Fragile Things is a collection of short stories by Neil Gaiman. I had never read anything by him before and was always curious. I watched Mirrormask about a year ago and knew that Gaiman has a very vivid imagination and is not afraid to explore new territory in his writing. This book starts with a Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Emerald, and when I started it, I wasn't overly impressed until I hit the end of the story and shouted (in my head) "Brilliant!" He had my attention.There are stories about children and depraved adults, the living and the dead, the fictional and the surreal. Some of the stories made me uncomfortable, some perplexed me and some amused me. These are definitely stories for adults with adult topics which was a change from a lot that I've been reading lately. Another of the stories that I really enjoyed was Closing Time - a very good ghost story.
There are also poems including one which is the best I've read in a long, long time -- The Day the Saucers Came. It's funny and preposterous and heart-rending all at once. I didn't finish every story in this book but that's the freedom you have with a book of short stories. This was a good read and a good introduction to Neil Gaiman. I'm definitely interested in his new book, The Graveyard Book, a book about a boy raised in a graveyard by the undead.
Exploring new writers,
K
Buy Fragile Things
and The Graveyard Book on Amazon or find them at your local library.
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