“A philosopher once asked, "Are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human?" Pointless, really..."Do the stars gaze back?" Now, that's a question.”
Everyone that knows me knows that I'm a massive Neil Gaiman fan. That's putting it lightly. I had the absolute joy of seeing his talk in Seattle in April and it felt like it was one of those life affirming moments one always dreams about. I took my best friend along with me, who has never read anything of his before (but I try not to hold it against her) and even she was falling in love with his mastery of words.
I know I said I'd be focusing on books I've never read before, but this was a special circumstance, I swear. Stardust was one of my favorite books in college, but I'd never listened to the audiobook before. I currently have a 40 minute commute each way to work five days a week. While I of course enjoy my karaoke sessions, on occasion I need something to focus my mind to ready myself for the day. Audiobooks are an excellent way to pass the time and squeeze in a quality literary break.
Romantic stories do not do much for me. I'm not what I would consider a romantic at heart, albeit love is something that I absolutely cherish. Stardust has a beautifully lyrical combination of love, adventure, and self discovery. Gaiman himself in the introduction described the story as a "fairy tale for adults" and I couldn't agree more. The story is so delightfully whimsical that there's something for everyone, and all readers will be left grinning like a fool from at least one moment in the pages. There's just something so uniquely special about the artful prose Gaiman spins, meticulously weaving together phrases and characters, creating a completely immersive tale. I don't want to delve too deeply into the plot, as that is not the point with this post. This is simply a revisitation to an old friend in a new form, something that I think we should all do from time to time.
“Every lover is, in his heart, a madman, and, in his head, a minstrel.”
Hearing Mr. Gaiman read his own work is something I find absolutely fascinating. It is without shame I admit that I might be at least 85% in love with Mr. Gaiman's voice as much as I am with his writing, but it adds an entirely different element to the stories to hear just how much he loves what he does. Each character has a distinct personality that comes through in the voice he chooses and it's rather funny to picture him sitting in a recording booth. But, that's probably just my imagination running off as usual. I think the thing that resonates so deeply with me from this story is that it is about, and for, dreamers. It's for the people who fall in love, do reckless things in the name of it, live their own lives, tell their own tales. Even if we don't live in a typical fairy tale, life itself is magical. Look up at the stars and try to argue that every twinkle, every gleam it just that. There's an awful big world out there. We are all adventurers at heart.
"You have to believe, otherwise it will never happen."
