I am really glad I heeded all the comments to stick with the Sandman stories. I just finished Sandman: The Doll’s House last night and enjoyed it very much. These stories had much more subtlety, felt more cohesive and did some interesting character building. I liked the art a lot better too, though I was somewhat bothered toward the end when Rosie’s nightie? bed sheet? Kept swirling around for no reason first with two straps, then with one, revealing her pert little butt here, a breast there. I totally hate it when my clothes do things like that.
Anyway, every now and then a dream vortex is born into the world. The Sandman has no idea why this happens, he only knows that he must destroy the vortex because if he doesn’t, it sucks in the dreams of other people and once destroyed an entire civilization. The vortex happens to be Rosie, the one who has trouble with keeping her bedsheet/nightie on. She doesn’t know this though. Rosie also turns out to be the granddaughter of one of the characters from the previous book. Running alongside of Rosie’s story is a serial killer convention that involves a creature originally created by the Sandman but who had escaped the dream world while the Sandman was incapacitated in the previous book. Of course these two storylines eventually intersect.
The doll house theme runs throughout the book not as you might expect. There is a real doll house, but there is also the idea that we are all nothing but dolls, that we think we are the ones in control of our lives but really we aren’t. Rosie even rents a room in a house for awhile sharing it with a transvestite performer named Miss Dolly, a couple named Ken (Kenneth) and Barbie (Barbara), along with a few other eccentrics.
It was a fun, quick read and there were even some creepy moments. I’ll definitely progress to volume 3 sometime but I just have to figure out what library I can get it from. I might have to put a hold on it and wait my turn. That’s ok though, I don’t think I’d like reading through all of them in quick succession. A few month’s time elapsing between each one is short enough for the story to still be fresh and long enough so I don’t get tired of it.
Dolls really are kind of freaky, aren’t they? The idea of humans as dolls and not able to control their lives is enough to frighten anybody, I think. I’m glad you are enjoying these books; Gaiman is someone I’ll get to one of these years, I’m sure! Hobgoblin is a fan, although he hasn’t read this series, I’m pretty sure.
I enjoyed this one too. I have The Dream Country now, which I guess veers away from this story line for a bit. I liked the art better two but am still not a huge fan comic art (yet).
I’m glad you took our advice and read onwards! Everyone reacts differently to the Sandman, liking some books more than others but there’s no doubt that the last five books are absolute masterpieces. I’m not actually a big fan of the third and fifth installments (they’re interesting and relevant, especially how aspects of them tie into later stories), but I really like the fourth and think that overall the series is incredible. Hmm, this is starting to sound familiar… didn’t I already rave about these books?
Right, carrying on… “The Doll’s House”. I’m interested to know what you thought of the Hob Gadling story. I know some people who don’t like where it’s placed but it’s actually one of my favorite subplots in the whole series and I always like to know what readers think of it.
I abandoned a Sandman a few years ago. Maybe I should try again!
It’s good to hear you’re sticking with the Sandman saga. I just started re-reading it about a week ago and it brought back a lot of good memories. I’ll disagree with you on Preludes & Nocturne, though. I thought it was a fascinating, strong opening which laid the foundation for what is to come.
I am still chuckling over your lines about the awkward nightie. I suppose keeping your nightie straight in a vortex IS tricky, but then I’ve never given it a go myself. I must look these out – for my son really, as I am inclined to try him on graphic novels.