FIR RB#: 3
Date read: June 29, 2010.
Title of the book read: The Sandman - Preludes and Nocturnes
Chapter/s read: Chapter 2
Pages covered: 24
Author of the book: Neil Gaiman
I started taking interests in Neil Gaiman when I saw the book on the college library. Though I had known him and his works since I heard his name(I can't recall when that was), it was on that day only when I saw it on the library shelf did I take a curiosity to read it myself and determined to finish it.
I had wondered at that time why would a Graphic novel be in an exclusive Catholic school for women in the first place?
Anyway, it's cool. Now let me go to the summary of what I read on that chapter.
The summary of Chapter 2
Previously on the first chapter, Morpheus (The Sandman) had escaped his imprisonment in the Human Realm and had cursed the last of the descendants of the Burgess family, forever sleeping in nightmares.
Finally out, Morpheus immediately sets out to go back home--to his Dream Realm, despite that the three of his things when he had been summoned and imprisoned had long been gone from him. But since he had been imprisoned for so long a time (it had been 70 years), the Dream King is weak and was only able to make it to Cain and Abel's house.
Now, Cain and Abel are the two brothers in the Genesis story, right? Since their deaths, they had resided on a part of the Dream Realm ever since, with Cain still the antagonistic brother and Abel now being this masochistic and bumbling sort, as he is always the subject of Cain's sadistic character and torture.
When Morpheus was inside the brothers' house, they immediately helped him as Morpheus reflects on the previous events of his imprisonment. When some of his strength was back, Morpheus immediately sets to get back at his Realm, but only to find that his Realm was now in disarray. Lucien, one of his servants, had told him that without the Dream King around to 'nurture' the Realm--as the Realm itself was made by Morpheus--the place slowly changed, until it deteriorated. Morpheus, who had not thought of this to happen, realizes that he must locate his three possessions that was stolen from him 70 years ago by the Burgess family to attain back his powers to re-create his Realm. Asking help from the three Fates, he understands that finding three strange objects in the Human world would be no easy task. The first object, the Pouch of Infinite Sand, had been bought by John Contstantine(he has a movie in 2004, if you could remember); the second is the Helm, which was actually traded to a demon by a museum curator, and last but not the least is the Ruby Moonstone, where almost all his powers are kept hidden. The Ruby was last seen by the Justice League and no one knows where it is.
Deciding to look for the Pouch because it is easy, the Dream King once again ascends from his Realm to look for his possessions.
Meanwhile, Abel, beaten up by his brother again, cries outside the house's porch as he narrates to a hatchling gargoyle how Cain and Abel used to be really close...
Now for my Insights...
It's weird with this one, as Cain and Abel are in the chapter and are living in Morpheus' realm. Although the story of the chapter got really interesting as Morpheus realizes that a heavy new journey must be done to organize his realm once again, the brothers Cain and Abel were really the ones who set out the dark horror of the story. Abel is depicted in the chapter to be the victim, whether by verbal or physical abuse by his brother Cain, who in turn is depicted to have no actual control of his sadism when he is annoyed at his brother Abel, leading him to 'kill' Abel.
The lesson? Well, the lesson I caught at once in the story came from the brothers themselves. It goes to show that there are people who are psychotically evil and there are those who are victims of these sociopathic mercilessness, especially to those close to them.
Hopefully, the third chapter shouldn't be as weird as the first.
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