A FEW OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS *
(to argue about)

* like from that strange movie that never seems to end

THE LOCATION OF AZIRAPHALE’S BOOKSHOP

BOOK PAGE NUMBERS AND QUOTES TAKEN FROM THE 1996 ACE PAPERBACK US EDITION OF 'GOOD OMENS
MAP IMAGES FROM MAPQUEST.COM

There has been much debate on this, but the book gives very strong clues to the location. 

There were double yellow no-parking lines in the narrow road outside. [pg 98]

Meaning the shop sits on a small narrow road, off the main roads, where there are never parked cars (except Crowley’s). 

He climbed into the Bentley and reversed back into the road, swung around a fire truck, into Wardour Street, and into the darkened afternoon. [pg 239]

Reversing means a dead end road.

See the map below:

There's a small narrow road, dead ended, just off Wardour Street - Duck Lane - only a few blocks from the very center of Soho. Crowley would have driven the wrong way on one-way Broadwick to get out, but I’m sure he didn’t care in the least.

And to go just a little further with this point… Read this entry in "Symon's Meteorological Magazine". You may also find the reference in "A Dictionary of Booksellers and Printers who were at work in England, Scotland and Ireland from 1641 to 1667" by Henry R. Plomer, and "The Antiquary" by Edward Walford, John Charles Cox, and George Latimer Apperson (links for these are too long for my website - just Google "angel duck lane").  All of those, and other books, mention a number of books being printed for William Thackery by a J. Mills or others (A.N. and W.D. most often) at a book store called The Angel on Duck Lane.

Ducks as a symbol are far too attached to Aziraphale, and the title of the shop in that street is so very specific, and the references above are so archaic, that it cannot be ignored. While I don't know exactly what Pratchett and Gaiman intended... I also know these authors tend to be sneaky with their hints. And I don't believe in coincidences either.

Of further interest… Crowley lives in Mayfair, and though it's never made truly clear in the book, it’s been theorised by other fans that his flat is on Adam’s Row. As this is mere blocks from a prominent Bentley auto dealership (opened in 1927 on Berkley Square, which is pointedly mentioned at the end of the book), and coincidentally (or perhaps not, with these authors) the street bears the name of the Antichrist... it seems likely to be true. Here’s a map of the area…

And a map to show the distances between them both and St. James Park. Neat little triangle. The book says they met in the Park as it was an equal distance for both of them to travel.

Wish I'd known all this in 2006 when I visited. Next time I'm there, Duck Lane is my first stop for photographs. 

ADAM’S BIRTHDAY

BOOK PAGE NUMBERS AND QUOTES TAKEN FROM THE 1996 ACE PAPERBACK US EDITION OF 'GOOD OMENS

There was a bit of conjecture on this for some reason, but the book spells it out with great clarity.

Adam, Warlock and Greasy Johnson were all born the same night, as we know. In the book we read this...

It was a hot, fume-filled August day in Central London. Warlock’s eleventh birthday was very well-attended. [pg 61] 

On the very same night, after Aziraphale and Crowley strike out at the party, they drive to Lower Tadfield, and are shot by paintballs outside the Tadfield Manor Conference and Management Training Center. Indoors they find this:

Something like a hotel reception desk now occupied one end of the hall. It had a quietly competent look. Aziraphale gazed at the board on an aluminum easel beside it. In the little plastic letters let into the black fabric of the board were the words: ‘August 20-21: United Holdings [Holdings] PLC Initiative Combat Course’. [pg 87]

Therefore Adam’s birthday is either the 20th or the 21^st  of August. (Makes him a Leo on the cusp of Virgo, and you can infer whatever you like from that.)

AZIRAPHALE’S GENERAL HUMAN APPEARANCE

BOOK PAGE NUMBERS AND QUOTES TAKEN FROM THE 1996 ACE PAPERBACK US EDITION OF THE BOOK
SCREENPLAY PAGE NUMBERS AND QUOTES TAKEN FROM NEIL GAIMAN'S 1990 SCREENPLAY

There is little straightforward description. But there are definitely strong clues.

In order to maintain his cover as a typical second-hand book seller… [pg 36] 

If you’ve ever seen a “typical second-hand book seller", you’ll know they are extremely rarely young and pretty and 'bishounen' types, as some GO artists and writers like to portray him. I’ve seen many dozens of 'typical' second-book sellers, so trust me on this one. Those I've encountered are often at least in their forties, extremely casually dressed and sometimes a bit scruffy. Think about the shop itself, as described in the book -- stuffy, cluttered, dusty, and with a general ambiance of decay -- and try to picture a young, pretty guy. Doesn't really work well.

The idea is easily borne up by this line by the ever-trendy, young-looking and flashy Crowley…

“Don’t be stupid! Do I look like I run a bookshop?” [pg 238] 

Aziraphale can be a bit of a fop in certain outer style, so he's well-groomed when in public... 

Aziraphale spread out his elegantly manicured hands. [pg 34]

…would go weak at the knees at the thought of actually getting his exquisitely manicured hands on one. [pg 39]

And the shirt had been quite expensive. [pg 87]

Yet he has an out-dated sense of fashion... 

“Tartan straps?” “Tartan is stylish.” [pg 78]

On those occasions when the angel managed to get his mind into the twentieth century, it always gravitated to 1950. [pg 79]

But the soft one in the camelhair coat was a different matter. [pg 216] 

Soft could be argued as either "mild-mannered" or "pudgy", but he is likely a bit overweight... 

He took the gun from the angel’s plump hand… [pg 87]

"’Is that my Gros Bon Ange?’ he asked himself. ‘I think that’s a rather personal question,” he replied. ‘I mean, as these things go. But one tries, as it were, one does one’s best’.” [pg 249]

"Gros bon ange" is the Vodoun concept of one's own greater spirit, the connection to God and ancestors. The literal translation is "big guardian angel" or "great good angel". As "gros" means "big" or "large", and Aziraphale rather sensitively takes exception to that, he likely looks upon it as a reference to his weight. 

She looked Aziraphale up and down. ‘Oh,’ she said, in a slightly disappointed voice, ‘Somehow, I thought you’d be younger’. [pg 330]

He not only is not a young-looking man, but her disappointment can imply she thought, as an angel, he’d be more classically handsome and fit as well.

Aziraphale looked down at his new body which was, unfortunately, very much like his old body, although the overcoat was cleaner. [pg 330]
 

If it’s so "unfortunate" this can easily mean it wasn’t in the best of shape, either old or pudgy, or both. Considering he loves food and drink rather much, it's not terribly surprising that he'd be plump.

This also sets a standard for the human body he inhabits - it can and does gain weight and appear aged, and he doesn't seem to bother stopping it. He likes to fit in and be somewhat over-looked, whereas Crowley likes to flash himself about (Crowley is described as 'young man' on a couple of occasions, and is probably thinner and serpentine in general).

Nowhere in all of GO does it mention that Aziraphale wears glasses, though about half of fandom portrays him that way. It is likely a subconscious ideal, the bookish nerdy type must wear glasses. I've always chosen not to do so. Nor does the book describe his hair or eye colour. Most of fandom agrees on the blond hair-blue eyes appearance. I see this as being a subconscious counter to Crowley's darker hair, which makes it a somewhat Jungian symbolic ideal and seems appropriate, especially considering the following descriptions taken from Neil Gaiman's screenplay version of GO: 

AZIRAPHALE is wearing all white, and his clothes are much more rumpled than his opponent's. His hair is white too. [pg 2]

ANATHEMA enters, comes face to face with CROWLEY and AZIRAPHALE. For one split second she sees them as they really are -- CROWLEY as a tall black SERPENTINE figure with yellow snake eyes, AZIRAPHALE as an ANGEL, in a white robe, with huge white wings. [pg 98] 

The 2005 release, with dual Crowley and Aziraphale covers, depicts Aziraphale without glasses, somewhat older, and definitely not twig thin. Though not entirely canon due to bat wings and pointed tail on Crowley --probably to make it very clear to casual observers that he's a demon-- this specific cover art was approved directly by the authors themselves. Neil himself told me face-to-face at a book signing, that the Aziraphale cover had been sent back for corrections before it was released. So these images may well be as close to canon as anyone can expect to see. (And personally I am in love with Aziraphale's casual sneakers. Not only adorable, but very good for walking around London when one chooses not to rely entirely upon demonic automobiles.)

THE ARGUMENT ON WING COLOURS

BOOK PAGE NUMBERS AND QUOTES TAKEN FROM THE 1996 ACE PAPERBACK US EDITION OF 'GOOD OMENS
 

The above-mentioned screenplay page [98] is also the only time Aziraphale's wing colour is ever mentioned. Book canon says nothing at all of wing colour for either he or Crowley.

A portion of fandom declares that the following passage of the book means that BOTH have WHITE wings:

The coats of Aziraphale and Crowley split along the seams. If you were going to go, you might as well go in your own true shape. Feathers unfold towards the sky. Contrary to popular belief, the wings of demons are the same as the wings of angels, although they're often better groomed. [pg 341]

But this is based on the modern notion that ALL angels' wings (therefore those whose wings "are the same") are white. However, there are several instances elsewhere that could be argued as being counter to this assumption, even within the canon of the book:

Death’s robes split and his wings unfolded. Angel’s wings. But not of feathers. They were wings of night, wings that were shapes cut through the matter of creation into the darkness underneath… [pg 326-327]

They are described very specifically as "angel’s wings, but not of feathers", therefore NOT all angel’s wings are exactly the same. To go further...

This is the Metatron, whose wings may well be golden as his body.

The lightning vanished, and a young man made out of golden fire stood there. [pg 331] 

And this is Beelzebub, whose wings may be red for the same reason.

It was not greatly different to the other figure, except that its flames were blood-red.
[pg 332]  

As well, historically speaking, artwork of all sorts portrayed angels with vibrantly multi-coloured wings, rarely any two angels alike. See my angel art gallery here (nearly 300 images).

The modern idea that all angels have WHITE wings was almost certainly thanks to the artist Adolph-William Bougeureau. It seems to me that his artwork usurped hundreds of years of previous artwork, and modern artwork has carried on the trend and is making it virtually impossible to correct this very wrong ideal.

However, we will work with the assumption that at least Aziraphale has white wings, as there is no evidence to the contrary within the book. And Gaiman screenplay can once more be used as a basis for this possibility.

ANATHEMA enters, comes face to face with CROWLEY and AZIRAPHALE. For one split second she sees them as they really are -- CROWLEY as a tall black SERPENTINE figure with yellow snake eyes, AZIRAPHALE as an ANGEL, in a white robe, with huge white wings. [pg 98] 

Moving on... a large portion of fandom prefers that Crowley has black wings and this is usually my preference.  The idea that this may be the case can be derived from a couple of things:

• His style as described in the book... He has the idea that 'the sort of person he's trying to be' would have certain things and a certain style. His flat is very positive/negative starkly coloured --white and black only. He drives a black car, wears a black watch and black sunglasses, and overall sports a 'cool' style. White wings seem like something that would be far too traditional, and possibly too 'pure', for him. He might choose another colour besides black (I've depicted him with other colours myself, and am leaning toward red because it looks gorgeous) but black fits him better than anything pale.

  • The description of his true form in the screenplay passage above... He is all black, and his appearance is pointedly the opposite colour scheme from Aziraphale's, who is all white. They represent a simplified dichotomy here, the symbolic relatively-good = white vs. not-so-good = black (can't call him evil).

The concept of even Fallen angels having feathered, rather than batlike, wings, may also be a more fundamentally British idea. I have seen paintings in London that suggest this. The following images were photographed by myself and my husband in the restrooms of the Sarastro restaurant in Drury Lane.  (WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES) One demon seems to have white wings. The other could be absolutely any colour due to the painter's style (note also the angel in the center of the second picture). Crude images, but I saw no other demons with wings at all, feathered or otherwise, and there were dozens of them all over the walls.