I think I burned myself out on Sandman near the end. It's one thing to get one or two volumes at the library. It's another to read the whole thing continuously.

But you practically have to read it beginning to end. There is so much inside. There are characters in volume one that don't become significant until the last book. You could easily forget who's who with everything that happens in-between. I'm not even talking about the literary references, the hidden meanings, the subtlety, the abstract thinking.

So it started to become drudgery after a while. Trudging through the swamp of such abstract thinking (as such is the stuff from which dreams are made). I myself am not a fan of the poetic, existential writing. I like concrete. I like stories where I can tell what's happening and don't have to think on artsy things. It's like the writing is engineered to have so many meanings that it means nothing. Sandman defies critical analysis.

I think Sandman is meant to be read like a comic book -- a little bit at a time. Slower than I read it. But I had to read it fast or I'd forget who everyone is. ( )