Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

The most succinct way to describe the novel Good Omens is as follows: funniest apocalypse ever! It’s the good old-fashioned, Book of Revelations style end of the world coming to life in modern England. Well, sort of.

 

I love this book! I’m not sure I loved it quite as much the first time I read it, but I feel like I understood it better this time, like I “got it,” if you will. It’s hilariously irreverent, but that irreverence celebrates humanity, warts and all, rather than being darkly cynical. The forces of good and evil alike, while not quite giving up their part in the ineffable plan, have come to the conclusion that there’s nothing they could do, for better or for worse, that humans haven’t already done to or for themselves.

Each line of this novel is sharply honed for the greatest humorous effect. There’s so much about which to laugh right out loud, most of it in that “it’s funny because it’s true” way of the best kind of observational humor. Whether it’s just the right analogy, an exaggeration or caricature of the perfect proportion, or the purest of irony, Gaiman and Pratchett are always spot-on. And Good Omens entertains from the first word to the last.

I only read this book once before and it was about 15 years ago. I didn’t remember many details at all. I do remember, however, how I came to read it in the first place. My new boyfriend at the time recommended it and lent me his paperback copy. A friend of a friend who was also familiar with Good Omens suggested that this boyfriend was a good one, because you only lend your copy of Good Omens to very special persons. I’ll have you know that I read the same copy of the novel this time around because its owner is now my husband (and has been for 13 ½ years). A Good Omen, indeed.

Coming soon: The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins


A Year of Books I've Read Before