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| Edited By: Aradhna Wal |Source: DNA |Updated: Dec 05, 2017, 02:00 PM IST
Early on in his tome of essays, Neil Gaiman convinces the reader of the absolute and immediate importance of reading, of libraries and of the good breed of librarians who act as wizards and guides for readers. Gaiman, the purveyor of all things fantastical, phantasmagoric and sci-fi, goes on at length about how the act of reading can change, often save a life; it is clear that herein lies the book's strength.
"...a glorious love-letter to reading, to writing, to dreaming, to an entire genre," says Junot Diaz, himself nerd supremo and Tolkien evangelist in his writings, summing up the joy of The View from the Cheap Seats. Gaiman draws on the considerable length and breadth of his readings from childhood onwards, his friends, acquaintances, collaborators and heroes from the arts, making sure there is a hook for the most reluctant reader. For anyone who has spent, or escaped, a childhood buried between musty covers of borrowed library books and hand-me-downs from relatives, Gaiman will touch a chord.
The collection will undoubtedly be enjoyed by loyal readers. Here are the bits and bobs of the origin stories for American Gods, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Sandman, Mirrormask…
However, for those without a supply of Gaiman on their shelves, it is his ruminations on art and artistes that stand out. Having devoured science fiction and fantasy high and low from boyhood, having worked with, met or interviewed the stalwarts of genres across books, comics and movies, Gaiman has much to say. From multiple essays on the prolific Terry Pratchett, friend and co-writer, the delightful insight into Diana Wynne Jones and Douglas Adams, the man and 'futurologist' who gave the world singing dolphins and space frontier restaurants, to the hypnotic horrors of Lovecraft, Gaiman has thoughts on most works – from the Western hemisphere of course – that have formed imagination for over a century.
His writing is not within the realms of literary theory and never has been. There is a deep understanding and appreciation for genre, for all that is not literary fiction, that could make a believer out of anyone. Having spent years himself working out the tangled skeins of dreams, nightmares and realities, the powers they exude over writers and readers, Gaiman writes about them with an ardent love.
As an aside, that is something readers of historical fantasy must be thankful for, for it was his eye (and that of the writer Colin Greenwood) that found something marvellous in the early drafts of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell, and encouraged author Susanna Clarke to complete the now seminal book.
The collection falters when Gaiman ventures into journalism and commentary on current affairs. His polite censure of writers who boycotted the PEN award for courage to French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, after the 2015 attack on the staff, lacks nuance and acknowledgement that western forms of satire can and are steeped in racist tropes, that a silent boycott is not a threat to free speech but a way to register protest.
Gaiman's venture into Syrian refugee camps – he was taken there by the UNHCR, which runs these camps – has been recounted in a heartfelt manner. It will raise some awareness of what Syrians have gone through but raises questions as to his understanding of the complex politics that got them there. He falls into the trap of making the experience more about him – he claimed in a later interview that the trip to the camps in Jordan "broke him" – than the people he meets.
Perhaps political insight was not his mandate. However, one is thankful Gaiman left journalism behind many years ago.
