SMOKE AND MIRRORS Review, or My Final Review For a While I'm a Neil Gaiman fanboy. I've loved all of his novels and a great deal of his short fiction, but this collection was marred with either lackluster outings or poems I couldn't enjoy because I personally don't understand what makes them poems. The latter is my own fault, and I do not hold it against the author. The former, on the other hand, is all Gaiman's fault. Many of these stories lack purpose, are nothing more than words compiled into sentences and paragraphs. I can dig tales that have no definitive ending, or open endings, as it were, but when a piece of fiction has no reason whatsoever I fail to understand how or why it made it to print. Gaiman goes into great detail about how each of the stories in this collection came to be, and I can't help but wonder if the editors who requested a number of these stories only paid for them because they'd asked Gaiman for something and he delivered. Then, said editors felt responsible, perhaps thinking, "Well, we did ask for... something, and he did deliver." The biggest culprit here being the first outing, "Chivalry", wherein nothing happens other than a knight decked out in full armor (in modern times, mind you) trying time and time again to procure the holy grail from a stubborn old woman. In the end, Good Knight Galaad gets his grail and the reader's left wondering exactly what the hell was the story's purpose? There's no conflict, no tension, no drama, no twist, and not even a hint of climax. "Chivalry" accomplished nothing aside from making me slam my forehead into my desk in an attempt to knock the banality of the tale from my conscious mind. I think that, had I read SMOKE AND MIRRORS instead of listening to the audio book, I would have disliked far more of these stories than I did. Gaiman brought a certain whimsical panache to lesser tales, making them a great deal more interesting (e.g. "Troll Bridge", "Shoggoth's Old Peculiar" and "We Can Get Them for You Wholesale"). I think this came from knowing how the author felt the dialogue and prose should be read in order to get the most from the verbiage. The stories that made me want to stick ice picks in my ears were: "Chivalry", "Don't Ask Jack", "The Daughter of Owls", and "One Life, Furnished in Early Moorcock". I didn't simply dislike these stories, I downright loathed them. Even Gaiman's narration seemed dull, as if he were apologizing for their existence by phoning in his performance. The tales that stood out are as follows: "The Price", "Troll Bridge", "The Goldfish Pool and Other Stories", "Changes", "Shoggoth's Old Peculiar" (which didn't have a purpose either, but was enjoyable nonetheless because of the odd characters), "Only the End of the World Again". "Bay Wolf", "We can Get Them for You Wholesale", and "Mouse". Basically, half the collection was worth my time. Everything else was either meaningless or downright boring. Still, not a single entry in SMOKE AND MIRRORS matched the brilliance of his novels. I was hoping for short stroies on par with CORALINE or THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE or AMERICAN GODS. Sadly, I was disappointed. All other stories not mentioned above were wholly unmentionable or entirely forgettable. Meaning, I couldn't even be bothered to complain about them. In summation: If you're looking for a collection packed with amazing short stories, you can do far better than this. SMOKE AND MIRRORS is not the worst short story collection I've read, but it comes close. When Gaiman is on, he's terrific and magical and wonderfully creative, but when he's bad, sweet baby Tom Cruise, he'll make you want to castrate him with a rusty battleaxe then boil the dismembered bits in a vat of acid. Still, this grouping of fiction is well written. Even the worst of these tales are readable, which cannot be said for every short story author. Instead of this, I recommend ANANSI BOYS, THE GRAVEYARD BOOK, AMERICAN GODS, CORALINE (and, no, it's not only a children's book), THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE, or any of Gaiman's other novels. I highly recommend his series of SANDMAN comics, if you can get your hands on them, that is. If you would like a better collection from a different author, try BOOKS OF BLOOD, by Clive Barker (in my opinion, Barker is much better at short fiction than he'll ever be as a novelist), SKELETON CREW, by Stephen King, and any collection by Ray Bradbury. 2.5 out of 5 severely disappointed stars. (If you're reading this on Goodreads, I've rounded up to three.)
3,75/5 Chi mi segue già da un po’ sa che uno dei mei autori preferiti è Neil Gaiman, quindi, quando l’anno scorso sono stata in vacanza in Irlanda e Londra, ho colto l’occasione per prendere qualche suo volume in lingua originale, tra cui questo, Smoke and Mirrors, che è poi una raccolta di racconti.Come un po’ tutte le raccolte di racconti, di qualsiasi autore, chiaramente ci sono dei racconti molto belli ed alcuni piuttosto insignificanti, o come in questo caso, abbastanza strampalati (cioè più strampalati di quello a cui Gaiman ci ha abituati) e piuttosto ostici da leggere.Una delle cose che apprezzo maggiormente di queste raccolte, come era successo in Cose fragili, è l’introduzione, in cui l’autore spiega come, quando e perché ha scritto tutti i racconti del libro. A volte è una sezione un po’ lunga, ma è comunque molto interessante.In questo caso, i racconti che mi sono piaciuti di più sono il primo “Chivalry”, poi “Troll Bridge”, “The goldfish pool and other stories” “How do you think it feels?” e gli ultimi due “Murder Mysteries” e “Snow, glass, apples”.Chivalry è stupendo, è davvero in pieno stile Gaiman: una signora anziana trova in un mercatino dell’usato il Santo Graal, e per pochi spiccioli se lo porta a casa.In seguito alla sua porta busserà qualcuno che desidera la coppa.Ben scritto, fuori dagli schemi e sorprendente, l’ho adorato.Troll bridge ricorda un po’ una favola dark irlandese, con un troll nascosto sotto un ponte che vuole mangiarsi le persone.The goldfish pool è ambientato a Los Angeles, dove va uno scrittore perché Hollywood vuole trarre un film dal suo libro. Mi è piaciuto perché racconta il dietro le quinte di questo giro di affari, e come mai forse molto spesso i film tratti dai libri ricordino molto poco l’originale. Credo che sia piuttosto autobiografico anche.How do you think it feels? Racconta dell’amore, tradito, corrisposto, clandestino, e di un uomo che soffre per amore e che desidera non provare più alcun sentimento nella sua vita.Murder Mysteries invece è ambientato nelle strade buie e malfamate di una metropoli, dove un barbone chiede una sigaretta ad un uomo e in cambio gli racconta una storia: di come lui fosse l’angelo della vendetta del Signore e abbia risolto il caso di un angelo morto in paradiso durante la creazione. Suggestivo e particolare, mi è piaciuto molto.Snow, glass, apples, come si evince dal titolo, è una sorta di retelling della fiaba di Biancaneve. Mi ha ricordato in una minima parte la storia di Regina di Once Upon a Time, ma questo retelling è molto più dark, più sanguinolento e drammatico. Ben fatto però, l’ho apprezzato.Come dicevo però, non tutti i racconti sono a questi livelli, e molti sono davvero piuttosto spinti e con dettagli osè, quindi non è una lettura per tutti, anche perché il livello di inglese non è tra i più facili. Alcuni racconti sono comparsi già in altre raccolte, ma comunque, se siete fan di Gaiman, vi suggerisco di leggerlo, perché ci si addentra in un labirinto di specchi che danno su mondi fantastici ma anche pericolosi.
What do You think about Smoke And Mirrors (2005)?
Having read M is for Magic and Fragile Things I have encountered some of the short stories that Mr. Gaiman has written. I found this collection to be one of the most eclectic. Happy stories, sad stories, chilling stories, and erotic stories, but as he introduces them - all a product of smoke and mirrors. We're not to believe any of this, as it is all just an illusion. So why do I walk away feeling like it was all a bit too real?I enjoyed the very experimental feel to this book. Some prose, some poetry. I found it a pleasure to read, and I appreciated the notes regarding each story and how it came to be. Flipping through the book now, it's hard to pick a favorite. I loved the charm of Chivalry. We Can Get Them For You Wholesale was a chilling thriller. I did not want Murder Mysteries to end. The White Road I long to hear recited over a campfire. Babycakes made me retch. Virus brought questions of the path that biotech is taking up. Snow, Glass, Apples... I dare say that I am unlikely to read the original with the same eyes again. It's a book worthy of many reads.
—Jennifer
A note: I expect more than I should from this author. I find him to be a brilliant idea man with little substance.-Suggested Reading Order:Murder MysteryTastingsSnow, Glass, Apples Only the End of the World AgainShoggoth’s Old Peculiar We Can Get Them for You WholesaleChivalryCold ColorsThe PriceChivalry- an old woman buys the Holy Grail. A full-armored knight comes to seek the Grail. Cute, long-run and dry. The most wonderful thing about this story is that it is quaint and written as gabbish; a runabout talkative form of day-to-day meandering, paying no heed to the extraordinary.Nicholas Was… - my favorite line "Once every year they forced him, sobbing and protesting, into Endless Night." This is a short short story. It seems, in this piece, there was more to be said but wasn’t.The Price- The beginning of this piece is bloody brilliant, reflecting harlequin mythos. The story sidesteps this flight of fancy to anecdote, betraying itself with its narrativeTroll Bridge- The strength is the child’s voice (which continues and becomes outlived). The narrative stretches into the mundane: a point and picture of nothingness, an ode to the anticlimactic where, at the end, the story snuffs itself out of hopelessness… like a suicidal cigarette. The White Road- These story-poems were glanced over with some volume of interest. The White Road- could’ve been the premise for the Corpse Bride, except that at the scene where the corpse bride was supposed to get killed, she does not and lives thereafter. Changes- A summary of a man and his time split from an invention- a (not the) cure for cancer, side effect- sex change, and what becomes of it as seen by him. The Daughters of Owls- Phun with mysspellinks. Shoggoth’s Old Peculiar- Gaiman pays homage to H.P. Lovecraft, typing his lines and taking his name. The descriptive presence shows Gaiman's strength as the main character muddles about a town conversing with two drunkards spouting Lovecraft at lengths with lists of that and this. Looking for the Girl- The main character buys a dirty magazine in his youth and immortalizes the girl spread between the pages. He devotes his life to finding her, becoming a photographer, selling off all of his worldly possessions, and buying all of the magazines (of which she appears at different intervals in his life- the same and in age, but with a different name). Only the End of the World Again- Read this substanceless story for its language (it has a Scooby-Doo-ish plot).Bay Wolf- Fighting something from the Deep! Narrated in pulp “and then I ripped his arm off” fashion. We Can Get Them For You Wholesale- Brilliant first 3 pages! A man searches through a phone book for an assassin to kill the man who’s cheating with his girlfriend. Cold Colors- Crazy cool Dealing with computers and computer lingo, software, hardware mixed between metaphors. My favorite part was pigeon selling- people would buy them and spread their blood around their computer.The Sweeper of Dreams- T’was a nice short; think the ending was a “I have to end this and… meh.”Vampire Sestina- A vampire poem. The word blood is used. Ironically, the word suck is not.Mouse- What’s happening takes place in one paragraph near the end of the story. Everything else is exposition to that idea.Tastings- It’s sexually explitious! An erotic tale with a twist into supernatural fiction. Very well written.Babycakes- A story about eating babies… (sweet)Murder Mysteries- I waded through 292 pages to read this story!Snow, Glass, Apples- …I like the idea of holding her heart on the wall above the bed. (The short stories not mentioned are partiularly: MEH!)
—J
A guilty pleasure, sure, but with Ray Bradbury's death, I'd suggest that Neil Gaiman is the best storyteller we have today.Consider the words of Harry Bailly (he of the Tabard Inn, not George's brother): "And which of yow that bereth hym best of alle / That is to seyn that telleth in this caas / Tales of best sentence and moost solaas / Shal have a soper at oure aller cost." And I'd buy Gaiman a meal or three for this sundry collection of tales pulled together from over the years and published in Smoke and Mirrors.You might think I'm just showing off with the Middle English, but I don't think it's too much of a stretch to draw parallels between Gaiman and Chaucer. Chaucer's Tales cover a wide range of genres, from the romance to the fabliau to the beast fable to the exemplum and everything in between, and Gaiman uses just as wide a contemporary pallet as Chaucer employed from the Middle Ages. Gaiman moves from the hard-boiled to the horror story; he blends prose and poetry with sci-fi, the sacred and the secular; he has an erotic (?) offering here that transcends mommy porn; heck, he even writes a sestina with vampires in it that works...and that alone has to testify to the genius of the man. Elsewhere Gaiman does everything from the full-blown novel to YA to children's lit; he's written screenplays and comic books, and just about everything he does is golden. Sure he's had some missteps, and not everything in Smoke and Mirrors succeeds at the same level, but hey, the Friar's Tale is a bit dull and the Priest's lengthy sermon is practically unreadable.And like Chaucer (working from Bocaccio and Petrarch and the Thousand and One Nights among other sources), Gaiman is often at his best when he is reworking earlier stories and authors, especially fairy tales and folk tales. His version of Snow White here is a fascinating retelling that's going to stick with me for a long time, and one of my favorites in the book ("Shoggoth's Old Peculiar") grows out of Lovecraft. And even though it's goofy as hell, I even like his pastiche of Beowulf and Baywatch with Larry Talbot thrown in as an added plus.Finally, and thanks for sticking with me this long, Gaiman addresses many of the same concerns Chaucer had: greed and hypocrisy, dreams and where they come from, what makes a good marriage, the role of women in a male-dominated society, and on and on (the intertwining roles of magic and technology in "Cold Colors"? try the Franklin's Tale), but through them all, both authors are really interested in the whole idea of stories and story telling and what makes a good story. And what that is, if you go back to Harry Bailly, is that right blend of "best sentence and moost solaas," and Neil Gaiman just about always gets it right.
—Petergiaquinta
