I'm not exactly sure what it was that made me pick up Good Omens. Not being a big comic fan, the name Neil Gaiman didn't really spark any particular interest, aside from some obscure reference to him in a Tori Amos song (Gaiman writes (wrote?) the immensely popular Sandman comic book). Also not being a huge Sci-Fi/ Fantasy reader, the name Terry Pratchett (author of the Disc World series) didn't really jump out at me either. I don't recall anyone recommending it to me, nor do I recall exactly where the copy I picked up came from. That was several years ago, so there are many things I don't recall about my first read, but I do recall reading it many more times since then.

Good Omens is not really the type of novel I sit down with. For some reason I like to come out of the other side of a novel feeling like I've accomplished something for the effort (probably in my upbringing, or the fact that I studied literature for three years- maybe I'm just sick), it's not often I read a lighthearted book. The only pain I might have felt at the hands of this book was a sore diaphragm. Truthfully, how many times can you honestly say a book made you laugh out loud, on several occasions? Maybe I'm just a grouch, but I almost never go any further than smiling at a funny passage in a book. Good Omens was different.

Let me warn you that I'm not a particularly religious person, so I generally take things of a "Book of Revelations" type nature with a grain of salt. I'm not anti-religion, I've just never found one that really fit. Perhaps that's one of the things I found so appealing about this book. None of the religious aspects are taken too heavily, but it doesn't ever enter the realm of blasphemy either. Its simply a light hearted (but not mocking) take on something the vast majority of our culture takes very seriously. Nothing really wrong with that, I think.

So, what is so great about Good Omens? For one thing, the characters are beautifully written. There's Aziraphale the angel. He's not exactly the kind of angel Michelangelo painted. He fights on the side of good and light, but at the same time he tends to be kind of a realist. Of course he takes his role very seriously, but he has been known to screw up from time to time. His best friend is a Demon, Crowley. They've known each other for 6,000 years. It's hard to not have an attachment to someone after that long.

Crowley, after the Garden of Eden incident, decided that his real name, Crawley, didn't really fit him. He's horribly torn. He's supposed to be helping plot the ultimate demise of human kind, but he really likes their world and all their stuff. After the apocalypse he has to leave earth and go back to Hell, and do all that demon stuff, and that's really not his thing. Crowley also has a particularly amusing problem with the tape deck in his car.

Adam, the Anti-Christ, and his friends are kind of a motley group of amateur hooligans... well in a real "Little Rascals" sort of way. Adam was switched at birth by some bumbling satanist nuns- he ended up being raised by a normal family, acts like a normal boy, and kind of likes people. Oh yeah, he's got a Hell Hound for a pet, sort of. One of the funniest scenes in the entire book, how the Hell Hound takes on his appearance. This demon dog just can't quite reconcile his desire to chase his own tail.

The four horsemen have taken a modern feel to them also. They now ride motorcycles. The Witch's descendant that interprets her odd writings, the amateur witch hunter send to destroy her, etc. etc. All of the characters are superbly written. Each involved in their own way in bringing about the end of the world, but each being so human that they don't really manage to be as evil, or as righteous, as they are supposed to be.

The writing in Good Omens is silly, quirky, strange, and brilliant. It is reminiscent of Douglas Adams (another of my all time favorites, go figure) without seeming like an imitator. The way words are put together, the way scenarios play out, the way the entire book comes together is genius. No, it might not have earned a Pulitzer, but it's certainly as intelligent a novel as any of the classics I've read.

It's obvious that Gaiman and Pratchett did a lot of research while writing this book. You won't soon see it read at Mass, but they know their stuff. Kevin Smith's movie Dogma reminded me of Good Omens occasionally, without being quite as intelligent about the message it was sending.

I'm not exactly sure this book is for everyone. It doesn't attack ideas or beliefs, but it does deal with themes that people take very seriously in a lighthearted manner. I think it's good to be able to laugh about things that you take seriously, or those that might even scare you. If you can't do that, you might find yourself a very unhappy person. On the other hand, it is not my place to say what subject matter you might find appropriate for humor. That's what makes us all unique and individual. Of course, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. (I plagiarized that last sentence, sorry about that.)

Recommended: Yes