If you haven’t read our post “A Prelude to Preludes and Nocturnes” you might want to check it out here first. It has our policy on spoilers as well as the calendar for the re-read.
Preludes and Nocturnes, original cover
Super brief summary because, hey, we’ve all read it by now. First published in 1991, Preludes and Nocturnes collects issues 1-8 of The Sandman series (themselves originally published in 1989). The arc of the novel is the capture and imprisonment of Dream (Morpheus), his escape and his search for the tools which were taken from him upon his imprisonment. Along the way, Dream is forced to overcome his weakened condition, a demon in Hell, and John Dee, a madman who uses Dream’s ruby to wreak havoc on the world. He also confronts his own feelings of loneliness and strangeness as he comes into a world which has changed in his absence.
By the by, I’m pretty sure this graphic novel cost me a second date once. In fact, I think this exact frame ensured the guy, who I decided to loan the book to after a phenomenal first date, wouldn’t call again for months.
Does this freak you out?
…but that’s another story. (And, yes, I did get the book back. And that guy turned out to smell pretty bad anyway, so whatever).
Lets get right to it, shall we? In order to (hopefully) avoid the pitfall of rambling on, I decided to build this post around two guiding questions. 1) What themes permeate the Sandman series/what thesis or messages run throughout? and 2) What brief moments/frames/quotes raise goosebumps or make me smile? There are also potential discussion questions sprinkled throughout, if you’re into that sort of thing…which as a teacher, I totally am.
1. Theme: The importance and power of names.
From the chant that traps Dream in the opening chapter to the nightmares of Scott Free; from the multiple names of the Hecateae to a deadly battle between brothers over the name of a gargoyle we would eventually come to know as Goldie (but whom I prefer to think of as Irving), the importance of names is a running theme throughout Gaiman’s work. Dream himself has not only several English names (Dream, Morpheus, the Sandman, etc), but Nada’s tribal name, Kai’ckul and even the Martian name, Lord L’Zoril. Sometimes, it seems, names depend on who’s speaking. And contrary to what Juliette might want to believe, Gaiman reiterates again and again that there IS something to them.
This is a theme runs through many religions and mythologies as well. Rarely do we get the “true name” of Gods and demons. To know the name is somehow to know the thing, the essence of it, and in knowing the essence, power is transferred.
Even in something as simple as one of my favorite children’s movies, The Neverending Story, names are earth-shattering and mysterious. Able in this case to breathe new life into a dying world. Able to speak something into existence.
What's wrong with Irving?
We can see this in our own lives too, can’t we? As someone who often goes by her last name, I get a little kick start in my belly if a man I am attracted to says my first name for the first time (I can actually remember these exact moments in time, even now). And certainly,I see the power of names in action every day on a very practical level in school. Without a name, the student is in some ways lost to you. You can’t communicate in any meaningful way, can’t even redirect behavior with the full authority you need, until you get those names.
This particular aspect of The Sandman series raises such goosebumps for me. Just typing the phrase “names have power, boy” (Books of Magic, also by Gaiman) sends a charge through me.
What is this? What is it about a name?
Numbers 2 and 3 contain spoilers for future events in the series. If this is your first time through, skip to number 4!
2. Theme: The the necessity and the consequences of change.
From the first chapter on, Neil Gaiman sends his reader a message about what happens when things change. There are consequences to Dream’s absences that go beyond his crumbling castle and the damaged psyches of the dreamers of the world. When he gains his freedom, Things Have Changed. The world has changed. Even Hell has changed. Most importantly, with all those years to sit and contemplate and all that he faces in this and subsequent stories after his release, Dream himself changes.
This change holds the seed of his end. Because one of the thesis of the series seems to be that everything ends, even the endless. Another, in order to change, part of us must die. We must learn to let go of who we used to be.
3. Favorite moment of foreshadowing:
Well played, Mr. Gaiman
Not everything that builds toward an ending is foreshadowing, but this seems a wonderful example of it at its best. This isn’t the only such moment in the novel, but it’s always been one of my favorites.
4. Something that always makes me smile:
Big sisters can be such bullies
Just a moment of humanity here. We see so little of Dream’s personality beyond the stoic, the responsible, and the horrified in the rest of the novel, it is nice to see him intimidated by his sister in a simple and human way.
That’s it for me. What do YOU think?
As always, feel free to make and answer your own questions or any of mine.
You can do so in comments, or on our Facebook page.
Cheers – Proffitt
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
I was so wrapped up in a few other things I’ll get to when I have time to round out my thoughts this evening, I didn’t catch the name thing. Oh I took note of all Morpheus’ names and the Heceteae but wasn’t thinking of the “power” aspect. Lucifer too has several names.
Honestly, I think the “name thing” is fairly subtle in P&N, but I remember noticing how often names are more than just names after reading Books of Magic (in which their power is more directly referred to).
I miss Sam Kieth! Ah, wouldn’t it have been lovely to see what Sam could have done with the rest of Preludes … if not the rest of the series. (Though I love the art of Vess, Bachalo, Doren and others).
That being said, it is a joy so fat to revisit the world of the Dreaming and the Endless. (Reading from Absolute Sandman No.1, I wasn’t sure where the first book ended, so I read issue No. 9 also.)
As a post-tween (but just barely), I picked up Sandman No. 1 on the comic book shelf at The Fantasy Shop in St. Charles (as I was in the habit of buying No. 1s to get a taste and to see if perhaps they would go up in value). It was my first glimpse of Gaiman et al and I was hooked immediately.
Now, I am sure I can appreciate the finer aspects even more so, but after not reading Sandman for well over a decade, I am giddily tearing through it.
So, please, slow my role, so I can appreciate others’ ideas, opinions, etc.
Corey, oh how I love reading a post from someone whose enthusiasm is so clear! So glad you are joining us for this. I know Rebecca is focusing on the art quite a bit as she re-reads, so you two may have a lot to talk about
I read that Keith left because he felt “like Jimi Hendrix in the Beatles.” I just can’t wrap my head around that- though I do think I prefer the later art, I even have a soft spot for Mark Hempil’s blocky-ness.
There are three “AH!” moments I have in P&N. The first is when Dream is playing the game of reality in Hell with the demon Choronzon and his last play is “I am hope” and all the demons pass. At that time I didn’t recognize that was stolen a bit from Vanity Fair and it was just a stunning moment for me. Meeting Death- what a surprise she was. And 24 Hours. That whole issue. Who knew THAT could be in a comic. Such late night horror movie gore. I was disturbed at a level I wouldn’t reach until the Cereal Convention.
Love the Sandman posts, Rachel! My Sandman experience is similar to Corey’s… I got hooked my freshman year of high school (when I picked up Issue #1), and my reading experience unfolded in “real time” over the next 7 years, until the series ended during my senior year of college. Reading your post now, I’m realizing how many of the stories and images from the series are deeply-etched into my memories of that period of my life.
(Man, the delicious nightmares that “24 Hours” issue gave me…)
I won’t be able to participate in the re-read for the time being, but I’ll drop in from time to time with a general comment… if that’s not too annoying…
Andy, you are welcome as always in any capacity you like. There are no participation rules here. Lurk all you want.
I remember the first issue kinda turning me off. It was just so weird and slow. I’m glad I stuck with it though because of two words. 24 hours.
That issue seems to stand out to everyone I’ve talked to. It manages just the right amount of horror without turning into shock-value-only. Everything is important, it means something, it informs the story.
Although the more mainstream DC continuity aspects had to be abandoned in the end to make the series what it is, I do enjoy the cameos in the first arc, especially Constantine and J’onn J’onnz (always the best member of the JLA, in my opinion)
I always thought that Sandman, and certain other vertigo stuff should just be on its own continuity. Its just weird for me to think that a guy in blue/red underwear that can fly is in the same world as Morpheus.
I was just thinking about Sam Kieth. We owe him two huge debts in my opinion: one, for the first image of Morpheus, for which he deservedly gets part ownership of the character and two, for leaving when he did, over Neil’s objections. It would have been interesting to see what Sam did with it all; but no one really knows that. And Neil tries to write to his artists’ strengths, so likely it would have changed the story a great deal, at least in feel. So Sam’s leaving made possible the Sandman who all know and love; even though I love his stuff too.
Names: the old book How To Win Friends And Influence People has as one of it’s main points something like “a person’s name is the most beautiful sound in any language (to that person).”
That’s a bit simplistic, but the name certainly gets attention.
In Ursula LeGuin’s Earthsea Tales, you can command or control another if you know the true name. And all of us know that by(hopefully) choosing how we call ourselves, we shape our identities as we somewhat less easily control our appearance.
I think Dream says somewhere that he has no name; this and the facts that he has many names are both true at the same time. Also, as the faery tend to call him Lord Shaper, he does not even have a settled appearance; we generally see him as a dark man in dark clothes, but his most extreme shapes are as the Dream Cat and as Lord L’zoril.
Change: Almost all of us are like Delirium and resist change. Dream goes further and ignores change in himself; absolutely refuses to acknowledge that he himself changes in any way. That leads to the curious paradox; that the Endless is a misnomer, although they generally last longer than most gods or “immortals” they are not endless. That, of course, makes him a character we can relate to; not just an anthropomorphic personification. So, in what way are they, and are they not, Endless?
*warning* – Spoiler for Books of Magic, also by Gaiman.
Misnomer – the perfect word for it. Is it Sandman or Books of Magic in which Death talks about closing the universe behind her when it’s all over? I think it’s Books of Magic. She takes all her brothers and sisters with her, and I believe we are left to assume she ends as well.
Definetly sandman, though I can’t remember the exact issue. The one with Element Girl maybe?
What is the difference between them? They both end- but is it that the gods need believers to be and the Endless just are because humans dream, die, destroy, desire etc no matter what they believe? Is it ever really fully explained? I can’t remember. Hence the re-reading, haha.
Foreshadowing: this one will get spoilerific, so be warned.
First, as trite as poor Bette is with her stories, she’s right about something; whether it’s a happy ending or not depends on where you end the story.
Second, although I’ve read a lot about how Sandman came about, I don’t actually know how much of the whole arc he had worked out by this part. Did Neil, like JK Rowling, actually have ending roughly sketched out this early? I think both Neil and Karen Berger has said they hit the real stride at The Sound of Her Wings.
Neil shares with his mentor Alan Moore the ability to make well-crafted graphic novels.
Alex, this raises a question for me as well: which is more brilliant: having it essentially sketched out in advanced and the foresight that would entail, or managing to tie all the odds and ends of the first issues together as he went and creating an ending so perfect WITHOUT having known all along it would happen that way?
Two more random silly thoughts I had- I love that Dream eats KFC chicken in a dream.
Also, I find it curious that he was trapped in 1916 and gets out in the 80′s and dresses himself in a t shirt and black jeans. Did he somehow still know what was going on in the world or did he see what his prisoners/guards were wearing?
Interestingly there was a sleeping sickness outbreak in 1916/1917 that the cause of isn’t exactly known http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encephalitis_lethargica
I think he saw Neil sleeping and raided his closet.
Ha!
Haha. Maybe.
I have really enjoyed re-devouring Preludes and Nocturnes and meeting the characters afresh! I know Death is a great favourite of anyone who has read the whole series, including me, but it has struck me on re-reading P&N that there are lots of recurring images of birth/infancy throughout – probably because this is the first time I have read it since becoming a mum myself, but also I guess it’s perhaps unsurprising given that P&N kickstarts the whole Sandman universe. Some examples which I hope don’t go on too much (NB spoilerific!):
1. I love the egg photography and imagery in the frontispieces to each story, especially the simple line drawings, which bring Aubrey Beardsley’s creepier works to mind.
2. Dream is re-born, naked and hungry (for KFC ha ha!), once he is set free from Burgess’ trap (having initially appeared within the circle in a very embryonic way – see the title page of Sleep of the Just). He is also re-born onto the path he takes through the Sandman series until its end. His captivity has already re-shaped him, physically and mentally, but that process of “maturing” and fundamental lesson-learning continues throughout the series. That is foreshadowed nicely in The Sound of her Wings – it is only at the end of that story that Dream’s new “life”, and the Sandman series “proper” begins (notably after Death chastises him for being “infantile [and] adolescent”!)
3. Many of the characters are depicted in a childlike way. Ellie Marsten, who always thinks she is 8 years old; Unity Kincaid, who does not seem to suffer from that misapprehension, but has a (very important) baby herself while she is vulnerable ad helpless during her sickness; Scott Free is still scared of Granny; and even John Dee is eerily infantile (“Mother…if you could only see me now”). There’s also the poor, nameless baby in Sound of her Wings, in those heartbreaking 6 frames I always skim over with a shiver.
On a note totally unrelated to this theme, I LOVE the fact that the first frame showing Satan makes him look like a very young David Bowie. It’s made The Labyrinth even more creepy to watch ever since, and also makes me imagine Satan having some kind of weird codpiece…:-O
Can’t wait to start on The Doll’s House again. xox
Rachel – hey! I never noticed all the birth/rebirth symbolism before. You have just made me even more in love with this project. I LOVE reading your ideas. Keep ‘em coming.
The first image of Lucifer has always been incredibly striking to me but I could never pin point why. It’s beautiful but in a crawl under my skin way. Never thought of it as Bowie-esque but now that you mention it, It is a very “rock star” illustration.
So this might seem like a silly question but in re-reading the opening books, was it ever explained why Burgess’ curse captured Dream and not Death??
LG- I never picked up on any explanation for Burgess’error. Something to keep our eyes peeled for this time around.
I happened upon my James Branch Cabell books and was forced to reread them. Gaiman is also a fan, as witness his reference to Horvendile, the godlike author in many of Cabell’s book (during Burgess’s rite on the bottom of page 18: “Horvendile calls you”).
Cabell is another example of the mysterious nature of artistic immortality. He wrote clever ironic fantasies but seemed destined to literary obscurity until an American censor decided that his Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice was obscene. Good friends like Sinclair Lewis and HL Mencken defended him and the upshot was that Jurgen became a bestseller. After that, perhaps his reputation returned to it’s natural level and he died in relative obscurity. But he always had and perhaps still has a devoted following, including Heinlein, who wrote the tribute Job: A Comedy of Justice. Will he continue this way, become completely forgotten, or achieve immortality? Will Neil? Why is Shakespeare remembered and others not? Why did Bach go into an eclipse and then get revived? Questions Neil somewhat deals with later in the series.
Alex – this may sound terribly fan girl of me, but I do think Neil’s work will outlive at the very least, all of us. I guess I can’t say for sure he’ll be a “Shakespeare,” but I imagine people will be reading him for a very long time. Also – this comment alone would be a great discussion thread on FB discussion boards, if you care to transfer it!
Nowhere in Burgess’s rite does he say the name of Death. He says, “Oh my lord, oh my lord,” so perhaps he was thinking of Death as a male. But even so, why Dream and not Destruction, Destiny or Desire? And the rite doesn’t even seem confined to the Endless!
One factor seems to be that Dream was weary and short of energy. In Death: The High Cost of Living, we find that magics like this can indeed work on Death.
No real answers, just some indications.
Maybe Dream’s capture in place of Death was the universe taking care of itself? As Dream implied, Death is far worse than him -I think he Dream says something like- Do you know what that would have meant for your species?
Have you ever noticed how well-versed Neil is in many forms of culture? He’s obviously got a great knowledge of the comics world although he isn’t a conventional superhero writer. He knows popular and rock music. And his knowledge of fantasy and the myths of many cultures is wide and often profound.
Yes! He seems to collect, digest (metaphorically…unless eating these things is the key to absorbing their power, in which case, I’m on it), and find ways to use stories/people/art from EVERYWHERE.
When I first started reading comics among them were The Sandman and The Crow and both looks were very rock, kind of goth and sort of Peter Murphy-ish. I was just utterly in love with Peter Murphy at 16, so having that love of music to tie these books in with really grabbed my interest. Much moreso than just a bulked up superhero in a tight bodysuit would have.
I was already a Gaiman fan before I started reading the Sandman, I only obtained the first volume on my 19th birthday (a year and a half ago) and read it quite quickly. I remember being mildly disappointed at first, having heard great things about it, and yet I found it quite compelling and by the The Sound of Her Wings I was convinced. Bear in mind that I had never really read any other comics or graphic novels – it took me a while to get used to the art style and everything.
It’s said (maybe in P&N, can’t remember) that the Endless exist because somewhere deep down we just know they do, or need them to. The way Neil writes, mixing up myths and history, fantasy and not-so-fantastical characters and situations makes the whole thing feel very believable. I for one will be a little disappointed if I die and find that I don’t get to meet Death of the Endless. (At a push I’d be happy with Death of the Discworld, but he’s not as pretty.)
As for Goldie – I don’t know about Irving; he’ll always be Doggie to me.
If I missed it, sorry, but what did you first read/see of Gaiman’s that made you a fan?
I think the movie Mirrormask was my first exposure to Neil’s work, then I read Stardust and saw the movie. I think I read American Gods, Neverwhere and Anansi Boys before I tried any Sandman, possibly The Graveyard Book too. I don’t know how long it would have taken me to find the Sandman series if I hadn’t already read the novels – I was quite comic-skeptic before I started, but I see now I was just comic-ignorant. I’ve read a couple of other graphic novels since, and really enjoyed them, and I probably wouldn’t have bothered were it not for the Sandman, so cheers, Neil et al!
I only read two Discworld books but I enjoyed them immensely. One day I’ll pick up more. There’s just so much good stuff out. When Terry Pratchett announced he has alzheimers, I found myself teary eyed for him, his fans and his family.
Just finished P&N and I am totally overwhelmed by how different the book is to me now. I read the Sand man series slowly over a year as I borrowed the trades from my friend. Now, ten years or more after that initial first read my whole outlook has changed. Now I live with my comic obsessed geek boyfriend and the DC character references in P&N screamed out at me. Dream being escorted by Etrigan the Demon doing his whole poetry thing and Constantine mentioning “The Big Green Bloke” I can’t really say much beyond that now. Rereading P&N mostly just made me excited to keep going. so, excited to tackle “the Doll’s House” again.
Maybe I will post more later with real thoughts and feelings regarding the story and everything but now, I am just gonna say “Yay, I’m rereading a great series”
Jo – I had the same rection the second time I read the series. Gaiman brought me into the world of comics and from there I explored and when I came back to the series again, it was amazing how much more I recognized.
Yay, indeed!
I’m also really glad that “24 Hours” was as freaky to everyone else as it was to me. Seriously horrifying…
Spoilery
And the even worse one is coming up in Doll’s House, The Collectors.
Chills every time even though I know what to expect.
Yeah, this is my second time through the series so I know about Collectors. But 24 Hours really took me by surprise. I originally chalked it up to me being easily scared of things creepy and somewhat gory. But apparently it was just good writing.
I know I’m late with my comments, even though I have indeed been following along the timeline with the rest of you. My apologies, life has been way more hectic than usual lately. How many of you are experiencing that, as well?
I really loved both the “names” aspect and the theme of the consequences of our actions (as well as the question of how much in control of that we truly are) of this particular book. It was what kept me going through the horror of 24 Hours and the Cereal Convention in the next issue.
I also really enjoy the theme that runs through the entire Sandman series of “things are not always what they seem.” Things in this universe seem to simultaneously be more and less than what they seem and should never been taken at face value. I think that the same goes for most of us human beings…
Pilisa – hey, no problem about coming in late! We’ve always said you are free to pace yourself and it’s actually fun to go back and revisit the earlier discussions. Hopefully, folks will see you did it and feel free to comment now too
I never noticed the “things are not what they seem” theme before, but now that you mention it, I’m going to keep my eye out for it as we continue. Great to have you!