Nov 26 2013.
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Neil Gaiman cannot be pinned down, he scrawls across many genres, invoking life in old legends from foreign countries, well-worn fairy tales, twisted creatures from his own head, and as he clearly draws inspiration from great writers we are treated to interesting tales such as The Problem of Susan. He draws from his own life, he envisions warped futures and dimensions unlike our own. In the words of Clive Barker he is a ‘demented cook’ constructing ‘a wedding cake, building layer upon layer, including all kinds of sweet and sour in the mix.’
Fragile Things is an encapsulation of everything that Gaiman is – all the inverted clichés and tales of the outsider, of ruins and life. The book is a collection of various short stories that he has written, some in contribution to other books, all different in tone and all “fragile things made of just 26 letters arranged and rearranged”.
‘Instructions’, seemingly a fanciful rhyme, contains advice and help on life itself though Gaiman calls it ‘quite literally, a set of instructions for what to do when you find yourself in a fairy tale.’ The poem is lovely, evoking the feeling that it is some map of life, one we trace our journey on. As we make our way from the wood to the ferryman and pass the wolves on the way, we are told to
“Trust dreams
Trust your heart and trust your story.”
‘How To Talk to Girls at Parties’ is a hilarious science fiction short story that follows Vic and Enn, two teenage boys, who crash a party full of female foreigners. The 1970s atmosphere coupled with the personalities of the two boys and Enn as he talks to the girls and has an increasingly odd experience, is a fine fusing of an ordinary and earthy nostalgic tale with an eerie, out-of-this-world type fantastic element to it. The result is an amusingly creepy tale.
More of his spine-chilling stories include ‘The Flints of Memory Lane’ a true ghost story which starts off with a disclaimer of sorts,
“I like things to be story shaped.
Reality, however, is not story-shaped and the eruptions of the odd into our lives are not story-shaped either.”
‘Closing Time’, ‘Bitter Grounds’ and ‘Feeders and Eaters’ are all vividly scary as well.
‘Goliath’, written for website of ‘The Matrix’ is perhaps my favourite of the collection, sci-fi to the core and revolving around the idea that the world is a ‘cheap and shoddy sham, a bad cover for something deeper and weirder and infinitely more strange’. It tells of a future in which humans are all connected together in an unreal world, a nightmare and dream in one, a world of fiction. The uncanny bit is that this really could be the fate of humanity – relying on machines to make us happy or at least, to live. Certainly a story that has a wealth of a universe of a saga in its short form.
‘Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Secret House on the Night of Dread Desire’ is hilarious, a little silly, quite clever, and very enjoyable. ‘Locks’ and ‘The Day the Saucers Came’ are lovely poems. ‘The Problem of Susan’ is an intriguing look at Susan, left to identify the bodies of her brothers and sister, and ‘A Study in Emerald’ is an award winning union of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and the world of H.P Lovecraft.
‘Fragile Things’ is a wonderfully imaginative and haunting collection that show Gaiman at his best.
Reviewed by Marissa van Eyck
0 Comments
Shehan says:
Jun 16, 2014 at 12:00 amI read the book Coraline,(I bought the ebook) it was one of the best books i have ever read. Now i want to read the other works by Neil Gaiman including Fragile Things. But it is really difficult to find his books in local book shops. Does anyone know a good place to buy those books? Thanks in advance!