Good Omens audiobook

I somehow ended up reading them both simultaneously. So I couldn't help wonderingWhat Madam Bovary Might Have Thought Of Good OmensThree days later, a package arrived; there was no return address, but she immediately recognised Rodolphe's hand. It contained a paperback novel, whose title was Good Omens. Feverishly, she cast herself over it. Her English was poor, but, with the aid of a dictionary, she persevered and soon made great progress.The more she read, the greater her bewilderment became. The book at first reminded her of Candide, which she had surreptitiously read at the convent, but M. Voltaire's ésprit had been replaced by another ingredient she was unable to name; she suspected that it must be the strange English invention they called humour. All the personages were well-meaning and agreeable; the witches, the torturers of witches, the prostitutes, even the Demons of Hell; they were filled with kindness and compassion, and their worst faults amounted to an occasional mild irritability. Where were the indifference and thoughtless cruelty that surrounded her, and which had now become the very air she breathed? She did not know whether Rodolphe had sent her the book to comfort her or to mock her in her despair, and her futile attempts to resolve this question gradually resulted in an agonising headache. Her husband prescribed an infusion of valerian, and persuaded her to retire for the night; she lay sleepless in her bed a long time, until the drug finally took effect just as the sky was beginning to lighten. She dreamed of apocalyptic prophecies, red-headed women wielding swords, endless circles of horseless carriages, young boys with dogs.In the morning, she remembered that she should purchase some arsenic.__________________________________It seemed unfair for this to be one-way. So, in the spirit of granting a right of reply, here's What Good Omens Might Have Thought Of Madam Bovary"I saw this smashin' film yesterday on TV," said Adam, as the Them listened attentively. "It was called Madam Bovver-Boy -""She was a lady skinhead?" interrupted Brian."No, stupid," said Adam. "It's a French name. Bovver-Boy. By Flow-Bear.""You mean Madame Bovary, by Flaubert," said Wensleydale. "I read about it in The Encyclopaedia of World Literature."Adam gave him a withering glance. "That's what I said," he continued. "Madam Bovver-Boy, by Flow-Bear. She's married to this doctor, and he's dead borin', so she starts hangin' around with these two lovers, and then she maxes out her credit card, so she eats arsernick and poisons herself. The bit where she's dyin' of the arsernick is dead good. Her tongue's hanging out and she's screamin' -""Why did she max out her credit card?" asked Pepper."She was buying presents for her lovers," said Adam. "Roses an' boxes of chocolates an' stuff like that -""I thought the lovers were supposed to give her presents?" said Brian dubiously. "My sister's boyfriend gave her this huge bunch of roses on Valentine's Day, and a box of Quality Street, and a balloon with -""She gave them presents instead because it was a proto-feminist novel," explained Wensleydale authoritatively. "That's what The Encyclopaedia of World Literature says."Adam felt that his control of the situation was slipping, and decided to up the stakes. "It's all true," he said, in an exegetical move that would have had Flaubert scholars around the world clutching their foreheads. "Based on a true story," he added prudently, in case the The Encyclopaedia of World Literature happened to have opinions on the subject. Behind the bushes, Aziraphale raised an eyebrow. Crowley looked defensive. "Very loosely based," he whispered hastily. "I mean, I tempted her, it's my job you know, but Gustave changed the ending for dramatic purposes. Said it didn't work to have Rodolphe sort out her debts and then settle down in a cozy ménage à quatre with her, Léon and her husband. I told him that's what actually happened, but he insisted the arsenic worked better..."

“DON'T THINK OF IT AS DYING," said Death. "JUST THINK OF IT AS LEAVING EARLY TO AVOID THE RUSH.” The Apocalypse is not off to a good start.Ten years ago, Crowley (a demon) brought the infant Anti-Christ to a group of Satanic Nuns who swapped the Anti-Christ with a human child. For ten years, Aziraphale (an Angel) and Crowley educate the child on the finer points of good and evil. “People couldn't become truly holy," he said, "unless they also had the opportunity to be definitively wicked." Then, when the Anti-Christ was supposed to come into his full powers, Crowley and Aziraphale realize that they didn't have the right child. SH*T Furthermore, they simultaneously realize that they rather like Earth. If the holy war was allowed to finish, then everything would be destroyed and divvied up between the two realms - and that divide would be terrible. Hell may have all the best composers, but heaven has all the best choreographers. So, it's up to them to find the Anti-Christ and stop the apocalypse. They only have seven to days to do it. It's just going to be one of those weeks.This one was absolutely hilarious! There were so, so many fun quirks and tangents in this book. Seriously great satire throughout! All the little details just make it pop. Such as Crowley's plant-tending method: What he did was put the fear of God into them.More precisely, the fear of Crowley.In addition to which, every couple of months Crowley would pick out a plant that was growing too slowly, or succumbing to leaf-wilt or browning, or just didn't look quite as good as the others, and he would carry it around to all the other plants. "Say goodbye to your friend," he'd say to them. "He just couldn't cut it. . . "Then he would leave the flat with the offending plant, and return an hour or so later with a large, empty flower pot, which he would leave somewhere conspicuously around the flat.The plants were the most luxurious, verdant, and beautiful in London. Also the most terrified. Definitely one of those off-the-wall fun reads. I really want to go through it a second time to see all the things I missed!The 2018 ABC Challenge - G Audiobook CommentsThis one was particularly well-read by Marvin Jarvis (love the last name!) The varied tone and inflection just made it come alive.YouTube | Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Snapchat @miranda_reads

literally every day I'm thinking about how this book was published in 1990 and in 2019 they finally made a miniseries and Neil Gaiman was like. hey. let's make this even more of a romcom than it already was just for the fuck of itI keep trying to land on what I think is the objective Best Thing about this ridiculous book that I loved reading so much and I think I’ve landed on this paragraph from a delightful review of the 2019 miniseries: “Good Omens knows that you can’t look at a screen without being presented with some version of the apocalypse, and so it foregoes any pretence of bombastic grandeur to instead tell a charming story about the joys of friendship, as well as the everyday fuckups that make the world feel as if it’s coming to an end, when in reality it’s just another day that ends in y.” I think what’s entertaining about this book is that it takes concepts we all, on some level, are familiar with and maybe even fearful of — the possibility of imminent death, for one — and makes them entertaining and even at times comedic.In all honesty, Good Omens is a hysterically funny book about four eleven year olds, a witch working off some very accurate prophecies, a witchfinder who's doing his best, a Bentley that turns every album played in it into Queen, and an angel and a demon with a six-thousand-year-old friendship¹ all trying to stop the apocalypse. (Badly. Very badly.) It is also a love letter to humanity and to the power of free will and choice in a world desperate to wrench it away. You should read it.²TW: multiple slurs used in ways that do not fly and aren't funny.³—————¹It's called a marriage but we couldn't say that in 1990. ²Also you should watch the miniseries, it's joining the Big Little Lies season one and Gone Girl (2012) canon of best adaptations³literally picture me as John Mulaney yelling "not funny"Blog | Goodreads | Twitter | Instagram | Spotify | Youtube

Antichrists, angels, DEATHs (ok, there just can only be one and the Antichrists were a lie too), demons, apocalyptic riders, prophecies, and unreached levels of comedic fantasy brilliance by 2 of the biggest gods of the genre WitchhuntingOnce a great and honorable job, modern times are hard for the fighters against sin, black magic, and eco social matriarchy. Because of the sheer immense ridiculousness of their ideology, nothing needs to be added to make them seem like pathetic, bigoted idiots. Although one of them is connected to The modern witching style including the propheciesThat´s the second most important plotline, deciphering the hilarious hidden hints and thereby trying to prevent the apocalypse. Although good old Angels and demons and the great lands of moralityhttps://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...are what is entered by the, not stereotypically good or bad entities. By watching humankind for millennia, they´ve developed special, subjective attitudes towards what´s good and bad. By reflecting on that and not acting as they should, both humor and momentum are generated, as angel and demon (and the oldtimer car) are the driving forces to help unite the storylines and integrate Philosophy, morality, and religionAll of this and more is vivisected, satirized, and analyzed objectively by giving the protagonists different core motivations. Because it´s satire, it´s with less overthinking induced headache and deep existential crisis than in hardcore nonfiction philosophy and nonfiction, but more with a „What just happened“ realization after the giggles, rofls, and lols. That´s important for learning too, because positive psychology shows that after the serotonin storm of joy more grains of knowledge stay in brain convolutions. DEATH and his 3 palsCould have something against a postponed armageddon. Just as the other evil hell entities, the 4 of them would really like to party hard until the end of the world, respectively the event itself, as long as no spoilsport comes along. Let´s say, a Not typical antichristBy mixing childhood idealism with godlike superhero powers, he doesn´t act as he should. The innocence of youth card is played to show the degeneration towards extremist adults and fantasy fractions that just can´t find a diplomatic middle course. Prachetterian GaimanismI would like to know who wrote what, how they coordinated and cooperated, two of the greatest authors of all time writing something close to incomparable. Imagine what your favorite genres writers could create together, how their styles would be forged to something stronger than the creative titanium and imaginative graphene they already tend to use in their own works. Unpredictable and uniqueThe combination of all these unusual character traits makes the story as unexpectable as possible, combining the strength of both Pratchetts´and Gaimans´writing to something truly unique. I tried to find a comparison, but there simply isn´t any, their own works are different too. So the best thing might be to go with the reading pack and compare it with some of the greatest milestones of deep satirical writing, which also often come with the somewhat depressing fact that the authors created one hit wonder evergreen overkill masterpieces. Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph... This one is added to all Pratchettian reviews:https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheibe... The idea of the dissected motifs rocks, highlighting the main real world inspirational elements of fiction and satire is something usually done with so called higher literature, but a much more interesting field in readable literature, as it offers the joy of reading, subtle criticism, and feeling smart all together.

Heaven, hell, demons, angels, a ragtag group of children, witch-hunters, witches, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, and the Antichrist all teamed up to make this book happen. And a readathon, a discount book-selling website, the buzz from a streaming-service television adaptation, boredom, poor decision-making, and a lack of social life had to come together to get me to read it.And it turned out pretty good.In spite of those long lists, the pacing of this was kind of clunky and odd. You'd think a book about the homoerotic enemies to friends/lovers? relationship between an angel and a demon with the rapidly approaching Antichrist-inspired apocalypse in the background would be, at the very least, a nonstop excitement rollercoaster.Regrettably you would be just a little bit wrong.This is, on the whole, very funny and fun, but it is also intermittently quite boring. This is because this book indulges in a dreadful habit known in certain villainous circles as "multiple perspectives," which means that sometimes you are hanging out with characters you enjoy and they are bantering and goofing and crazy hijinks-ing and then right when the going gets good, boom. You are in the English countryside with a group of children.C'est la vie, but in my opinion this whole thing would be better if children didn't exist.You decide whether I mean this book or this life.Bottom line: The most disappointing still-recommended read of my lifetime! I'll survive.3.5---------------------hard to say which i could use more at the moment: anything written by neil gaiman, or a good omen.i'm going with both!clear ur shit prompt 6: steal a book from someone's tbrfollow my progress here

One of my all-time favorite books. Up there with Hitchhiker's Guide.

If I were to pick a setting for a comedy, I’m not sure it would be Armageddon. However, in the talented minds of Pratchett and Gaiman, it’s the perfect setting. Another disclosure, I’m a sucker for British humour – give me Monty Python, Douglas Adams, Red Dwarf, and even Rickey Gervais and I’ll right larf out loude! It’s just the right mix of clever, deadpan, sarcasm, innuendo, and self-deprecation for me.I wanted to get this read before I watched the new Amazon Prime series. It’s a good time to be reading this book, as we all need a laugh (or at least I do). In a time where some days feel like the start of the apocalypse (climate change, Middle East violence, American & British politics, virus pandemics, etc.. etc.), it feels good to laugh at Judgement Day.For me this book read much more like a Terry Pratchett story, than a Neil Gaiman tale. I was impressed that the writing style seemed to be consistent throughout. I think that’s as much Gaiman’s ability to write in a Terry Pratchett style as anything. In the aftermatter, P&G amusingly reveal that they can no longer remember exactly who wrote what and suspect that neither wrote some of the parts.As to the story, this book has many great characters, a complex, winding plot, and plenty of charm and surprises. You’ll meet angels, demons, inept witch hunters, the four horsemen, and even the anti-Christ. However, it’s primarily the humor that carries it. It’s full of twists of phases, funny observations, and of course, the trademark Pratchett footnotes. I enjoyed the humor more than the story, but it never was boring. Once again, I feel compelled to explain why I am just now reading this novel, first published in 1990. Well, in the 1990’s, I had a wife, two young children, a cat, an older, fixer upper home with a needy yard, and an intense job. Something had to give. So I fully admit I missed an entire decade of literature, news, and music. I really got into Pearl Jam in about 2002 . . . Any who, if you enjoy British humor, you’ll enjoy this book, if you don’t, you likely won’t. If you are easily offended by religious satire, you should probably skip this. But if you enjoy clever writing, adept observations on society and life, and masterful humor, you need to read this book. Five fiery, red glowing brimstone stars from me.

This novel spoof of THE OMEN is absolutely hilarious. From the four bikers of the apocalypse to adorable hell hounds, it's my absolute favorite offering from Terry Pratchett -- his humor mixed with Neil Gaiman's is absolute win in my opinion. ***wondering why all my reviews are five stars? Because I'm only reviewing my favorite books -- not every book I read. Consider a novel's presence on my Goodreads bookshelf as a hearty endorsement. I can't believe I just said "hearty." It sounds like a stew.****

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, Terry Pratchett, Neil GaimanGood Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (1990) is a World Fantasy Award-nominated novel written as a collaboration between the British authors Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. It is the coming of the End Times: the Apocalypse is near, and Final Judgement will soon descend upon the human species. This comes as a bit of bad news to the angel Aziraphale (who was the guardian of the Eastern Gate of Eden) and the demon Crowley (who, when he was originally named Crawly, was the serpent who tempted Eve to eat the apple), respectively the representatives of Heaven and Hell on Earth, as they have become used to living their cosy, comfortable lives and have, in a perverse way, taken a liking to humanity. As such, since they are good friends (despite ostensibly representing the polar opposites of Good and Evil), they decide to work together and keep an eye on the Antichrist, destined to be the son of a prominent American diplomat stationed in Britain, and thus ensure he grows up in a way that means he can never decide between Good and Evil, thereby postponing the end of the world. ...تاریخ نخستین خوانش نسخه اصلی از انتشارات جنگل روز دهم ماه اکتبر سال2019میلادیعنوان: فال نیک؛ نویسندگان: نیل گیمن، تری پراچت؛ مترجم سوگند رجبی‌نسب؛ تهران انتشارات بهنام، سال‏‫1398؛ در384ص؛ شابک9786226651592؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان بریتانیا - سده20م‬بر اساس پیش بینی «اَگنِس ناتِر ساحره» در سال1655میلادی، که پیش از منفجر شدنش نگاشته شده، دنیا در روز «شنبه» به پایان میرسد؛ فرشتگان و شیاطین، در حال بازگشت به آسمانها هستند، اقیانوس بالا آمده، و دمای هوا، به شدت بالا رفته است؛ همه چیز درست همانند پیشگویی، در حال رخ دادن است، و البته به غیر از یک فرشته ی خوب وسواسی، و یک فرشته ی بد عجول، که هر دو از زمان پیدایش زمین، در میان مردمان حضور داشته اند، و اکنون بسیاری از عادتهای انسانهای زمینی را، فرا گرفته، و به عادتها معتاد شده اند؛ این دو فرشته، توجهی به این پایان دنیا ندارند؛ اما به نظر میرسد، کسی تصمیم گرفته، به دشمنی با مسیح هم بپردازد...؛ کتاب «فالِ نیک: پیشگویی‌های ظریف و دقیق اَگنِس ناتِر، ساحره»؛ رمانی کمدی، حاصل همکاری دو نویسنده ی بریتانیا: «تری پرچت»، و «نیل گیمن» است؛ داستان کتاب درباره ی تولد «پسر شیطان»، و آمدن آخرالزمان است؛ در سال2019میلادی «آمازون استودیوز» و «بی‌بی‌سی استودیوز»، بر اساس این رمان، مجموعه ی تلویزیونی «فال نیک» را، تولید و منتشر کردند؛تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 27/01/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ 16/11/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

I read American Gods not too long ago, and while I liked it, it didn't turn out to be as amazing as I had hoped. So I wondered if maybe I shouldn't go back and check this one out. You know, see if it was really as good as I remembered?Huh.It was actually better. Hilarious! The 5 star rating stands!Good Omens is going to go down as one of my favorites. I wouldn't say that I laughed out loud, but I snorted once or twice and smiled the whole way through. Who would have thought the apocalypse could be so funny?! Evidently Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Personally, I thought it was a great coming of age story about a boy named Adam Young. Warning: If you are one of those people who wear a What Would Jesus Do? bracelet and believes that the purple Teletubby really is gay? This is not the book for you. Just put it down and grab something by C.S. Lewis.The story centers around an angel and a demon who have spent thousands of years on earth together and have quite a good working relationship. Everything is running along smoothly until Crowley (said demon) is charged with delivering the Antichrist to his new family.In other words, handing over the Spawn of Hell to a bunch of (satanic) nuns who will switch him out with a human baby who has just been born. Once the deed is done, Crowley decides to enlist Aziraphale (said angel) to help him stop the coming apocalypse. Because the food and music on Earth is really good.They have eleven years before the boy reaches his full potential, but unfortunately, due to a mix up with the Satanic switcheroo, the wrong kid gets pegged as the Antichrist and the real Antichrist gets a normal life. It's a Nature vs Nurture + The Power of Friendship + The Odd Couple kind of thing.There's a lot more to it than that, but you get the gist.Excellent story. Go give it whirl!

*** 4.75 *** "... “God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players [i.e. everybody], to being involved in an obscure and complex variant of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time.” ..." Loved every second of it! A book about free choice and nature vs nurture, some good old pondering over what is good and what is evil, commentary on our values and all together sorry state of our perceptions, all bundled up in the beautifully hilarious and stingingly clever prose of the authors, who only cement there places as some of the best of our contemporaries. 50% of the book deserves to hang as quotations on our walls, but I will have to be satisfied with just couple... "... “It may help to understand human affairs to be clear that most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused, not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally bad, but by people being fundamentally people.” ..." To all who know me it will come as no surprise that Terry Pratchett and his humor are like a balm for my soul. Even though I adore almost every word he puts to paper, I am still aware of the fact that he is not everyone's cup of tea. More often it is the over-saturation of his cheek that becomes too much and people loose the underlined analysis of human behavior in which lays his greatest strength. I would be the first one to recommend his work, but I will also be the one to warn you to space his works good time apart in order to truly savor his wisdom and turn of phrase. After finishing any of his books I am always tempted to immediately jump into the next, but that would do me and the book a disservice. So now I treat them as precious gems - the rarer, the more time and adoration I can lavish on each!!! "... "Over the years Crowley had found it increasingly difficult to find anything demonic to do which showed up against the natural background of generalized nastiness. There had been times, over the past millennium, when he’d felt like sending a message back Below saying, Look we may as well give up right now, we might as well shut down Dis and Pandemonium and everywhere and move up here, there’s nothing we can do to them that they don’t do to themselves and they do things we’ve never even thought of, often involving electrodes. They’ve got what we lack. They’ve got imagination. And electricity, of course. One of them had written it, hadn’t he…”Hell is empty, and all the devils are here.” ..." If you ask me, this book deserves giving it a try, no matter what genre you usually gravitate to. Even better if this is not your usual cup of tea:) I recommend it to all!!! "... “Potentially evil. Potentially good, too, I suppose. Just this huge powerful potentiality waiting to be shaped.” ..." Now I wish you all Happy Reading and many more Wonderful books to come!!!

This has got to be one of the funniest satires I've ever read. I suppose the closest comparison I could make is to describe it as a literary sibling to Dogma, but filtered through a distinctly British lense. That description doesn't really do the story justice, but that film definitely hits me in the same place as the book. The whole premise, and I'm not giving much away here, begins with the accidental "mis-placement" of the infant Antichrist during a complex baby-swapping procedure intended to kick off the Apocalypse. It's all down hill from there. This book is funny, irreverent, and at times surprisingly insightful. While some parts of the book may seem cliched or even kitschy, the book never puts up the pretense of being revolutionary or edgy. The characters, like any melodrama, are intended to be archetypal, so even the relatively predictable changes that occur seem appropriate in the context of the story. The surprises are really in the details, and in that regard the execution is brilliant. To give you an example, the devil Crowly drives a car in which the tape-deck will transform any tape placed in it into a copy of "Queen's Greatest Hits" within a very short period of time after one hits the play button. Now I love "Bohemian Rhapsody" as much as the next guy, but an eternity of nothing but THAT particular album?! That's the kind of devilry that works on many levels.

This is the third time I've read this book. Once I read this edition, once I listened to the BBC radio dramatisation and now I alternately listened to the audiobook and read the hardcover.This, by the way, is my edition of the print book, the old Gollancz edition and I love the quirky design very much.What you see beneath the book are the two pin badges I couldn't resist buying a while ago.The reason for the re-read is that Amazon Prime is gonna show the adaptation in 2019 (no exact date is given yet). I have and keep informing about the production in detail here: https://www.goodreads.com/user_status...Good Omens is about the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley who are both living on Earth and quite enjoying themselves. One day, Crowley is given the Antichrist as a baby and charged with delivering him to a convent so he can be placed with a human family. However, something goes hilariously wrong with the switch.11 years later Armageddon is just around the corner but neither Crowley nor Aziraphale want the world to end because then there will be no feeding the ducks in the park, no lunch dates in the Ritz, no quaint little bookshops or cool Bentleys.Then there is the Antichrist himself, now 11 years old and not exactly what Heaven or Hell had imagined.Thus commences a hilarious romp in the English countryside with the Four Horsepersons, some bikers, children and a very special hellhound.For anyone wanting a glimpse at what this might look like, here is the trailer for the show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZSXl...Seriously, what Pratchett and Gaiman created here is not just a great collaboration - this reads as if it came from one hand, showcasing how similar the two men were and how well these two minds therefore worked together. Some of the creations here are linked almost directly to the authors' other works so there is a certain feeling of coming home whenever I immerse myself in the story.The simple and yet thrilling scenery painted with the poignant humour and sharp social and political criticism that shines through each page in a delicate and tactful way is something to be cherished, something special that one doesn't find too often. *sighs contently*-------------------Original review:Wonderful cooperation between two of the funniest men on the planet: Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett!If you think one of them was funny, you can imagine the kind of bellyache I've got from laughing almost uncontrollably at all the jests and jokes and silliness from both of them!The story is quite simple: as written in various prophecies, Armageddon is just around the corner. But an angel and a demon quite like their lives on Earth so they have other plans (such as feeding the ducks).The characters are all elaborate, quirky and original; the writing is not just funny but also delivers some important messages in a light way and all the chapters weave into one another fluidly (which is not to be taken for granted in just any cooperation).It was a marvellous journey to read the book, which I started when the BBC radio dramatisation was advertised last December. Now I've finished the book AND, simultaneously, listenend to the radio series and have to say that the wonderful cast that was put together fit their roles perfectly! Well done to all! I highly recommend readers of the book to listen to the BBC dramatisation as well!P.S.: This is my hardcover edition. Way back when, I had the extreme luck of coincidentally getting what I consider the version with the best/funniest cover design.