Michael’s Comments (group member since Oct 21, 2016)

Michael’s comments from the Arters AP Literature 2016-17 group.

Michael wrote: "The Sandman has been a prominent figure in both folklore and pop culture for many years, taking root in Scandinavian children's stories, and making appearances as the topic of popular songs or even..."
Here's the link to the NPR interview I cited:
http://www.npr.org/2015/12/15/4583195...

The Sandman has been a prominent figure in both folklore and pop culture for many years, taking root in Scandinavian children's stories, and making appearances as the topic of popular songs or even as a mascot for mattress companies. Never before, however, has the Sandman been anthropomorphized in the way that Neil Gaiman portrays him as the titular protagonist in his 1989 fantasy/horror graphic novel, The Sandman. In an interview, Gaiman tells NPR that he has always been fascinated by dreams saying, "The world that's important is the world behind each of our eyes, which is something that none of the rest of us can access." He even jokingly recants about how he frequently talks in his sleep, sometimes having full conversations with his wife at night. Dreams remain the focal point and one of the most prominent motifs throughout the duration of the book. When Gaiman set out to create the Sandman, also known more commonly as Dream in the story, he wanted to create what he believed to be the true embodiment and personification of dreaming. Dream, for the entirety of the story, is a bland, tense recluse who follows the rules and rarely ever even smiles let alone jokes with others in the book. Dream also seemingly lacks empathy for mortals for the most part, especially those who attempt to cross or defy him. I didn’t enjoy this aspect of the book very much, because Dream became a static character and had no growth or development in the story. Perhaps this is because The Sandman is part of a twelve part series and he will have his character arc in later installations, but I was still left with a want to see Dream evolve as a character even in the slightest.
The narrative follows Dream attempting to retrieve possessions that were stolen from him while imprisoned by mortals for almost a decade. These possessions were powerful magical artifacts that allow Dream to manipulate, move through and even create dreams. Each individual who had stolen an artifact had one common goal, that goal being a lust for power. This becomes an overarching theme in the story as Gaiman attempts to use the thieves as vessels to carry the message that the want for power lies within all of us to some extent. He shows that it is human nature to seek dominance over our fellow man, regardless of one's walk of life.
For the most part, I found The Sandman to be quite enjoyable, however I have some criticisms. I enjoyed the plot overall, I found it to be very interesting and compelling, however it had a slow start and it was hard to understand what was happening until about halfway through the book. I also found some of the symbolism to be slightly overworked and trite. For example, a theme that frequently came up was religion, specifically false gods and other sacrilegious imagery. Perhaps this is just my opinion, but I feel as though the whole concept is overused and could be interpreted as insensitive in an attempt to seem rebellious or anarchical. Along the same lines, I also felt that the amount of gore and violent imagery was overpowering the plot and subtracted from the overall impact of the story. I would have understood if maybe one or two parts were gorey to punctuate the story and add emphasis, but it loses its power to be impactful when their is blood and gore on almost every other page. While I understand that this graphic novel falls under the horror genre, I don’t see that as a legitimate excuse to add brutality and bloodshed in excess. However I did think that the plot was very clever and original and there is no doubt that Neil Gaiman is a fantastic story-teller, his ability to utilize language to create masterpieces is astounding and The Sandman is truly a staple piece in the graphic novel genre.

Alessandra wrote: "This book is getting really good, but me oh my what is with all the gore?!"

I kind of like the gore though, I think it adds to the fantasy element of the story

Just finished up the book, I really enjoyed it. I'm really tempted to read the sequels.

Wow I really love Death as a character, she was completely not what I was expecting her to look/act like. I hope she is more developed in later books!

Anybody else super confused about this amulet thing?

Andy wrote: "I really wish there was a comic on morning star and the leaders of hell. That part of the book was really interesting. I wonder why they had to split up the domains of hell?"

Me too! I want some sort of prologue that explains that! I was also really surprised as to how Lucifer was portrayed in the book. He kind of looked like David Bowie

Woah this Doctor Destiny Character is seriously twisted

I'm right around the part now where the main plot is starting and I am actually really curious as to how it will unfold. This story has a really unique plot and the main character is so unusual too!

Andy wrote: "Yooooo league of justice was brought in. Doctor Destiny is seriously creepy. He reminds me of golem with the ring whenever he calls the ruby his love. What was the deal with the amulet? Was it not ..."

I just got to that part, I had no idea that the Justice League was in this universe too! Does Neil Gaiman collaborate with DC Comics?

Im really enjoying how the story switches in between the main plot and the plot regarding the people with sleeping sickness!

Andy wrote: "So far my interest in this book only increases as I continue to read it. It seems as though there are stories within stories within stories in this book. It's a bit confusing, but the story seems s..."
I thought it was kinda confusing to read at parts too, it think its because more than one story line is happening at once.

I just started the book but I really love it so far! I've never read a graphic novel before and I really enjoy the style of it! The art is really beautiful and the plot is very compelling so far!

The Sandman by Neil Gaiman

I'm currently on page 145 of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl and I still really like this book. The main character went into a lot of detail about their love for maing movies in this section. He mentioned all of his failed attempts at movies and all of the good ones as well. He and his friend Earl also got high off of their teacher's lunch, which was apparently laced with weed. The proceeding scene was hilarious.

Michael wrote: "I'm on page 62 of 298 of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. So far, this is the funniest book I have ever read. I have never laughed out loud from reading a book before this. The main character Greg i..."

I’m currently on page 100 out of 298 of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl and by this point in the story the main plot has been established. The protagonist Gregg is forced by his mother to befriend his sort-of ex-girlfriend in the seventh grade who has been diagnosed with leukemia. Their friendship rekindled in a very awkward phone call, which lead to them hanging out an even more awkwardness ensued. We are also introduced to Greg's best friend, Earl. He is a short-tempered, “vertically challenged” outcast from a very dysfunctional home.

I'm on page 62 of 298 of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. So far, this is the funniest book I have ever read. I have never laughed out loud from reading a book before this. The main character Greg is a pessimistic senior in high school who hates just about everyone and is very ready to get out of dodge so to speak. Which is something I can relate to quite strongly. I am very excited to read more of this book, I can hardly put it down to be honest.

JK i want Me and Earl and Dying Girl

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld