened me nearly to death." Lemony Snicket

"This is a marvelously strange and scary book... Coraline is the real thing." Philip Pullman

"Splendidly original, weird, and frightening." Diana Wynne Jones

There are slight differences between the book and the animated movie. However, I find both versions intriguing and interesting. :)

0

Weekend DVD 1: Coraline (2009)

Be careful what you wish for.

Based on Neil Gaiman's international bestselling book, "Coraline", Coraline (2009), an animated movie, tells the story of a young girl (voiced by Dakota Fanning) who's bored and feels neglected by her constantly busy parents after they move into their new home, the Pink Palace Apartments.

One day, she unlocks a mysterious door in the new house and finds herself crossing a passage and venturing into a parallel reality. On the surface, this parallel world mimics her own life - though much more fantastical.

In it, her neighbors (Miss Forcible, Miss Spink, and Mr. Bobinsky) have buttons instead of eyes, her "parents" are far more caring, and all her dreams coming true. Problem arises when her Other Mother (voiced by Teri Hatcher) attempts to keep her in the parallel world forever. 

With the help of The Cat, Coraline must count on her resourcefulness, determination, and bravery to get back home.

I've watched Neil Gailman's Mirror Mask (2005), which is also a morbidly weird fantasy movie. Neil Gaiman is a renowned English author of science fiction and fantasy short stories and novels. His writings has a very different yet fresh approach. Most of the time, you will be brought into parallel worlds, which are most likely morbid, weird, and mind-blowing.

Overall, this is an excellent movie! It's an adventure too weird for words. Don't underestimate the amount of fantasy that you're gonna get.

Final verdict: Highly recommended. Catch it on DVD if you haven't done so. :)

0

Movie: Mirror Mask (2005)

Mirror Mask, a 2005 fantasy movie is written by Neil Gailman, a renowned English author of science fiction and fantasy short stories and novels. If you've watched Stardust and Coraline, you'll remember Neil Gailman.

How should I describe Mirror Mask? Let me see. I think I can summarize it in three words - dazzling, dreamy, weird. Haha. I find myself trying my best to catch up with the overly fantasized visuals. They're mind-blowing and rather unacceptable by the standard of my conventional mind and likings.

Let me tell you a little bit about its story.

A young girl, Helena Campbell is fed up of working as a circus performer with her parents. One night, due to a heated argument with her daughter, Helena's mother collapses behind the circus stage after performing and is hospitalized.

Shortly after, Helena finds herself trapped in a fantasy world. As she finds her way through the City of Light and the Land of Shadow, she befriends a young man called Valentine. Soon after, she discovers while she's trapped in the fantasy world, a doppelganger of herself who's behaving radically different from her is now living in her world! In fact, that girl is the queen of the Land of Shadow's daughter.

The only way to get her identity back is by finding the Mirror Mask, the charm that will break the spell send the evil princess back to the Land of Shadow.

Overall, watching this movie is quite a fresh experience albeit challenging my wits. :)

0