No man, proclaimed Donne, is an Island, and he was wrong. If we were not islands, we would be lost, drowned in each other's tragedies. We are insulated from the tragedy of others, by our island nature, and by the repetitive shape and form of the stories. We know the shape, and the shape does not change.

A very good first read for the year. I enjoyed the themes and questions it's asking (what does it mean to love someone? do gods only have power because we believe in them? can you ever truly know yourself?). I was not completely satisfied with the narrative's conclusion, but Gaiman did a good job of tying off enough loose threads to sate my curiosity while leaving me intrigued at the possibility of more. Heavy content warning: this is neither for the faint of heart (much gore) nor those who avoid sexual content (there was more than I preferred & I can tolerate quite a bit

Spoiler

a couple explicit sex scenes, neither between married couples, one between a gay couple, plus references throughout

) nor those who prefer their mythology clearly fictional & not in conflict with Christianity. Worth the read if you can handle such content, though. A good story to make you think. He quotes Chesterton & Herodotus & Donne & Robert Frost, too.

The storms had cleared. The air felt fresh and clean and new once more.
Tomorrow, he had no doubt, would be one hell of a beautiful day.