Good Omens

It's the second time I've read this book, and it's just as brilliant as the last time. Definitely. I think it's so full of detail, jokes and footnotes that I could read it many more times, and still not get bored, and the humor would not get old. You can picture it all perfectly. I have never been to England, but even the name 'Lower Tadfield' brings up images of old trees, green fields and blue skies. A typical English countryside. Read this book. It is a classic, and it is fantastic.


'Good Omens' is about the end of the world, which will happen on Saturday, and the things leading up to it. There is a range of characters, the main ones being a demon named Crowley, his friend, Aziraphale (an angel) and an eleven year old boy named Adam (the Antichrist). The book is written by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, so it has a kind of 'split up' feel to it. It's made up of little scenes about different characters, that all eventually meet up (and they actually have links all through the book). It's written in third person, but it follows different stories from a range of characters perspectives. And the book is hilarious. 


One of the main things I love about the book are the characters. Crowley, a young man (in looks), who wear dark glasses even when it's dark. It is is job to be evil. But after six thousand years, he's grown attached to Earth, and when it comes to organizing the Apocalypse, he doesn't really feel it in him to do so. Crowley is a great character. He's synical and sarcastic, listens to Queen, rides a Bentley, but still keeps up with modern technology. He's spent his time on Earth, since it started, tormenting humans and putting fear into their lives. Then there's Aziraphale, the angel. Though his job is to bless people and do good, he has found company in Crowley, seeing he's the only one that's been around consistently for the last six thousand years. He is good-hearted and means well, though is constantly having to resist Crowley's tempting and reasoning on why God is wrong. Aziraphale is torn in that sense. He isn't as attached to Earth as Crowley is, but he still feels bringing Armageddon is necessary, (the lives lost etc, etc). He questions God, which makes him quite a rebellious angel, but he does it in such a timid way, you easily forget this. If a human was to see Aziraphale they would see an Englishman, wearing a camel-fur coat, and who was very, very gay. He isn't of course, because angels do not have sexualities, but he acts so. He is also not English, though he has spent a long time there in England. I love the relationship between Crowley and Aziraphale. They  both have different views on life (polar-opposite in fact) but deep down the demon does have a 'spark of kindness', and the angel still hangs out with a demon and gets drunk. And he even swears, but only once. And he hadn't done so since the beginning of time. They are great characters, I can imagine them perfectly. Other characters which appear in 'Good Omens' are Adam's friends, Pepper, Brian and Wensleydale, there's Hells Angels, War, Famine, Pollution and Death, a witch named Agnes Nutter and her descendent Anathema, and there's a witch-finder named Sergeant Shadwell, his Private Newton Pulsifer (known as Newt) and their neighbor, Madame Tracy.


The book draws you in from the very beginning, which is a very important thing for me. Obviously it's important because if it doesn't interest you or pull you in from the very beginning, it's hard to persist with it. The book starts as so:


It was a nice day.
All the days had been nice. There had been rather more than seven of them so far, and rain hadn't been invented yet. But clouds massing east of Eden suggested that the first thunderstorm was on it's way, and it was going to be a big one. 


 The writing is great. It describes things in such depth, and from many different characters perspectives, as I have mentioned. And it's funny, which I also enjoy. It's also quite important to be well written and to have the humour because I don't understand all the Bible references, so it kind of makes up for it. I also don't get all the references to England, like the places and motorways, etc. But the footnotes sometimes help with that. Here's an example:


Crowley took Glasgow, Aziraphale had Edinburgh (neither claimed any responsibility for Milton Keynes*, but both reported it as a success).


*Note for Americans and other aliens: Milton Keynes is a new city approximately halfway between London and Birmingham. It was built to be modern, efficient and healthy, and, all in all, a pleasant place to live. Many Britons find this amusing.


OR


She was in a city* at the time.


*Nominally a city. It was the size of an English country town, or, translated into American terms, a shopping mall. 


The whole book builds up, very slowly but surely, to the Saturday. And you, as the reader, enjoy every step of the way.