Review: Fragile Things

Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Neil Gaiman weaves tales of fantasy and creates worlds entirely believable, to the point that you are terrified at the prospect some of these alternate realities might exist. He excels at creating both places of beauty and places of mystical horror - which turn out sometimes to be the same place. A good man to read to escape to another world and identify with the complex characters, but then be very glad to be back safe and sound in your own home after the tale ends.

This book is a recent collection of short stories and verse by a man who has quickly become one of my favorite authors. Like all short story collections the tone of each story/poem is very different; in one tale you might be reading a cute poem about retelling the story of Goldilocks, and in the next story one of the plot points involves a pedophile running an orphanage. But unlike other short story collections I have read, there isn't a tale in the collection that I didn't enjoy at all - of course I have favorites, but each contained a gem somewhere in it for me.

And, if you decide to read this book, make sure to check out the introduction, which is a work of art all to itself, going over the story behind the story, and making up stories inside of it all. Just read it...you'll understand what I'm talking about.





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Review: Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind the Rhyme

Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind the Rhyme by Chris Roberts

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Not quite what I was expecting, but I still enjoyed it. I was expecting a straight forward walk through the people and places behind these age old rhymes. What I got was a mad romp through English history as Eddie Izzard might present it. The author might start off with an explanation of the rhyme, but eventually he will end up in a rant about European historical characters that are only marginally related to the rhyme. His humor is so off-the-beaten-path that the American publishers decided to add a glossary for British slang and pop references.

I enjoyed the book, however, and I was exposed to much European history that I probably never would have heard otherwise. I would recommend the book to any history lover, along with anyone who wants to learn a thing or two about the seamy lives of British aristocracy -- and anyone who also has a healthy amount of ADD.



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Review: Fantastic Tales

Fantastic Tales by Jack London

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



A collection of fantasy/horror stories by Jack London? This was my first thought after discovering this on the shelves of the library. As I found out later, much of London's writing is in this genre. I am a classic ghost story fan, and having enjoyed [b:The Call of the Wild/White Fang|37677|The Call of the Wild/White Fang|Jack London|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1168977937s/37677.jpg|6180419] as a child I thought I'd really like these. While it turns out the book is nothing like I thought, it was still enjoyable - albeit more for historical reasons than for entertainment value.

As it turns out only the first story in the book is anything resembling a ghost story. Most of the tales are classic science fiction, reminiscent of [a:H.G. Wells|880695|H.G. Wells|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1201281795p2/880695.jpg], or horror reminiscent of [a:H.P. Lovecraft|9494|H.P. Lovecraft|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1299165714p2/9494.jpg]. (What is it with initials?) While the short stories in this collection present some amusing or terrifying situations that are good ideas for fiction, the tales tend to bore me before they are over from lack of character development. However, that's a personal preference that wouldn't bother some others. I'm sure London's science fiction inspired many writers, as the forward in this version claims.

Other stories are just completely socialist propaganda, although I have to agree with the criticism that London, despite joining the party, never really understood the real structure that makes up the idealism of socialism. The socialistic worlds he creates in his stories function like the government of Stalin; not something that would convince too many people I don't think, but still interesting to the student of history or human nature.

There are a few stories that stand out in my mind as marvelous. One of these is the last story in this collection, "The Red One". This tale alone makes the entire book worth whatever boredom you might suffer in the dryer stories. I might go so far as to add "The Red One" to a list of must-reads for any reader of English.



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