Book-a-book of the Month Club discussion

The Main Character (I): I can't remember if he had a name. Most likely he did. I'm sure someone will post it. He was a little all over the place. I have a hard time writing about the characters because I feel I'm always too critical. So...

Pros:
He was very flawed.
He was very philosophical. There was a strong idea of self and how much of a mystery that is. It played well with the doubt and unkowning of the story at hand.
He was finicky and flighty. It made the story more of a page turned. There was no resistance with thoughts or examing. He just came to a problem and did what he did. This is sort of a con in that it took away from potential robustness that he could have had. I don't that sort of thing would have been inline with the story.

Cons:
No character arc
Seemed to go back and forth between being a kid and being an adult when it was convenient
Too well rounded to suspend disbelief, especially since he had no character arc

The charcters in this one were kind of blah for me - nota lot of development - they were just what they needed to be when they needed to be it. I never really understood who any of them were or why they were what they were. It felt like there should have been more about these people before and during the story. Because of the fact that the characters were not developed for me, I didn't really care a whole lot about them in the end.

Couldn't get much from any of them, even the main character. (Did he have a name?)

Wikipedia says he is the "unnamed protagonist"

Matthew wrote: "Wikipedia says he is the "unnamed protagonist""

Good to know! For some reason I thought it was told in third person limited. guess that's how distant he seems to me, maybe..

It's been so long, I might need to refer to Wikipedia for any other continued discussion. ;)

Not sure if any of us mentioned this anywhere, but the whole "lodger, found dead in his car" thing really happened to Gaiman as a child. He had forgotten all about it when his dad reminded him. His wife Amanda wanted a story of his childhood and that's how he came to write this. He says that any story about his childhood would, of course, be fantasy, at least in part!

Kandice wrote: "Not sure if any of us mentioned this anywhere, but the whole "lodger, found dead in his car" thing really happened to Gaiman as a child. He had forgotten all about it when his dad reminded him. His..."

Wow, freaky! Good to know.. I understand the need for fantastical elements. I guess it just didn't gel with me :(