Good Omens: God's Sense Of Humor

Had I written this post but a week ago, I would have opened with a touching story about a special significance this book has to me. Sadly, this is no longer relevant. Fortunately, the book itself remains awesome.

This book can be a hard sell to some; it is best summed up as a comedy about the end of the world, which can be slightly off-putting to some. One of the review blurbs in my edition refers to it as, "The Book of Revelations, as told by Monty Python", which is another good description, but once again can turn some people off (mainly people who thought that Life of Brian was blasphemous garbage). But like many satires that target organized religion (Life of Brian, Saved!, Dogma), the goal of Good Omens is not to bring down Christianity, but to point out a few of its shortcomings and foibles.

According to Gaiman, the book evolved from a short story idea he had that eventually became Adam's story in the book. Adam, by the way, is the Antichrist. Gaiman was unsure where to take the story, and he began talking to friend and fellow author Terry Pratchett. Based on the way they describe each other in the afterward sections, I joked that Pratchett is a humor writer with a good sense of sci-fi/fantasy while Gaiman is a sci-fi/fantasy writer with a good sense of humor. Eventually, they began working on a much bigger story together.

While a few different plots intertwine in Good Omens, I believe that it is safe to say that the main characters are an angel, Aziraphale, and a demon, Crowley, both of whom have been stationed on Earth since at least the Garden of Eden. Over the roughly 2000 years they've known each other, Aziraphale and Crowley have formed a sort of friendship, described in the book as similar to that of American and Soviet agents who spend more time embedded with each other than with their distant superiors. They often get together to discuss the plans of the universe and pick apart ideas humanity has towards God and Satan. They have also come to understand humanity much better than any of their Heaven- or Hell-based compatriots (Crowley understands that it is easier to do one small bad deed and let humans react poorly than to try to perform difficult, hands-on methods when trying to get people to commit acts that will lead to Hell).

Since they have some divine powers, life on Earth has been pretty good for them, especially Crowley, who indulges in many of life's luxuries without have to earn or pay for them. He owns a large London apartment, a vintage sports car (which does not require him to purchase fuel, except once when he wanted some free giveaway prize that came with a gasoline purchase), and can sleep through entire decades if he so chooses. Therefore, when news comes that the time of the Antichrist is upon the world, they are both somewhat upset that their cozy time on Earth will end within twelve years, but they understand that the plans are much bigger than either of them. Crowley is the demon responsible for making sure the baby Antichrist is placed with the correct family, that of an American diplomat living in England (if you've ever seen the 1976 film, The Omen, feel free to laugh now). Unfortunately, the Satanic Nuns running the hospital fumble the switch, and a random British family from a rural town end up with the baby by accident (if you aren't already chuckling, now is the time to start).

Eleven years pass, and Aziraphale and Crowley have continued to meet, and have occasionally checked in on Warlock, the boy believed to be the Antichrist. But when a portent fails to occur (or at least fails to occur to Warlock), the pair realize what has happened, and are horrified when they think of what might happen to them if their bosses find out. They start looking for the baby, who is now going by the name of Adam.

As the story progresses, we are introduced to multiple other storylines; for example Adam and his friends, who compose a gang known as "Them", are a key storyline, as we see how he transforms from "innocent" young boy into the potential destroyer of the world. Of course, this being a satire and all, Adam isn't going to destroy the world because he is evil, but because he is a child! Yeah. Think about it for a second. Then there is Anathema Device and Newt Pulsifer, two characters brought together by a bizarre twist of fate. Anathema is the last surviving descendant of Agnes Nutter, a witch, and the most accurate seer in history (unfortunately, since she had no words for some of the things she saw in her visions, such as motorcycles, it was sometimes hard to decipher what her prophecies meant until after the events had occurred). Newt is the newest member of the witch hunter army, and the descendant of the witch hunter who put Nutter to death by burning at the stake. The story of Anathema and Newt follows them trying to find the Antichrist themselves in order to prevent the end of the world.

Finally, the gathering of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse slowly occurs over the course of the book. Alone, each of them causes their dreaded name to occur at various parts of the world (War, posing as an arms dealer, causes fighting to break out wherever she goes, while Famine causes not only crop failures, but also can cause people to eat food of no nutritional value). But as they come together, they leave fear and destruction in their wake.

As I said, this is my favorite of the three books in this series of posts. It mixes (and outdoes) the humor of Anansi Boys with thematic brilliance that made American Gods great. In the opening of the book, the authors talk about some of the copies they've seen at signings; since many people read and reread the book numerous times, many of the copies have seen a lot of wear and tear (they gave an example of one copy being nothing more than a bunch of loose pages in a ziplock bag). On the other hand, they also brought up one person who built an oak chest with silver trim to house his copy. As I'm writing this, I am getting a huge urge to reread the book, despite the fact that I am currently in the middle of another book, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

I would really like to see Gaiman and Pratchett team up again (though it is unlikely since Gaiman now lives on our side of the pond), or I should probably start reading some of Pratchett's solo work. But this is a perfect introduction to both authors. It gives a small taste of their greatness.

Up next: Trying to decide...