Sandman: A Game of You
A Game of You is the fifth volume in Neil Gaiman's Sandman
series. It's unique in that it doesn't really showcase Dream at all.
Although half the story takes place in dreams, Morpheus himself only
appears in the first and last issue. Instead, the story follows several
women who live in the same apartment building and are all struggling
with identity in their own way.
Identity is the main them of this book. The identities we choose for ourselves and the ones society forces on us. It looks at how our perception of ourselves can change depending on where or when we are. This story explores how fragile identity can be and how important it is to have your own identity acknowledged by the people around you.
Barbie is the main character in this story. She appeared briefly in the second volume, A Doll's House. When last we saw her, Barbie was married to a man named Ken and living the perfect suburban fantasy with him. But now she's divorced, broke and without a job, living off her alimony checks in a crappy apartment in New York City.
The story focuses mostly on Barbie's dream world. She's had recurring dreams since she was a child, a series of fantastic adventures in which she is a princess. But now the land where she dreams is dying and Barbie finds herself trapped in her dream world, unable to escape the persona she created for herself as a child.
There are some great secondary characters in this volume, some of my favorites in the entire series. Barbie's friends and neighbors come together in an effort to save her from her dream world. Wanda is a trans woman who finds herself having to reassert her identity in every issue when she meets someone new. Hazel and Foxglove are a lesbian couple working through their own issues. Foxglove was previously in an abusive relationship and there's a sense that the thing she likes most about Hazel is how safe she is. Thessaly is a millennia old witch who is the only one of the group who has some sense of of what's happening. But her sole motivation is revenge, which makes her a lot less sympathetic in my eyes.
This arc has been growing on me for years. I like it a bit more every time I read it, because I keep finding new layers. Identity is a pretty complicated issue and Gaiman comes at it from a lot of different ways in this volume. Even the places where the story takes place (New York City and Barbie's dream land) seem to have identities to some extent. At this point, this may even be my favorite arc in the series.
Identity is the main them of this book. The identities we choose for ourselves and the ones society forces on us. It looks at how our perception of ourselves can change depending on where or when we are. This story explores how fragile identity can be and how important it is to have your own identity acknowledged by the people around you.
Barbie is the main character in this story. She appeared briefly in the second volume, A Doll's House. When last we saw her, Barbie was married to a man named Ken and living the perfect suburban fantasy with him. But now she's divorced, broke and without a job, living off her alimony checks in a crappy apartment in New York City.
The story focuses mostly on Barbie's dream world. She's had recurring dreams since she was a child, a series of fantastic adventures in which she is a princess. But now the land where she dreams is dying and Barbie finds herself trapped in her dream world, unable to escape the persona she created for herself as a child.
There are some great secondary characters in this volume, some of my favorites in the entire series. Barbie's friends and neighbors come together in an effort to save her from her dream world. Wanda is a trans woman who finds herself having to reassert her identity in every issue when she meets someone new. Hazel and Foxglove are a lesbian couple working through their own issues. Foxglove was previously in an abusive relationship and there's a sense that the thing she likes most about Hazel is how safe she is. Thessaly is a millennia old witch who is the only one of the group who has some sense of of what's happening. But her sole motivation is revenge, which makes her a lot less sympathetic in my eyes.
This arc has been growing on me for years. I like it a bit more every time I read it, because I keep finding new layers. Identity is a pretty complicated issue and Gaiman comes at it from a lot of different ways in this volume. Even the places where the story takes place (New York City and Barbie's dream land) seem to have identities to some extent. At this point, this may even be my favorite arc in the series.
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