BiblioAddict

FRAGILE THINGS
by Neil Gaiman
Harper Perennial / Sept. 2006

I have never enjoyed reading a collection of short stories more than I have Neil Gaiman’s FRAGILE THINGS. There is something so immensely readable about this more-than-entertaining collection that, instead of the unwelcome vague sense of dread (usually of boredom) that I typically approach short story collections, I read each Gaiman story as a kind of hard-hitting amuse-bouche. Like that? I learned it from watching Top Chef.

Gaiman is one of those unclassifiable authors: he’s not really horror, not really sci-fi, not really mystery, but an alien entertaining combination of both. You never really know what you’re going to get when you start a new story – or, heck, turn the page for that matter. A story featuring two despicable characters buying what is purported to be the most beautiful boy in the world (“Keepsakes and Treasures”) is followed by the story of a musically-challenged boy who magically plays the bass like an expert one afternoon (“Good Boys Deserve Favors”), which is followed by a story on the incredibly bizarre events of a night at the circus (“The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch”). In the course of these three consecutive stories, Gaiman takes readers from the depraved to the magical to the mysteriously bizarre. It’s a microcosm of the effect of FRAGILE THINGS itself.

Of course, I loved some stories more than others. I really enjoyed “A Study in Emerald.”…but you already knew that. Other stand-out favorites were “Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Secret House of the Night of Dread Desire” (you didn’t choke on that, did you?), “Closing Time” (what really happened to those boys in the house, damn it?), “Feeders and Eaters” (only because the scene with the cat grossed me out as nothing has in a very long time. Cat-lovers, beware.), “How to Talk to Girls at Parties” (come now, we aren’t that different, are we?), and finally “The Monarch of the Glen: An American Gods Novella” (well I suppose I have to see the new Beowulf film now).

Notice, none of those favorites include any of the poems peppered throughout this collection of “short fictions and wonders.” That probably is less Gaiman’s fault, than it is mine with my incurable impatience with reading poetry, especially when I know a good story is waiting on the other side of it.

As for those stories I didn’t particularly care for – “Keepsakes and Treasures” (the sexual predator aspect really turned me off), “Bitter Grounds” (talk about depressing – and what happened to the dude on the side of the road?), “Diseasemaker’s Croup” (I got the gimmick here, but that didn’t make it any easier to read. Was I supposed to understand what I was reading?), and “The Problem of Susan” (I suppose I would have enjoyed this more – and understood more of what actually happened – if I’d read THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA) – well I can admit to finding even those entertaining on some level.

This is a weird, oddball collection, and if (and when) Michael Chabon and Stephen King begin waxing poetic again about how the short story is dying, someone should tell them to direct readers to Neil Gaiman. You may not understand what’s happening a lot of the time (see “Goliath” and think what if you’d never even heard of The Matrix), but you’ll have a good time being confused.

In the middle of “The Monarch of the Glen: An American Gods Novella”, a god says to Shadow in a dream, “If they think you’re a hero, they’re wrong. After you die, you don’t get to be Beowulf or Perseus or Rama any more. Whole different set of rules. Chess, not checkers. Go, not chess. You understand?”

Shadow’s reply: “Not even a little.”

Neither did I when it came to many of these poems and stories. But as is the case with the god’s cryptic words from above, it all makes sense in the end (see “A Study in Emerald”). Mostly. And that’s what makes FRAGILE THINGS so darn fun.

Because I couldn’t resist… the Beowulf trailer:

Gaiman co-wrote and executive produced this movie. Maybe I should ask him just what was wrong with them doing it in plain ole’ live action. Must all movies these days look like video games? Sigh. Ah, well. Maybe it’s me. I’ll stop my complaining, especially since I’ll end up seeing it anyway.

On a related-but-not-really topic, No Country for Old Men – in theaters this Friday. I don’t know about you, but I’m counting the hours.