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The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction

di Neil Gaiman

Altri autori: Marlon James (Prefazione)

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389864,829 (4.47)6
"Spanning Gaiman's career to date, The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction is a ... collection from one of the world's most beloved writers, chosen by those who know his work best: his devoted readers. A ... representation of Gaiman's ... imaginative fiction, this ... volume includes excerpts from each of his five novels for adults--Neverwhere, Stardust, American Gods, Anansi Boys, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane--and nearly fifty of his short stories"--Publisher marketing.… (altro)
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I am only rating the stories I have not read before.

We Can Get Them For You Wholesale -3/5
I, Cthulhu - 2/5
Changes - 2/5
Mythical Creatures - 5/5
Monkey and the Lady - 3/5 ( )
  Fortunesdearest | Feb 2, 2024 |
This collection of short stories and excerpts from some larger works of fiction was just as wonderful as I knew it would be. If there is any such thing as real magic in the world, Gaiman knows it and deals in it deftly. I mean, is it really possible for someone to write like he does without the use, at some point in his life, of pixie dust, or a talisman he found in a steamer chest in his grandfather’s attic, or a wish given by a djinn and wisely used? Honestly. At the very least, reading his stories always gets me as close to the magic of other possible worlds as I’ll likely ever get, and for that I’m grateful. ( )
  scaifea | Sep 11, 2023 |
Since I discovered Borges and began reading more fiction about ten-fifteen yeas ago (including a couple of Lovecraft stories, meh), I have seen mentions of Neil Gaiman. If I cared more about television, comic books (euphemism treadmill → graphic novels), fiction, particularly "fantasy," I would have already known more about him. But, a few more mentions of Gaiman on the "problem of Susan" in the C. S. Lewis's Narnia oeuvre, Sherlock Holmes pastichery, and a self-deprecatory appearance on The Big Bang Theory made me bite the bullet and buy this reader of selected works. I thought it a decent way to introduce myself to the author and not be locked in to the time and expense of his larger works, like, say American Gods.

So, I plowed through and offer this story-by-story account of my readings. And, remember my biggest caveat. I have no liking for the fantasy genre, especially in its "high" form. I care nothing for elves, knights, dragons, questy tales, etc. I have still not read anything from Narnia or Lord of the Rings (and, I don't like watching such films when my wife made me) and I think the concept of Game of Thrones is offputting and boring. I find horror tales too, like Lovecraft, hit-or-miss, but mostly miss. But, I did like Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and Kostova's The Historian. So?

We Can Get Them for You Wholesale - Interesting, though a tad absurd of a protagonist. The last paragraph is pure Lovecraft.

"I, Cthulhu" - Nice pastiche/parody of Lovecraft. If you know the mythos, and the fandom, it will give you some chuckles.

Nicholas Was - A nice spin on Ol’ Saint Nick I. But, only a few lines. A micro-story? A prose poem?

Babycakes - I get it. But I don’t get it. Are we meant to be vegetarians because of it? I’m sure Gaiman is a leftist—I'm sure he'slike "Hooray Labour! Hooray the Democrats!"—but, does he not get that he’s making an anti-abortion argument at the same time? I’m sure he’d disagree.

Chivalry - Nice piece of absurd magical realism.

Murder Mysteries - A longer story, with several murders and hinted murders. Many things left untold, so you think about it later. A spin on Christian angelology and makes you wonder on several cool levels.

Troll Bridge - A dark tale of a life poorly spent and modern day trolls. I did not find it appealing. A protagonist I care nothing for.

Snow, Glass, Apples - Okay, I see what Gaiman is doing: telling old fairy tales and myths from different points of view. This is Snow White from another point of view. Dark and fantastical. Okay as far as the "twist" goes, but I am not a fan of fantasy.

Only the End of the World Again - Another Lovecraft pastiche mixed with a werewolf story. Appeals to people who like Lovecraft and werewolf stories. I’m ambivalent on the former and find the latter wholly unappealing. We’ll-written again. But excessive in spots.

Don't Ask Jack - Short horror on a jack-in-the-box that ends abruptly.

Excerpt from Neverwhere - Well told, but ripped from a larger book. And I don’t get it or its appeal.

The Daughter of Owls - A nifty piece of “found literature” and a myth created (?) by Gaiman. Short and unimportant, but interesting and enjoyable.

The Goldfish Pool and Other Stories - A very good, longish story. A Gaiman doppelganger à la Borges is the protagonist. Nice multiple stories going on at the same time and a poignant death. One of the better stories that I thought about afterwards.

The Price - A good little horror story that presents the Devil as real and undid by a cat.

Shoggoth's Old Peculiar - Better pastiche of Lovecraft than “I, Cthulhu,” as it is presented more realistically and less tongue-in-cheek. With a bit of humor and in-universe references. A decent story.

The Wedding Present - A bit of creepiness, but good people living a good life, with sadness coming in at the end. I don’t like the ending, because it appears the female protagonist would rather not have a son and a crappy marriage with her alter-ego’s husband who is a crapfest than her good life and good memories of a good man. I hope I didn't give too much away.

When We Went to See the End of the World by Dawnie Morningside, Age 11 ¼ - Sad as hell, and filled with the fantastical. Where the hell were they? I didn't like it, but, again, well-told.

The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch - A interesting bit of “what happened” mystery, with a lot of setup and a bit of mystery at the end. Well-drawn characters.

Changes - No likey at all. And, I don't get it.

Excerpt from Stardust - I know why I don’t like fantasy literature: I don’t like fantasy literature. Nothing in this excerpt spoke to me.

Harlequin Valentine - A weird bit of grotesque fantasy, but interesting nevertheless.

Excerpt from American Gods - I guess I don’t get it without reading it all. Two disconnected bits. Well-told and well-written, good characterization, I reckon. But, cast adrift.

Other People - A nifty bit of exposition on the horrors of hell. Now you get the title. But, would this actually be purgatory he is describing? (If you are Catholic.) Because it appears there is a way out. I liked it.

Strange Little Girls - I don’t get it, hated it, and glad it was over.

October in the Chair - An incomplete story, a sad one, with no good message, with a bit of framing that is, just, "what the hell was that". An incomplete story wrapped into an incomplete story, like Gaiman had two unfinished stories and smushed them together. And this won't be the first one. Perhaps Gaiman has reached the time in his career where he can smush two incomplete stories together and somebody is willing to publish it and people are willing to say that they liked it. I didn't.

Closing Time - Another kind of incomplete tale of horror and spookiness. Also a nod to the old "pub tale" genre. But, take-or-leave it.

A Study in Emerald - It is a fine a Holmes story without Holmes but with Holmes but not Holmes because it’s a Lovecraft story. Lots of Holmes references, if you can get them. (As a Sherlockian, I do.) Gaiman obviously is a Sherlockian. John or James, Vernet, Sigerson, Sherrinford even. I knew it was a Holmes story, but then knew it wasn’t. Sharpshooter not doctor. No smoking of tobacco. Etc. it was confirmed when he talked to a Vernet. Then the twist, if you don’t consider Queen Victoria as a Cthulhu monster to be the twist. I won't describe it further. But, a good melding of the Holmes pastiche and a Lovecraft pastiche.

Bitter Grounds - Gaiman's intriguing ability to write good characterization. You wonder about and side with his characters, even though this one is not a good person. The story is intriguing enough, but fantastical and odd, more Koontz than Borges.

The Problem of Susan - This one more Borges than Koontz, with a quite interesting story of you know what’s going on, but with an unfortunate bit of over the top gore and bestaility thrown in. Gaiman, Rowling, and other liberals, don't understand C. S. Lewis's point on Susan.

Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Secret House of the Night of Dread desire - Once you realize what is going on it is pretty funny. What if the dread stories of Poe and Brontë and the like were real life, and OUR normal life is fantasy. Funny.

The Monarch of the Glen - A Shadow story, which may mean more if I had already read American Gods. But, since I know enough, this is a standalone story, and I know some other things, it made sense and was an interesting short story.

The Return of the Thin White Duke - I don’t get it. Is it a Kabbalah "shaggy god story"? (Kether and Malkhut make an appearance.) Or is it a fantasy space opera? Or is it the drug dream of a hippie guitar picker? Too fantasy for me.

Excerpt from Anansi Boys - A short little folklore/myth excerpt from a larger book. Two nice little bits. But, I feel no need to buy the longer book.

Sunbird - Another absurdist tale, of people that can’t really exist, dealing with a myth-in-the-modern world. Okay, but you have to suspend a lot of disbelief.

How to Talk to Girls at Parties - Teens going to a party of girls… who are alien tourists… but their libido doesn’t notice, until they notice… but, incomplete.

Feminine Endings - A creepy stalker letter between statues. That grates on me and I dislike.

Orange - Interesting story told through the one-sided answers to a questionnaire/interrogation. Bizarre occurrences, told well enough.

Mythical Creatures - An homage to Borges again. But modern and weird. And, to me, off-putting.

The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains - Again, I don’t like fantasy and don’t like this revenge drama set in a vaguely Tolkein-esque time, etc.

The Thing About Cassandra - Imaginary friend is the imaginary friend or is the imaginary friend? Sucks you in on one side, then spits you out very quickly on the other side.

The Case of Death and Honey - A nice Sherlock Holmes story in the genre of what did Holmes do after his retirement, a growing area of good writing. Like Chabon’s The Final Solution or Cullin's A Slight Trick of the Mind (the latter of which was made into the film Mr. Holmes with a bunch of changes). Like the latter book, this is centered on bees and honey and death. Gaiman, again, knows his Holmes, as he works in a whole bunch of stuff, like explaining away the inanity of "The Creeping Man." A good story that I liked. But, I like Holmes, so.

The Man who Forgot Ray Bradbury - Decent enough worry about forgetting. (Reminded me a tad of Eco's Mysterious Flame....

Excerpt from The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Creepy and odd, well-written, but, of course, divorced from the rest of the book.

Click-Clack the Rattlebag - A little roman à clef maybe? But, insubstantial.

The Sleeper and the Spindle - A retelling of Sleeping Beauty and Snow White perhaps. I still dislike fantasy, despite how many times I read it.

A Calendar of Tales - Gaiman is, it seems, expert at taking incomplete micro-stories and shunting them together. Maybe he can only get away with it because he is Neil Gaiman. Probably some rando submitting this to a reputable publisher would get a rejection letter, post haste.

Nothing O'clock - A Doctor Who tale. I’ve never watched Doctor Who and have no inclination to. But, this was an interesting story and well-told. It probably means more to a Whovian. (Are they called Whovians?)

A Lunar Labyrinth - Weird and I didn’t like it. Or get it. Was it meant to be a Borges homage?

Down to a Sunless Sea - An old fashioned story of the woman telling a story of loss and the sea, but with the twist of some marine cannibalism.

How the Marquis Got His Coat Back - Another story from characters in Gaiman’s extended universe of tales. It is interesting enough and well told.

Black Dog - Another story from characters in Gaiman’s extended universe of tales. Shadow again, a likable chap after reading three things about him in this book. It is a neat tale, an old ghost tale, told in a modern way.

Monkey and the Lady - A fable, but with a twist I didn’t see coming.

Now, what did I like? I liked Holmes and Lovecraft pastiches, original bits of horror or myth, and Borges type magical realism. What did I not like? Fantasy, gore, unnecessary horror, sex, and/or and violence, and characters with no redeeming qualities. The stories I liked the most, in no order of rank, just the way they come in the text (which is chronological, by the way): "We Can Get them for You Wholesale"; "'I, Cthulhu'"; "Murder Mysteries"; "The Goldfish Pool and Other Stories"; "The Price"; "Shoggoth's Old Peculiar"; "The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch"; "Harlequin Valentine"; "Other People"; "A Study in Emerald"; "Bitter Grounds"; "Orange"; "The Case of Death and Honey"; "Nothing O'Clock"; "Black Dog."

I was glad I read this. But, I won't seek out anymore of Gaiman's fiction. (Though, I did buy Leslie Klinger's annotated edition of American Gods because it is annotated, hardcover, and only $10. Will I read it? Maybe one day. But, my grandfather-in-law liked it and I have Klinger's other annotated titles on Doyle, Lovecraft, and Shelly.) I might look into his collected non-fiction essays. ( )
  tuckerresearch | Apr 4, 2023 |
Great collection of fantasy and other stories, most of which I had not read before. Black Dog is a tingly ghost story. Some remind me of Ray Bradbury. Even has a good Dr Who story. Read it! ( )
  kslade | Dec 8, 2022 |
When I finished binge watching the new Netflix Sandman, what do you think I immediately picked up to read? The one Neil Gaiman that was still sitting on my TBR shelf, begging to be read! It’s always a good time going back and re-reading an old favourite, and delving back into a massive collection of Gaiman’s short stories was expectedly glorious. Some of these stories I hadn’t read in years, since I’m way less likely to pick up a collection of shorts to re-read than a novel, so it was pretty nostalgic reading some of them. What I really appreciated, more than even the gregarious volume of the collection’s contents, was that the stories and novel excerpts were presented chronologically. This may be a weird fixation, but the Archivist in me loves a good chronology and from a literary perspective certain moods wax and wane throughout the progression in a way that reveals surprising undertones and symbolism. I don’t think I quite realised before how many of Gaiman’s stories touched on the Elder Gods mythos, a dark (very British) coastal seas vibe, and an alt-Victorian sensibility. Even if I didn’t like every story (even the great Neil can’t please me 100% of the time), there are strong themes, stronger imagery, and even stronger characters throughout – which makes any collection of stories worth reading. My only complaint (which was a surprise even to me) is that I didn’t enjoy the excerpts from his novels. Some of his books started off as short stories (looking at you, The Graveyard Book), but out of context, a lot of these segments came off as disjointed and frustratingly incomplete. Obviously I am fully obsessed with Gaiman’s novels (admittedly far more so than with his short stories), so maybe these passages were more palatable to readers who just needed a taste, which would inspire them to read more, while as I was left wondering why they chose these specific passages and being annoyed at having left the pre- and post-amble adrift. But, we do end on a high-note, with a story not (yet) published in one of his own collections of short fiction, so for the collector in all of us who is impatiently awaiting another full set of new Gaiman tales, this collection is worth it! ( )
1 vota JaimieRiella | Sep 2, 2022 |
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Please distinguish the anthology The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction (2020) by Gaiman himself from the essay collection The Neil Gaiman Reader (2006), edited by Darrell Schweitzer.  They are not the same work.
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"Spanning Gaiman's career to date, The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction is a ... collection from one of the world's most beloved writers, chosen by those who know his work best: his devoted readers. A ... representation of Gaiman's ... imaginative fiction, this ... volume includes excerpts from each of his five novels for adults--Neverwhere, Stardust, American Gods, Anansi Boys, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane--and nearly fifty of his short stories"--Publisher marketing.

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