Good Omens: the nice and accurate prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch

A couple of months ago I watched the first episode of the series, Good Omens, and ended up binge watching the entire series, not realising that there were six one hour episodes. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The television series was written by Neil Gaiman based on the book, Good Omens, that he and Terry Pratchett published in 1990. Naturally I then had to read the book.

In 1655 Agnes Nutter wrote a book predicting the end of the world. As the time of the Armageddon approaches Aziraphale (angel) and Crowley (demon) who have been guarding earth for hundreds of years decide that they do not want the world to end and attempt to do something about it, even though it will enrage their superiors. Meanwhile eleven years earlier the Antichrist was brought to earth as a baby to be swapped for a human baby. The swap did not go to plan so there is much confusion as the other parties involved in organising the future chaos start coming together.

The authors have a great time introducing the reader to  angels, demons, the M25 motorway, Manchester, raining fish, dolphins, Atlantis, tunnelling Tibetans, witches, witch-finders, whales, Hell's Angels, Queen and Freddie Mercury, junk food made of junk, nuclear power, a flaming car, satanic nuns, plus many references to Americans and footnotes for Americans. The four bikers of the Apocalypse represent famine, pollution, war and death. There is lots of humour but it is sobering reading a book commenting on life and how humans are destroying their environment in 1990 and realising how little life has changed thirty-three years later.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel. 

Readers who enjoyed The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams should enjoy this book.

The ocean at the end of the lane

When the narrator attends a funeral near where he spent his childhood he decides to drive back to where the house in which he lived used to be and then continues driving to the end of the lane. Stopping near an old farmhouse memories from his childhood return and gradually he remembers episodes that may have occurred when he was a lonely boy of seven who escaped from problems by reading adventure stories. In Neil Gaiman's short novel the narrator, more than forty years later, tries to explain and rationalise the reality of a lonely childhood merging with a world of fantasy and danger.

It was after a lodger committed suicide in his parents' car at the end of the lane that the narrator meets Lettie, her mother and grandmother and the boundaries between his known world and a distant world, maybe going back to the beginning of time, begin to merge. On the second visit to the farm he and Lettie set off to confront an unknown being and from that time onwards the narrator realises that an evil presence has gained entry to his world and that his life is in danger. Confronting evil is only one part of the story. It also explores how external influences may threaten family relationships. The book is also about memory and questions what we actually remember and what we think we remember (or forget) from childhood and other times in our lives.

This, perhaps, is another book that is best read in one sitting allowing the reader to become totally immersed in the world of fantasy created in the novel.and its possible impact on daily life and the fears of a child.