October 2012 | www.bridge-online.czL i t e r at u r e

Neil Gaiman was born in a little town in England in 1960. He had learnt to read by the time he was four years old. The first book he borrowed from his school library was Lord of the Rings, which he read over and over again. He loved reading so much that he always did well in school. Not, he says,

because he had any big talent, but because he always read his school textbooks from cover to cover3! He went on (= continued) to journalism4, but soon gave it up, complaining that British newspapers told too many lies. Gaiman moved into a genre5 where he could make up anything he wanted and not lie to anyone – writing fiction.

Stories of oldGaiman often works with the idea of myth6 and fairy tales. One of his most famous novels is called American Gods. It asks what

would have happened if immigrants to early America had brought all of their old gods, religions and traditions to the New World. In his book Stardust, a young man called Tristam has an adventure with a fallen star named Yvaine. Three evil witches want to eat her heart so that they will stay young forever, and Tristam must help her.

Conquering TVGaiman has written lots of film scripts7, and his novel Neverwhere, about a secret city in London’s Underground, started off as a television series in England. He also keeps one of the internet’s most popular literary blogs – which his teenage daughter Maddy sometimes writes for him when he is away!

It is safe to say that with three more books planned and fans all over the world eagerly8 awaiting his next fantastic tale, Gaiman is one of those rare9, successful writers who are, in fact, in it for the stories. Joanna Coleman (uK)

Have you ever travelled on the metro and imagined what it would be like if there was an invisible underground city down there? Or what it would be like if you lived in a graveyard? Or if the wall at the bottom of your garden led to a magical land? Writer Neil Gaiman has – and not only that! His books are some of the best-selling fantasy novels around today.

V o c a b u l a r y1 invisible [In"vIzIb(@)l] –

neviditelný2 graveyard ["greIvjA;d] – hřbitov3 from cover to cover ["kVv@] –

od začátku do konce

4 journalism ["dZ3;n(@)lIz(@)m] – žurnalistika

5 genre ["ZQnr@] – žánr6 myth [mIT] – mýtus7 script [skrIpt] – scénář8 eagerly ["i;g@li] – nedočkavě

9 rare [re@] – vzácný10 to air [e@] – vysílat11 to feature ["fi;tS@] – představovat

(někoho)12 villain ["vIl@n] – padouch13 to pretend [prI"tend] – předstírat

STOrieS frOm maGiCal laNdS

The Book JoBGaiman even appeared as a character in the television series The Simpsons. When the episode aired10, Gaiman threw a doughnut party at home and watched it with his family. The episode, called The Book Job, makes fun of the fact that so many books for teenagers are written by hired groups of writers who are only in it for the money. it features11 Neil Gaiman as a villain12 who pretends13 to be the author of Homer and Bart’s new book and steals all their glory.

fantasy world of Neil Gaiman