The Growlery - Neil Gaiman, Fragile Things

09:48 pm October 7th, 2008




			The Growlery - Neil Gaiman, Fragile Things In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni

forthright


	Neil Gaiman, Fragile Things
	I've been a fan of Neil Gaiman for a long while now, and particularly so since we met him in 2005 during his Anansi Boys book tour, when he was nice to Arthur and even nicer to us by letting us and other kid-enabled fans to go first in the lineup which otherwise would have had us waiting for several hours, infant in tow. And so now Arthur has some nice signed books that he can enjoy when he is older (but not too much older, because I'm jonesing to read them to him). Honestly from his blog Gaiman just seems like an average guy - an average guy who has tens of thousands of goth girls screaming to jump his bones, but even so. I think I've read most of what he's written (certainly all of his non-comics work) but lately I haven't had the time to do as much reading as I would like, so I only now got around to reading Fragile Things, his 2006 collection of short fiction. I had already read a few of these stories during awards nomination seasons in years past, such as his Cthulhu-Sherlock Holmes masterpiece, 'A Study in Emerald', or 'The Problem with Susan', his fictional critique of the dreadful wrap-up to Narnia. But some of the finer stories are ones that had escaped my attention entirely, such as the short and Borgesian 'Other People', the poignantly disturbing 'Pages from a Journal ...', or the dark romantic horror of 'How do you think it feels?'. A personal favourite, and also I suspect for every coffee-addicted anthropologist who has ever felt like a total fraud at a conference, is 'Bitter Grounds'. In my opinion, Gaiman's novels are good but not fantastic and his poetry is all right (I admit I'm not much for poetry), but he excels at shorter pieces and is every bit the equal of, say, Harlan Ellison or Ray Bradbury, to both of whose work his writing owes a debt. I thought the novella-length 'Monarch of the Glen', set in the world of American Gods, was one of the weaker pieces and doesn't live up to the novel (which isn't his best novel anyway, despite winning all those fancy awards). But this is just a quibble - it's a fine book and I look forward to re-reading it one day when I have copious spare time. Tags: geekery

17 comments or Leave a comment


	Comments

	From: atalanta	Date: October 8th, 2008 02:05 am (UTC)		(Link)

Have you read any Ted Chiang?

(Reply) (Thread)

	From: forthright	Date: October 8th, 2008 02:53 am (UTC)		(Link)

Oh yes, yes, definitely yes! In my opinion _Stories of Your Life_ is the best short SF collection of the past 30 years.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

	From: atalanta	Date: October 8th, 2008 03:02 am (UTC)		(Link)

I know! Such an unusual concentration of high quality!
My favorites are probably _Story of your life_ and _Seventy-two letters_ but there are so many good ones. The Babel one is also excellent.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

	From: forthright	Date: October 8th, 2008 03:06 am (UTC)		(Link)

The only thing of his I haven't read is his new novella. I know some people are really eager for him to write a novel, but I'm more ambivalent about that prospect. His pieces are all so finely crafted that it's hard to see how anyone could maintain that through a novel-length work.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

	From: jteethy	Date: October 8th, 2008 05:23 am (UTC)		(Link)

"The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" is in the various year's best anthologies, but you can listen to it as a free podcast over at Starship Sofa.

Edited at 2008-10-08 05:24 am (UTC)

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

	From: elanya	Date: October 8th, 2008 02:28 am (UTC)		(Link)

I am happy to agree that i think his shorter works are the better ones, and AG was not nearly his best...

I keep forgetting about Fragile Things, but I have read a lot of the stuff in it already. Hmmmm.... I was gong to add it to my az list, but that has just reminded me that no, I need to go buy shoes, as my crocs have worn though.

*rambles*

Like I have time to read anyway!

(Reply) (Thread)

	From: curtana	Date: October 8th, 2008 02:58 am (UTC)		(Link)

See, this is why you never have new things on your wishlist when people want to buy you gifts ;) Add it anyway, that way you won't forget that you want it!

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

	From: elanya	Date: October 8th, 2008 03:01 am (UTC)		(Link)

...not only dd I not put it on my list, I also forgot to get shoes. Lose >_<

I *did*, however, update the Diablotin wiki with the new office holders :V

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

	From: abstractrx	Date: October 8th, 2008 02:58 am (UTC)		(Link)

I've read some of those stories and you're quite right, they're really like little gems. Ooh. Arthur has autographed Neil Gaiman. He'll be the envy of the playground for sure! You know this is going help him attract his own goth chicks later. Pfft. Or had you thought of that. It goes quicker than you think!

(Reply) (Thread)

	From: forthright	Date: October 8th, 2008 03:07 am (UTC)		(Link)

Heh ... maybe, although I think that Gaiman has found some elixir of youth and the goth girls will still be hot for him even in ten or fifteen years.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

	From: abstractrx	Date: October 8th, 2008 03:36 am (UTC)		(Link)

Well, I know I will be, although I was twice his age to begin with. We're all just little goth girls at heart.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

	From: amaena	Date: October 8th, 2008 03:36 am (UTC)		(Link)

I think I must be the worst goth girl in existence :P

rumplefurskin had to introduce me to him :P

(Reply) (Thread)

	From: forthright	Date: October 8th, 2008 02:56 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Well, you make up for it in other gothy respects, I'd say! :)

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

	From: circuit_four	Date: October 8th, 2008 03:41 am (UTC)		(Link)

Yeah, I adore Sandman and trying to reread it once a year. I even quite enjoyed Neverwhere. But I was deeply disappointed by American Gods -- even when you average out my annoyance at the portrayal of the goddesses as whores and pets, and the moderns as slickened cyberpunk stock-villains. It just felt aimless to me, even thematically a bit sincere. And Mirrormask -- awfully pretty; heartbreakingly shallow, just IMHO.

Since those, I'd sort of given up on Gaiman, except for a bit of comics writing here and there. I appreciate your recommendation -- I suppose I should give his shorter fiction a shot!

(Reply) (Thread)

	From: elanya	Date: October 8th, 2008 03:55 am (UTC)		(Link)

Mirrormask was pretty but *trite*, imho :/

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

	From: sam_t	Date: October 8th, 2008 08:16 am (UTC)		(Link)

Agreed - I kept waiting for it to pick itself up and shake itself into the rather weirder shape of a Gaiman short story, but sadly it never did. Awfully pretty, though.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

	From: kimkali	Date: October 8th, 2008 02:04 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I am currently reading Fragile Things and am liking it ~firm nod~. I have read bits of Gaiman's other works, but am finding these shorts the most... enticing. He really does have a delightfully rich imagination which seems most effectively conveyed in shorter works, unencumbered by the procrastination and drawn-out intertwining of lengthier prose.

(Reply) (Thread)


	17 comments or Leave a comment