Stardust

by Neil Gaiman.

I have to confess, this is one of those rare times in my life where I find myself appreciating ...NAY, ADORING... the film version of a story more than the book itself.

Usually I'm a hardcore 'original story is always best' kind of girl. And this time I don't believe it is. Gaiman has written this book with great fantasy flair, any fantasy lover will enjoy it no doubt. And he mentions without apology many adventures that Tristran and Yvaine have along the road just like Tolkien refers without apology to many histories, adventures, and overlaps throughout his works. But there is something missing (for me anyway) in the novel that the film Stardust captures. Maybe it is the fact that the moviemakers set out to make their adaptation more whimsical than the pages inspiring it, openly acknowledging that they'd like to be compared to The Princess Bride. (And there, my friends, is an interesting comparison of book/film----I think The Princess Bride is a great book and a great movie adaptation, but at the same time there are a lot of differences but each is enjoyable, thoroughly, in its own right). Whereas the novel Stardust really can't be called whimsical at all. I could say it was fantastical (it is fantasy after all) or magical or really intelligent for the way it references classic nursery rhymes and poetry we've all heard since the cradle. But it isn't necessarily humorous and definitely not whimsical and it isn't even witty and for that reason I feel that the movie has taken the story from the book and improved upon it, greatly. Just the ghost princes alone illustrate this point with their witty commentary and laugh-out-loud body language, symbolically narrating the audiences' reactions to plot development with hilarious accuracy as opposed to their somber presence in the book, not to mention other changes which contrast the two. Perhaps its because I feel like the movie is a smart movie--there are layers in it so that people can pick up nuances and innuendos and really enjoy the banter, whereas this is missing in the book. In the book what you see is what you get, there really isn't room for more interpretation. I could watch the movie every week and still laugh and glean inspiration for living a better life from it...sadly, I cannot do that from the novel. Nope.

But it is still worth reading, at least once.

Now I'm curious if anyone else feels the same way I do.

Stardust is a story about Tristran Thorne (yes in the book his name is Tristran but in the movie its Tristan) and how he sets out to gain his Heart's Desire, whom he believes to be a lass called Victoria. Tristran is the result of his father's brief interaction with faerie magic during a visit to the Wall Market, but has no idea of his unconventional parentage. He is ignorant of who his true mother is or where he was born, and has been raised in the village of Wall which is located on the border of the land Faerie, with only a broad stone wall with one gap separating the two. Tristran and Victoria see a star fall one evening, and Tristran bravely goes through the gap in the wall to bring back the star to gain the love of Victoria. However, when he finds the star he is met with a woman, not a stone of celestial volcanic rock like he has imagined he would find, and the adventures he has a result make for a very enjoyable read. And of course there is a surprise ending (very different from the movie) for tying up loose ends and resolving character plots!