An Exception to the Rule

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Let me start with this: I loved the movie Stardust. I rented it on a whim one weekend and ended up watching it 3 times. Within a 48 hour time span. I loved the storyline, the characters, the arc, the costumes, the magic. I've seen it several more times since, telling my friends what a fantastic movie it was.

So I can't help but wonder how on earth they managed to create such a whimsical movie from such a flat book. Usually, movies fail to capture the essence of a great book (Harry Potter, Running with Scissors, um just about every book-turned-movie ever).

In the novel, like in the movie, our hero is Tristran (well in the movie, he's Tristan because Tristran is a mouthful) Thorn. A sweet, lovestruck, and simple farm boy who lives in Wall. The town is called Wall due to the existence of just that, a giant wall separating the "real" world from the Faerie world. There is one gap in this wall, and it is constantly guarded by men from the town, to prevent anyone from going over into Faerie. Except every nine years there is a very special market, where people from Wall and all over go into Faerie to buy magical things.

It's this market that leads to Tristran's existence, and then we fast forward to his 18th year. He's in love with a vain young woman, Victoria, and in his attempt to gain her love, he promises to find a fallen star for her and bring it back. Where did the star fall? Faerie, of course.

It's these events in the movie that lead to the adventure that Tristran takes in finding the star, a woman called Yvain, and bringing her back to Wall. A number of (exciting) obstacles occur on his way home, and the trip leads him to discover himself, his capabilities, and his true love.

In the book, not so much. The action that was breathtaking and exciting in the movie barely existed in the book. The love story between Tristran and Yvain is hardly developed in the novel. The depth of the characters is barely explored in the book. And the ending is so unriveting that it doesn't hold a candle to the movie's edge-of-your-seat finale. In all, despite the fanciful idea of the Faerie world, Gaiman hardly explored or described all the incredible things he could have thought up. Even the story arc fell flat, with the typical climactic event falling short.

So if you want an enjoyable way to spend your afternoon or evening, go rent Stardust. It'll just be better that way.