Thursday - March 02, 2006
Smoke and Mirrors
Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman, 1998 -
"Short Fictions and Illusions"
Reading Smoke and MIrrors was like rifling
through Gaiman's dresser drawers or something. I felt like a lot of these
stories were never meant to be seen, and that a lot of the first person voices
seemed to be somewhat confessional. There was a lot of weirdness, which is not
unusual for Gaiman, but without any direction or plot to reign him in, these
bits are flung farther and into darker
places.
And yet, the genius remains - undeniably by the fact that a few of the stories lodged in my brain, and many more produce a gaggle of imagery with just a tiny peek at a page as I flip through the book now, three days after finishing it. Like all Gaiman books, it's a great bedtime book - guaranteed to spice up your dreamland journeys. All the more so since it is short stories, so the fodder changes drastically every other day or so.
I will resist the urge to point out my favorite (or least favorite!) stories. Gaiman himself revealed that many people have done this, and each seems to come up with a completely different list of keepers and losers. I imagine if I read the book at a different point in my own life, my own opinions would change considerably.
So let's just say this book is a mine full of Gaiman's brilliance and illusions, and which is which (?!) you'll have to decide for yourself.
And yet, the genius remains - undeniably by the fact that a few of the stories lodged in my brain, and many more produce a gaggle of imagery with just a tiny peek at a page as I flip through the book now, three days after finishing it. Like all Gaiman books, it's a great bedtime book - guaranteed to spice up your dreamland journeys. All the more so since it is short stories, so the fodder changes drastically every other day or so.
I will resist the urge to point out my favorite (or least favorite!) stories. Gaiman himself revealed that many people have done this, and each seems to come up with a completely different list of keepers and losers. I imagine if I read the book at a different point in my own life, my own opinions would change considerably.
So let's just say this book is a mine full of Gaiman's brilliance and illusions, and which is which (?!) you'll have to decide for yourself.
