Okay, okay. Hear me out. I was told that the good omens show was mid and to read the book instead. Which I was entirely cool with, I tend to prefer source material anyway.
However, this felt more excruciating to me than that chunk of les mis everyone skips anyway. The characters and plot were disjointed. Some main characters felt out of place (the them, newt) and didn’t make since within the summary I read to get my thoughts straight. The plot is not as linear as it makes itself out to be either.
I got to the middle of the Saturday portion and as of now it’s a DNF, Am I crazy? Should I give it another shot sometime?
by Khaki005
12 Comments
I watched the series a year or two ago. Then, I read the book a few months ago. (Then I watched the series again)
I didn’t enjoy the book as much as I thought I would… but I did finish.
This is one of those instances where the film helped the book and the book helped the film. I missed stuff in both (maybe I didn’t understand Brit humor).
One of my all time favorites. I also thought the show, especially season 1, was amazing, so if you didn’t like either, the humor probably just isn’t your cup of tea.
The show was mid?? 😬 Well, that’s certainly one opinion! If you aren’t liking it so far you probably won’t like it by the end tbh. Terry Pratchett’s influence is a little chaotic and it’s either for you or not. Whenever I read his books I have a hard time following the plot and just enjoy the ride. I love it but it’s not for everyone.
Terry Pratchett has a pretty specific type of humour, and Neil Gaiman’s is different again. I struggle with both of them these days – the humour feels a lot more forced and over explained than they used to. I came to Good Omens late in life, after reading a bunch of both authors (and loving a lot of it), and found it a bit lacklustre, and not particularly funny.
Some people really love this book, for me it’s a decent 3/5, and I could see others not really enjoying it much at all. No big loss.
I’ve read a bit of fantasy. Honestly it just wasn’t for me. The humor was good here and there. The plot and characters we’re hit and miss. Just not my type of book.
This sounds like Pratchett and/or Gaiman may just not be to your tastes and that’s totally fine.
For Good Omens specifically, I think the Amazon show was an excellent adaptation. It’s possible the plot and humor will hit better for you in that format?
DNFing a book is totally cool and normal. Don’t force yourself if you don’t want to.
It’s a silly book that really resonates with some people. It didn’t for me and it took me getting over the hype, let it be what it is, and to enjoy the silliness. I’d say give it some space and then try again with lower expectations
Good Omens was awesome, a friend gave it to me as a teenager and I still reread it even though I’m well into my 30’s.
I find it interesting that your suggester thought the show was mid but the book wasn’t, Gaiman was heavily involved in ways that authors usually aren’t. You saw it with Sandman on Netflix, too.
Part of why it feels weird to read is that you’ve two very different senses of very odd and slightly whacky humor, and there could be some overall cross-Pond culture shock.
My friend, an American with American parents and family, got a different read than I did (dual citizenship, with more than half my family in the UK). Our different lives gave us different takes, which was kinda neat and you don’t see that super often.
Neverwhere is probably my favorite Gaiman book and it’s actually way more linear. I’d give it a try, it might work better for what you want.
**minor edits, because my brain doesn’t want to work.
I could not finish that book, but I loved the show. I just didn’t get the humor when I was reading the book, but it was more obvious to me when watching the show.
I adore Good Omens, have read it many times, love the show as well.
Now, I’ve been familiar with and a fan of British humor since I was a kid because my dad was very into stuff like Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Benny Hill, Dr. Who, etc. So, I’m a long-time Anglophile, a fantasy fan, a pop culture fan of the same era (the book is 30 years old, after all). I’ve also had an academic/outsider interest in Christianity without being a follower of any religion.
Anyway, all the British humor works for me, the pop culture references hit for me, the treatment of Christian religion hits for me. Humor is always going to be one of those things that either works or doesn’t for each person. Written humor is also more complicated than live-action.
If you don’t like it, you don’t.
Good Omens makes fun of Christianity and the book of Revelation.
If you are not familiar with the religion, you might not like it
Read the book and thought it was just… okay. I had more fun talking about it to other people than actually reading it. I haven’t seen the show and don’t plan to. It think if you didn’t really enjoy what you’ve read so far you probably won’t like the rest of it. I say DNF it if you’re not enjoying it, there’s plenty of other things to read