[Reading Journal] Neverwhere 1~3

121115 Hyun jin Jun

“ NEVERWHERE ”  Chap. 1~3

‘Neverwhere’ is a fantasy novel of a story about situations Richard Mayhew suffers in London. When the story first started, Richard was a business man who just started his work in London. He was living a very normal life with his fiancée. However, the appearance of a girl named Door totally changed his life.

At the beginning of the story, Richard encountered an old woman before he left to London for his new job. Whitin the conversation between Richard and the woman, there was something that made the reader possible to guess how the story would progress. It was the woman’s forecast about Richard’s future, which explains that he would go on a long journey that starts with doors. Actually, a girl called ‘Door’ appeared in front of him when he got to London and let him begin a long journey. I thought that the author intended to foreshadow the plot.

In chapter 1, two different kinds of stories are introduced at the same time. One of them is the story of Richard Mayhew and the other one is that of a girl who was running away from cruel guys. Several moments later, the two stories are combined as Richard and the girl encounter each other. I could notify the ‘accidentality’ which is one of the main features of novels. Richard accidentally met a girl who was lying on the street bleeding. Though he was in the urgent situation, he did not just pass by her. He could even ask for others’ help or just call the police, but he decided to take her to his apartment. It was doubtful that he sacrificed himself for the girl who didn’t have any relationship with him. Especially, it was skeptical that he allowed the stranger, who was bleeding and being chased by somebody, to stay in his house for several days. These kinds of situations might stand out the accidentality of the novel.

Some magical, fantastic, unbelievable, and unrealistic events happened in chapter 2. For example, Door disappeared in the bathroom when Mr. Vandemar and Mr. Croup tried to find her, animals sent messages, and Richard came back to his room from the top of the building at the moment he opened a door. I was so excited while reading chapter 2 because of these kinds things that could only exist in fiction.

As the story goes on, the author aroused my curiosity by not explaining the sufferings that Richard suddenly had. Richard became the invisible man who was considered not to exist in London. Nobody could see him or listen to him. However, I expected that Mr. Vandemar and Mr. Croup were related to it as they could hear Richard’s voice on the phone. At the end of the chapter, the man who could also see Richard took him underground. Yet the author did not show who the man is, and again, this made me wonder what will happen next.