Neil Gaiman 'Stardust'

Fairy tales mold and shape the way children look at the world. They allow children to be enchanted by beanstalks that climb high up into the sky, dazzled by pumpkins transforming into carriages, and unnerved by talking wolves who can dress up as their grandma, if they so wish. Understandably (if perhaps lamentable) at some point in most peoples’ lives fairy tales become nostalgia; stories confined to children’s book shelves and Disney films, and only to be enjoyed by the oh so serious adults when retold to their very own little ogres and princesses. However if you are one of those individuals who secretly wishes you could still be reading good old fashioned fairy tales, whilst in the comfort of your nearest café, without the cultured intellectuals giving you supercilious glances every few seconds, then Neil Gaiman’s Stardust is the book for you.

Stardust is a charming, grown up fairytale that begins in the town of Wall. Young Tristran Thorn has his heart set on marrying town sweetheart Victoria Forester. In an effort to play down her suitor’s extravagant declarations of love and dissuade his affections, Victoria half-jokingly asks Tristran to retrieve a fallen star. The prize, her hand in marriage. Good hearted and virtuous Tristran readily accepts this challenge, and so sets off beyond Wall into the realm of Faerie; where stars take on human form, haggard witches seek eternal youth, and forest trees would as easily deceive any passing travellers as they would assist them.

All the necessary ingredients of a fairytale are included, but it is Gaiman’s unconventional recipe that allows the traditional to seem novel once again. The author does not hide the realities of human experience, such as sex, murder, and bodily functions, just because this is fantasy. Gaiman instead utilises these earthly idiosyncrasies to add humour and authenticity to the characters and events. Yet this is not a grown up fairytale in the style of Angela Carter’s short story collection The Bloody Chamber or Guillermo del Toro’s seminal film Pan’s Labyrinth, laden with astute social allegories. As Gaiman himself patiently explained to one journalist, “[Stardust]’s like an ice cream. It's to make you feel happy when you finish it."