| Title | : | Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fiction and Illusions |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0380789027 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780380789023 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Mass Market Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 365 |
| Publication | : | First published November 1, 1998 |
Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fiction and Illusions Reviews
-
Gaiman is literary bacon - short stories, young adult, fantasy, adult fiction - he’s good in anything! “Smoke and Mirrors” is a collection of 30 or so short stories. They run the gamut from sci-fi to very short parables to fantasy to magical realism. It’s not his best work, but as a collection it’s imaginative and provocative. I enjoyed a majority of these stories and Gaiman continues to be one of my favorite authors. Some of my preferences were “Chivalry”, “Changes”, “We Can Get Them for You Wholesale," and “Snow, Glass, Apples."
One of my favored aspects of Gaiman is his ability to slip seamlessly between realism and fantasy. One moment the story feels like an honest recollection of his past, and the next we're interacting with angels, trolls, and werewolves. He's so deft with his word choice that these transitions happen with ease. A good example of this is “The Price”, where Gaiman story about stray cats turns from reality to supernatural in an instant. This ability also really stood out to me in a different book - “The Ocean at the End of the Lane." I can’t help but admire his mind. It’s the little things like referring to crabs and fish as “ . . . filled with things with too many legs and other things with no legs at all.”
In this collection, Gaiman is daring, taking on explicit sex, politics, pornography, and even sex change. Of course, this book was originally published in 1998, when navigating these waters were a little less turbulent than today. The book includes an Introduction which gives a short description of the inspiration or background of each story. I found myself flipping back and forth to this section after each story. For example, in the particularly sexually graphic story “Tastings," Gaiman admits that the story took him four years to write, largely because he was embarrassed by it. I always appreciate short story collections where the author reveals a bit of their motivation, inspiration, or background of the stories.
One note on 'Changes', it's a creative story idea about the cure for cancer having the side effect of gender change which society turns into recreational use. It's laid out almost as author notes for a novel. And it could be a fascinating, controversial, and complex novel. But why include it in this form? Why not write it? Weird, and I found it wasteful and disappointing.
An aptly titled collection of stories, where Gaiman does indeed use sleight of word and a bit of magic to make the unbelievable feel just about real. -
Neil Gaiman never disappoints!
That's what this book is - smokes and mirrors - an interesting collection of short stories and poems.
A diverse mix of crazy, dark, engaging, weird and hilarious!
from the blurb:
An elderly widow finds the Holy Grail beneath an old fur coat in a second-hand store . . .
A stray cat fights and refights a nightly battle to protect his adoptive family from an unimagiable evil . . .
A young couple receives a wedding gift that will reveal a chilling alternate history of their marriage . . .
Beneath a bridge by the railroad tracks, a frightened little boy bargains for his life with a most persistent troll . . . -
There comes a time when I just have to accept that despite a writer being widely loved and appreciated, they're just not my cup of tea. First published in 1999 this loosely connected (smoke, mirrors and magic) collection of short stories and verse(!) simply passed me by, and I only continued reading it because it was Neil Gaiman, and they were short stories. Out of the 35 shorts in this book only 7 of them managed to get 3 stars or more from me. No doubt those (many of you) that like Gaiman's work will enjoy this, although I should also add that there's a fair amount of explicit sex in several of these shorts, which is not something one usually gets from Gaiman. This will probably be my last ever Gaiman read - he's just not for me! 3 out of 12
2022 read -
I keep saying, "one more Neil Gaiman book and I'll figure out what the big deal is..." Spoiler, I haven't yet. Though, I did enjoy some of these stories (indicated by a *). There's far more that weren't enjoyable.
Introduction - PLEASE skip - this is so, so long. It's a short story in and of itself. Though, technically he hid another short story within that: The Wedding Present - Originally written as a wedding present, this marriage slowly but surely sinks to the pits of despair.
Chivalry - A cute story about an elderly lady snapping up the Holy Grail at a bargain at the thrift shop. Later republished in
M is for Magic.
Nicholas Was... - A 100-word story centered on St Nicholas for one of Gaiman's Christmas cards.
The Price* - this cat deserves a medal, a ball of yarn and a tuna fillet for defending this family against the devil. Republished in
M Is for Magic.
Troll Bridge - Retelling of the three Billy Goats Gruff. While this started on a high note -
undue time is used to describe the troll's flaccid genitalia. Un-ironically, troll acts like a dick. Republished in
M Is for Magic.
Don't Ask Jack - Menacing Jack-in-the-Box. (As if I needed another reason to never buy one) Republished in
M Is for Magic.
The Goldfish Pool and Other Stories - Almost written as a reflection for Neil Gaiman on hollywood. I was not a fan of his comments.
Eaten (Scenes from a Moving picture) - please, Gaiman, why does everything need to be so sex-explicit?? Excuse me as I scrub my eyes.
The White Road* - This wasn't memorable
Queen of Knives - well-written by not memorable.
The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch - The underground circus leads to the disappearing of one Mrs. Finch. I wasn't a fan of the book and wasn't a fan of the short story. It made too many leaps.
Changes - Once again, a Gaiman story became weirdly sexual. (I really should start expecting this). A man discovers the cure for cancer (which has the side effect of changing a person's gender). Now the world is populated by nearly immortal pill-popping gender switchers (I hesitate to call everyone trans since this is done so reversibly and recreationaly)
The Daughter of Owls - A girl was found with some owls. The locals hate her.
Shoggoth's Old Peculiar - H. P. Lovecraft inspired cult-y New England tale. Did like how he portrayed the pub though.
Virus - Honestly wasn't that memorable.
Looking for the Girl - A kid looking at a dirty mag spots the most beautiful girl. As an adult, he finds her again in the mag - but she looks exactly the same. Logically, he devotes his life to becoming the best dirty-mag photographer in hopes of meeting this chick in person. My interpretation: A vampire wanted a free photo-shoot every few years and went to a magazine to do it.
Only the End of the World Again - Richly worded, not an interesting plot.
Bay Wolf - Baywatch + Beowulf. Surprisingly quirky and fun
Fifteen Painted Cards from a Vampire Tarot - Each of the Major Arcana (first 22 of the 78 tarot cards in a deck) is interpreted through a short story.
We Can Get Them For You Wholesale* - How good would the bargain need to be to end the world? Despite the dark implications - this was a fun read!!
One Life, Furnished in Early Moorcock - High school kid who wanted to write and is a huge fan of a series. He mail-orders a book and never pays for it.
Cold Colors - Short poem involving magic and computers
The Sweeper of Dreams - prose piece...waxes poetic about dreams and their implications
Foreign Parts Sudden sexuality again. A man is slowly taken over by a cognizant venereal disease. Copious mentions of STDs and masturbation.
Vampire Sestina - A vampire poem
Mouse - The married couple's house is infested. The man buys a humane mousetrap while his wife seems to get an abortion. The man seems to have no reaction to the abortion. Upon finding a mouse trapped, he sets the mouse free outside.
The Sea Change* Lyrical poem about mermaids and the ocean.
How Do You Think It Feels? - Man goes to conference. Man meets hot girl. Man cheats on wife, despite having a couple of kids. He justifies it (kids are stupid, wife is lame).
When We Went to See the End of the World by Dawnie Morningside, age 11¼ - Written from the perspective of a child as the end of the world occurs. Unexpectedly chilling.
Desert Wind - Man gets lost in the desert and is found.
Tastings - Male Prostitute + Female Celebrity. Prostitute has "powers" which lead him to be amazing in bed - essentially he reads the minds of his clients without realizing it - and he can't read Celebrity's and thus is sucking (not literally...well, maybe a bit) in bed. The mundane conversation as they try out positions made this one marginally tolerable. Mostly, I was cringing away from the pages.
In the End - Genesis creation in reverse. Not particularly memorable.
Babycakes - Just take that title literally.
Murder Mysteries - The first murder in heaven as it's investigated by the angel Raguel.
Snow, Glass, Apples - Finally! FINALLY I thought as I got to this one. It's a retelling of Snow White with a huge reversal. Snow is evil and the stepmother is attempting to hold together the kingdom from the terror of one, very cruel Snow. What ruined it: The weird sex bits. I would've loved this story if A) Young Snow (as in not over 18, more like 12 or younger hadn't blown a traveling monk before killing him AND B) if the prince wasn't into necrophilia when he screwed first the stepmother and then her daughter. It just completely threw the whole story off. Without it, I would've really enjoyed this creepy retelling.
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'Smoke and Mirrors' is the first of two short story collections written by Neil Gaiman. This title was first published in 1998, while 'Fragile Things' came out in 2006. Having read 'Fragile Things' mere months ago I was doing quite a bit of comparison between the two as I worked my way through 'Smoke and Mirrors'. While there are a lot of similarities between the two, there are also many differences.
Both collections involve Gaiman doing what he does best, that is taking our own myths, fables, and folklore, tweaking them to better resonate with our modern culture, and handing them back to us complete with the grit and gristle that were absent from the versions that we received as children. While this seems to be an over-arching theme to most of the stories in 'Fragile Things', it still shows up occasionally in 'Smoke and Mirrors' along with so much else.
Gaiman takes the reader to so many places throughout these stories. These include a couple of nods to writers that surely influenced him along the way (Lovecraft and Moorcock, specifically), a writer struggling through a screenplay that has been watered down by the movie studio discovering the legendary Hollywood of old, and political intrigue amongst the angels in heaven. Lawrence Talbot also makes an appearance in a tale involving the Wolf Man. Gaiman's books are usually shelved in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy section at the average bookstore, which I think is a bit of a disservice as these stories are so much more diverse than the typical view of the Fantasy genre that involves touchy-feely knights riding around on horses and tends to prejudice the typical reader to that genre negatively.
A tip to any readers who are in the habit of skipping book introductions: Gaiman actually hides a story within the introduction of this book as a payoff to those who religiously read the introduction. That sort of cleverness suckers me in every time.
It may be unwise to compare the stories in 'Smoke and Mirrors' to each other and to 'Fragile Things' as both books represent more of a compilation of Gaiman stories that appeared in other publications over a particular period of his writing career versus something that was put together as an intentional, unified collection. However, as it is great fun to wildly speculate, I believe that the stories in 'Smoke and Mirrors' are bolder than the ones in the later collection. As most of these stories were written around the time that 'Sandman' was finishing its run, I'm wondering if the reason for this was to prove to any naysayers that Gaiman was a serious writer and not just "that comic book guy."
These stories may not be something that would be discussed in a college level literature class with the austere professor that lives and dies by the canon, but I don't think that is Gaiman's intention as a writer. He comes from the storyteller tradition, and I feel that such a thing is just as important in feeding one's imagination and intellect as the heavy literature now and again. -
Interesante recopilación que mezcla relatos de formato tradicional con piezas de prosa poética. En todos ellos, Gaiman busca la originalidad y la fantasía, como un mago. En muchos casos utiliza cuentos, leyendas, tradiciones e incluso universos literarios como el de Lovecraft o el imaginario de Hollywood, para darles un nuevo giro y una visión peculiar. Esto le da una gran variedad, que creo que es el punto fuerte de esta antología.
La filosofía del autor y su manera de hacer quedan claras en boca de uno de sus personajes:
La pregunta irritante que siempre nos hacen (y al decir nos me refiero a los escritores) es: "¿De dónde saca las ideas?".
Y la respuesta es: confluencia. Cuajan cosas. Los ingredientes correctos y de repente ¡Abracadabra!
Algunos cuentos tienen un entorno cotidiano y otros entran más en el fantástico pero todos tienen su atractivo. Como en cualquier antología, los hay mejores y peores; estos son los que me han gustado más:
- El regalo de bodas: es una especie de revisión de El retrato de Dorian Grey pero que aquí cuenta la historia de un matrimonio
- Caballeros: una anciana encuentra el Santo Grial en una tienda de Oxfam y Sir Galaad se cuela en su vida
- La vieja peculiar de Shoggoth Un estudiante de Texas recorre la costa inglesa siguiendo una peculiar guía de viajes y llega al pequeño pueblo de Innsmouth. Me encanta!!
- El estanque de los peces de colores: me conquistó desde el primer párrafo: Estaba lloviendo cuando llegué a Los Angeles y me sentí rodeado de cientos de películas antiguas. Las leyendas y fantasmas que alberga cada rincón de la ciudad se ponen de manifiesto para un escritor inglés que busca un contrato para adaptar al cine su libro sobre Charles Manson.
- Nieve, cristal, manzanas una revisitación muy lograda del cuento de Blancanieves, muy bien escrita y llena de elementos míticos. Y un toque vampírico. Placer lector.
Lo que menos me ha gustado han sido los relatos en prosa poética, de un tono surrealista y sugerente pero que seguramente tienen más interés en versión original. -
This collection of short works, some not quite complete, is maybe a must read for real Gaiman fans who read everything he does (4 stars for them), but not really for anyone else (only 1 star for the general audience). And I say that as one of those fans. I really like what Gaiman does, both in traditional and graphic novel form, but Smoke and Mirrors is not representative of his best work. Basically, it is a collection of things he never bothered to give a final polish to. Much of S&M is things that were just workbook exercises, not intended for publication. Some fun ideas, and entertaining for the fan (or for those who want to study how he develops ideas), but others should try American Gods, Anansi Boys, Neverwhere, Good Omens (with T.Pratchett!), or even Coraline or his Sandman graphic novels. It does, however, contain a few real gems for fans. [warning: different editions of the S&M varied the collection slightly, so referring to specific stories may be confusing when discussing the book]
-
"Los espejos son objetos maravillosos. Parece que digan la verdad, que nos devuelvan el reflejo de la vida; pero pon uno en la posición adecuada y mentirá tan convincentemente que creerás que algo ha desaparecido sin dejar rastro, que una caja llena de palomas y banderas y arañas en realidad está vacía, que la gente escondida tras los bastidores o en el foso son fantasmas que flotan sobre el escenario. Oriéntalo bien y el espejo se convierte en una ventana mágica; mostrará cualquier cosa que puedas imaginarte y quizá algunas que no puedas."
Valorar o reseñar una antología siempre es complicado, mas Aún esta, ya que tiene 31 relatos incluyendo algunos poemas y un relato en el medio de la introducción. Y que son de épocas y etapas diversas
A grandes rasgos...
Los dos relatos que mas me gustaron "El precio" y "la hija de los búhos" son dos relatos acotados pero que mantienen viva la magia un tanto lúgubre, y en los que mas se nota la esencia de Gaiman.
"El puente del Troll" Recurre a un mito nórdico como en otras ocasiones y hace su versión bien lograda
"El regalo de bodas" Una historia bastante misteriosa y que te pone a pensar... si tuvieras la oportunidad de elegir entre dos vidas con sus respectivos pros y contras.¿cual elegirías?
"La Caballería" un relato elocuente y divertido sobre el santo grial ,los caballeros de la mesa redonda. En donde todo es desopilante pero nadie se sorprende.
"La vieja peculiar de Shoggoth" Hay dos relatos que son tributo a Lovecraft pero este me gusto. Muy ingenioso e hilarante.
"Nieve, cristal y manzanas" Es una interesante versión vampírica de Blancanieves .
"Se lo podemos hacer al por mayor" lo venia disfrutando muchísimo, divirtiéndome, pero el final hace agua. Y el "Estanque de los peces de colores" Es una interesante critica a Hollywood pero como relato en si no me termino de gustar.
Del resto poco bueno para decir. Lamentablemente de la magia conceptual que promete hay muy poco. Cuesta encontrar esa imaginación y prosa del autor que suelen deslumbrar y provocar varios sentimientos. Recurre excesivamente al uso de lo escatologico y sexual, de una forma bastante torpe y refrita. A algunos relatos les faltan paginas y a otros le sobran.
Sin dudas prefiero a Gaiman escribiendo novelas y novelas gráficas
Por hacer alusión a la magia: " A este mago el acto final le queda un tanto trunco en esta oportunidad" -
Apparently I am not a fan of his short stories, they are bad. I gave his other short story collection book three stars and that was being kind. This one is getting two because I am all out of kindness.
A better review to come.
-Here is my attempt at a better review. Normally I would delete the prereview BS but I like it this time so it stays.-
This is the second short story collection I have read from this author and they have both been thumbs down experiences. I definitely have a love/hate relationship with his work. The gray area in between is not a friend of mine.
WHAT I LIKED: Maybe two stories.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE: Everything else.
I can’t decide which description matches my feelings towards it more:
OPTION A: The publisher said give me anything you have and the author decided to present him with the crumpled paper balls of failed ideas.
OR
OPTION B: The author feels that all of his ideas are shareworthy and has not a care in the world regarding what readers might think of them.
OR
OPTION C: I am all out of sugarcoating today as well as shits to give so here is my true feelings about a read that without a doubt disappointed me.
OR
A little of option A, a little of option B and all of option C. DING, DING, DING...WE HAVE A WINNER!! -
Initially read in 1999 or thereabouts. Not reviewed at the time.
Upon re-reading:
***** “The Goldfish Pond and Other Stories” by Neil Gaiman
I'm usually not that interested in the whole 'glamour of Hollywood' theme, but this is probably the best commentary on it I've ever read.
Clearly partially autobiographical, this tells the story of a British writer who's flown out to L.A. to talk about converting his bestselling novel into a movie. A shifting cast of film execs gradually morph his story past recognition. Meanwhile, he gets to know the elderly groundskeeper at his decaying hotel, who tells him stories of the glory days of silent films.
Multi-layered, ironically humorous, but ultimately poignant. Beautifully done.
_____
Other included pieces (from the wiki).
"The included stories and poems are different between some of the editions. The US, UK, and eBook editions have some differences in the stories they contain (see table to right):
† Not in US print version
‡ Not in eBook version
* Appears in eBook version as Apple
Reading the Entrails
The Wedding Present
Chivalry - written for an anthology by Marty Greenberg
Nicholas Was...
The Price
Troll Bridge - retelling of The Three Billy Goats Gruff written for the anthology Snow White, Blood Red by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
Don't Ask Jack
Eaten (Scenes from a Moving picture) †‡
The White Road - A narrative poem
Queen of Knives - A narrative poem
The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch †‡
Changes
The Daughter of Owls
Shoggoth's Old Peculiar
Virus - Written for the anthology Digital Dreams by David Barrett
Looking for the Girl - Commissioned by Penthouse for their 20th anniversary issue
Only the End of the World Again
Bay Wolf - A story poem retelling Beowulf
Fifteen Painted Cards from a Vampire Tarot †
We Can Get Them For You Wholesale
One Life, Furnished in Early Moorcock - Written for an anthology of Elric stories by Michael Moorcock
Cold Colors
The Sweeper of Dreams
Foreign Parts
Vampire Sestina - A poem originally published in Fantasy Tales and later reprinted in the Mammoth Book of Vampires by Stephen Jones
Mouse - written for Touch Wood, edited by Pete Crowther
The Sea Change
How Do You Think It Feels? †‡
When We Went to See the End of the World by Dawnie Morningside, age 11¼
Desert Wind
Tastings - Included in Sirens by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
In the End †*
Babycakes
Murder Mysteries - written for the anthology Midnight Graffiti by Jessie Horsting
Snow, Glass, Apples -
2.5 stars, a few gems but way too many narrative poems and meh stories.
-
Bearing in mind I read this on my kindle, so some stories weren't included in the version I read. Also this is hella long.
All ratings (including notes). * indicates favourite
The Wedding Present (Yes, I religiously read introductions):4*
In which a picturesque couple are given a quaint wedding present that seems to be a 'retelling' of their coupling; it spins a story of how their marriage could have went wrong. Though this premise may seem outlandish and bizarre, it's terribly relevant and poses significant questions about the lives we choose to live. It's sad to think that some Gaiman fans miss this story;it's precious.
Chivalry:3.5
Quite lovely. The relationship was sweet and Mrs. Whitaker was charming to read.
Nicholas Was...:4.5
An excellent and precisely one hundred word twist on St. Nicholas, aka Santa Claus. Ho ho ho.
The Price:4
Ooh symbolism, symbolism! I adore this story, possibly because I'm so fond of cats. The idea of a knightly cat guardian is wonderful.
Troll Bridge:3.5
I enjoyed this tale, but something led me to believe that it would be more than it was when it finished, so I wasn't as impressed with the ending. Nevertheless it was thought-provoking and preoccupying.
Don't Ask Jack:5*
Horrifying, afflicting, and downright disturbing. Yep, one of my favourite stories out of the entire book.
The Goldfish Pool and Other Stories:3
I really liked the vintage Hollywood theme but it didn't pull me in. I think I maintained interest simply because it's a quasi-account of personal experience for Gaiman (as he admitted at the start of the book). Riddled with idioms and scathing remarks on Hollywood, it's very entertaining and humorous, but not gripping enough for me.
Eaten (Scenes from a Moving Picture):3
Heteros
The White Road:3.5
Cool, kind of story you can read over and over again and interpret in many different ways.
Queen Of Knives:4.5
Very alluring; I analysed this to death. All sorts of underlying messages and things I could take away. It's also delectably written. I devoured this story in one bite.
Changes:4*
Exceedingly powerful, especially the end. The fact that Rajit (a Scientist) was referring to the people as 'Angels' was of pivotal importance to me. I took away my own meanings for this, some of which I'm certain Gaiman wasn't even attempting to convey. I thought the significance of 'Angels' meant that a conceivably genderless society - or a society in which gender holds no meaning - could be perceived as being that of an angelic, peaceful community. That's just a fraction of what I took away from this, though.
The Daughter of Owls:2
I didn't find this story interesting. The title was inviting but the tale disappointed. I followed everything that happened with little interest as to what would eventually happen.
Shoggoth's Old Peculiar:2
Looking back, I don't even remember this story.
Virus:3
Interesting, cryptic, scary. It reminded me of the short film titled Virus too.
Looking for the Girl:4/4.5
This reminded me a lot of Death in Venice and while I didn't have the opportunity to picture a beautiful Botticelli-like boy walking among the streets of Italy, I was still engaged with the divine narrative that retained this sense of beauty never being able to be obtained.
Bay Wolf:3
I'm always captivated by mythical creatures, so I relished this little anecdote.
Fifteen Painted Cards from a Vampire Tarot:5*
A collection within a collection: an array of segmented texts that evoke mystery and awe. I loved the relativity toward Tarot cards in particular, especially 'The Fool'.
We Can Get Them for You Wholesale:4.5*
Hilarious and ambiguously intriguing. 'They'd been ready for a long time, but they had to be asked.' It reminded me of Vampires having to be granted permission to cross the threshold into our world.
One Life, Furnished in Early Moorcock:3
All I have written down is: 'Something missing, liked the beginning though.' Very informative, April.
Cold Colors:2.5
All I remember is confusion.
The Sweeper of Dreams:3.5
A magical ideal, one that need not be questioned in the unknown and mystical land of dreams.
Foreign Parts:3.5
Excusing the awkward descriptions of symptoms deriving from venereal disease, the alienation of the lower regions of the protagonists body is open to interpretation. The real interest I had was determining whether this was a tale of possession or dispossession
Vampire Sestina:5*
Sensual and delightful, it certainly appealed to my extreme love of Vampiresque material. Kudos to Gaiman also for succeeding in writing quite possibly the toughest form of verse out there.
Mouse:2
Curious but a tale that scurried away pretty easily from my train of thought.
The Sea Change:4
I love the sea and aquatic life in general, therefore I was pretty gripped with this story. I'm also a sucker for mermaids.
When We Went To See The End of The World by Dawnie:Morningside, age 11 1/4:4
This really disturbed me. I don't know why, it just seemed like the complete representation of evil. It maintained the sense of inventive, fictitious evil whilst holding the innocence and relativity of real life. The most blatant representation of this is the mere use of the narration of an 11-year-old.
Desert Wind:3
Nicely told anecdote; it really brings forth the sensation of regret and longing to be somewhere else (which is the reason I read Gaimans books in the first place). I would like to go with the people too.
Tastings:4.5*
More sexy times. I actually loved the idea of something so frequently deemed emotionless or meaningless in the promiscuity of modern society becoming a personal necessity to someone's character. To be frank, I pried open this story like some sort of literary autopsy and picked apart meanings and interpretations for hours.
Babycakes:4*
'We'll figure something out.' An almost dystopian feel to this, which I always admire. Very haunting and inhuman - yet possible. Foreshadowing the horror of human existence. Superb.
Murder Mysteries:4
I'm not Christian, so forgive me for not fully immersing myself in the retelling of creation or rather Gaiman's 'take' on it. I relished the wholehearted symbolism throughout though.
Snow, Glass and Apples:3
I expected this to be one of my favourites, but sadly it's something that I feel suffered from my high expectations. I originally heard of this in Gaiman's extra in Stardust and thought it was going to be magnificent. It was pretty good, and will forever leave a 'stain' on the Snow White tale for me personally, but truthfully I was expecting more.
I originally intended to read one story per night, as it seemed pretty easy to do so; all of the stories are fairly unique and eclectic. However, I was far too engaged to pass up the opportunity to finish the book all at once. I even made notes on each tale after finishing them.
Looking back, it’s quite hard to give an overall summary. It’s a wonderful, disturbing, downright peculiar collection of stories that spins you from one adventure. Some were decent, others spectacular, few just okay. I kinda sensed some stories were ones that either needed to be developed more, or ones that didn't have enough promise and shouldn't have made it onto the page.
Overall rating: 3.5. -
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. -
This collection of short stories was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I picked it up because well, it’s Gaiman and I can’t say no to his work. I thought there were quite a few good stories that I really enjoyed and even loved but on the whole, most of them were meh. The ones I didn’t enjoy weren’t terrible per say just not my taste and a bit boring in some cases. What I really loved is that there was a lot of variety in this collection, it had so many different kinds of stories and subjects. It really explored it all, from quirky to weird to enchanting and even a little bit of horror. I always appreciate a wide variety of subjects in a short story collection! So while a lot of the stories didn’t work for me, I’m still glad I read it because there were a few really brilliant gems scattered amongst the rocks.
-
Did Not Finish-74 percent.
Look, I cannot. With the terrible poems and then all of the short stories seemingly focused around masturbation, this collection is just awful. I am mad I spent money on this, but refuse to finish it. It's terrible.
An Introduction (4.5 stars)-Well this first story fooled me good. Gaiman goes into a short story he wrote for a friend's wedding, but worried they would take it wrong (yes they would have) but then includes the story here. This story follows a newly married couple, Belinda and Gordon who are happy together. But when they find a mysterious letter, it shows a different ending for them. He also gives some backstory about the rest of the stories coming. I started to skim since it felt endless after a while.
Chivalry (4.5 stars)-Loved this story of Mrs. Whitaker who finds the Holy Grail and meets a mysterious man that readers will be familiar with.
Nicholas Was...(2.5 stars)-An interesting look at Santa Claus that was too short.
The Price (3.5 stars)-I read this story about a mysterious black cat in another collection. Didn't hit as hard the second time through.
Troll Bridge (3.5 stars)-A young boy makes a deal with a troll that is determined to eat him. I think the bigger problem I had with this one was that it just felt hollow. I wanted more details.
Don't Ask Jack (2 stars) A story about a toy. It didn't hit me at all.
The Goldfish Pool and Other Stories (1 star)-This was so long and tedious. A story about a writer, who gets a chance to go to Hollywood to have one of his books turned into a movie. Look, I imagine Gaiman was saying something about how creativity is killed in Hollywood, he should have been more concise.
The White Road (1 star)-Poem
Queen of Knives (1 star)-Other poem that I tried to read. I gave up.
Changes (2 stars)-I feel like this story may be offensive to a lot of different people. A story surrounding the cure for cancer with a surprising side effect. I don't even know what to say. My head hurt.
The Daughter of Owls (1 star)-Yeah, no memory of this one. And I am not going to read it again.
Shoggoth's Old Peculiar (2 star)-Eh just a story about Cthulhu.
Virus (1 star)-Another poem.
Looking for the Girl (1 star)-The beginning of the stories that seem focused on masturbation. A man who becomes obsessed with an ageless girl who appears in Playboy. Yes, that is what the story is about. No it wasn't that good.
Only the End of the World Again (2.5 stars)-Cthulhu and a werewolf.
Bay Wolf (1 star)-Poem.
We Can Get Them for You Wholesale (3 stars)-A man who takes the rejection of a woman so badly the whole world suffers.
One Life, Furnished in Early Moorcock (1 star) this was weird and I am still confused about it and there's a lot of discussion about masturbation. I don't know. Boarding schools too.
Cold Colors (1 star)-Other poem.
The Sweeper of Dreams (1 star)-Short.
Foreign Parts (1 star)-A man catches a STD that has him not wanting to masturbate. I don't know. I think an alien is part of this one too. Looking at my notes and I refuse to try to re-read this one.
Look I finished more stories but I don't have the heart/energy to write them up. Just hard pass on this one. -
What a less than average writer! I don't see what the fuss about Gaiman! Maybe he's not the author for me but some of the glitches in his writing are universally recognized as disjointed, especially by my former English teacher.
Smoke and mirrors got more than 4 stars on this site, and it's an outrageous score. There's simply just no perspective anymore. And I thought IMDB had bad scoring...live and learn, I suppose. One star. -
A little disappointing, though with some flourishes of fabulousness.
I'm a huge Neil Gaiman fan. So much so, I cite him as one of the authors that made me want to write. Most of his books are fantastically imaginative, exciting and wonderfully plotted, and a couple of them rank among my all-time favourite books.
As a result, I launched into his collection of short stories with high expectations. I should say, for the record, I like short stories - I apprediate the whole 'bite-sized' concept, that you can devour a whole tale in a single setting; it's a bit like having a snack before you settle for a big main meal! However, with this particular collection, a few of the 'snacks' left me a bit unsatisfied.
The book gets off to a cracking start with Chivalry, a hilarious story of an old dear who finds the Holy Grail in a charity shop. I was chuckling away throughout the tale, and rubbing my hands with glee, taking it as a sign of things to come. Likewise, I adored Troll Bridge, which cleverly spun the original fairy-tale, taking it in a fresh and surprising direction.
However, the book soon became bogged down with a couple of stories that didn't really contribute much (in my opinion). This was particularly the case with the poems; which for me, mostly fell flat. I'm no poem connoisseur, but I do know a good poem when I read one, and I didn't feel that any of these fell into that category.
That being said, there were several stories that stuck out as being great. We Can Get Them For You Wholesale, a story about haggling with assassins via the Yellow Pages, is utter brilliance, as is Looking For the Girl; an eerie tale of a man spotting the same woman in countless copies of men's magazines over the years, who never seems to age. Many of the excellent stories could have been filled out and extended into full-length novels, in my opinion.
Perhaps if the multiple poems had been stripped out of the book, I would have rated this book a lot higher. Would I give Neil Gaiman's future short stories a try? Yes, definitely. But I think I'd give his poetry a miss! -
DNF @71%
This book has been on my TBR for years, so naturally I had very high hopes. To say I am disappointed is a massive understatement... Most stories are boring, sometimes downright bad. Maybe I'm missing something, maybe I'm not. Maybe it's just how old this collection is--I wasn't even born when it was published. (Edit: I was one when it was published.)
That said, I did enjoy Good Omens, so I'm not entirely giving up on Neil Gaiman's work.
List of Stories:
1. The Wedding Present: 2.5 stars.
So clever of Neil Gaiman to put this story in the introduction to “trick” those who don’t read introductions.
I read this one a while back. I remember it being creepy and having an interesting message about the power of negative thinking.
2. Chivalry: 1 star.
So I've listened to this story twice now, and it's still not managing to hold my attention. I suppose I'll just move on.
3. Nicholas Was...: 1 star.
This one, I heard thrice. I guess it's interesting, assuming I understood what it's about. I know it was for a Christmas card and it's exactly 100 words long, which is cool.
4. The Price: 1 star.
A story about a black cat named "Black Cat". A boring story, and I'm starting to think I'll feel similarly about all the upcoming stories...
5. Troll Bridge: 2 stars.
This is quite a strange story. It was annoying at first, but I liked the ending.
6. Don't Ask Jack: no rating.
What was that? I thought the story was still starting, and then it ended too abruptly...
7. The Goldfish Pool and Other Stories: 1.5 stars.
This was one of the longer stories thus far. While I managed to get a sense of the characters, this story did not have much plot, not to mention there's nothing speculative about it. This story just left me underwhelmed and considering either putting this book down or drastically adjusting my expectations.
8. The White Road: 3 stars.
This was... strange. It’s written in verse - that aspect is really good and the author’s narration is perfect. The story itself wasn’t great, but not bad. The first truly promising tale in the collection so far.
9. Queen of Knives: 3 stars.
Not bad, not bad at all. We’re finally getting somewhere!
10. Changes: 0.5 stars.
...
11. The Daughter of Owls: 1 star.
Another pointless one...
12. Shoggoth's Old Peculiar: 2.5 stars.
MC is a Metallurgy student! Interesting story.
13. Virus: 3 stars.
I love the prose of this one! Has a certain fable-like feel.
14. Looking for the Girl: 0.5 stars.
DNF.
15. Only the End of the World Again: 2.5 stars.
Not bad.
16. Bay Wolf: 1 star.
Hmmm... am I missing something? This could also apply to all the above stories.
17. We Can Get Them For You Wholesale: 1 star.
Restarted this story at least thrice and still... Quite unmemorable.
18. One Life, Furnished in Early Moorcock: no rating.
.........
DNF
19. Cold Colors: no rating.
DNF
20. The Sweeper of Dreams: 2 stars.
21. Foreign Parts: 0.5 stars.
This was plain bad.
22. Vampire Sestina: 3 stars.
This was... it was good, surprisingly. The story is quite short, and every word was well-placed and to the point.
23. Mouse:
24. The Sea Change:
25. When We Went to See the End of the World by Dawnie Morningside:
26. Desert Wind:
27. Tastings:
28. Babycakes:
29. Murder Mysteries:
30. Snow, Glass, Apples: 0.5 stars. -
...Drops of water fell like diamonds from the Angel Lucifer's perfect fingers... From the short story, 'Murder Mysteries'
About half way through this volume of short's I was thinking this would probably be a 4 star, maybe a 3.5 actual. Now that I am at the end, having examined the work as a whole, and considering the power of the last 2 stories, I had to rate this a 5.
I love the way Neil mixed it up. The collection seemed to be a potpourri of short stories, prose, poetry and lyrical verse. I could feel his love of mythology, a little touch of H.P. Lovecraft, and another side that I think of as a British Chuck Palahniuk.
The last 2 stories, 'Murder Mysteries', and 'Snow, Glass, Apples',made this entire book well worth the read.
Murder Mysteries was a unique play on the mythology of God, Lucifer and the angels that I found to be particularly entertaining and thought provoking. Very well done. And Snow, Glass, Apples was also a twist on the old story of Snow White.
Neil Gaiman has a style and imagination that makes him one of my favorites. And Smoke and Mirrors reflects his story telling gifts brilliantly. -
Don't really see the hype with this author. There's only a few good or okay ones, the rest is rather just meh... or I just don't care. Some of them were terrible.
My favorite stories are: The Price (5 stars), Looking for The Girl (4 stars), Snow, Glass and Apples (4 stars)
The Wedding Present: 3 stars
A couple receives a novel as wedding gift. The story keep changing. This was ok, but could have been more interesting.
Chivalry: 3 stars
I would have accepted infinity life for sure.
Nicholas Was...: 1 star
Just NO. I love Christmas, so naturally this story wasn't for me. Good thing it was only a 100 words long.
The Price: 5 stars
This one was cute. A guardian cat fights demons to defend his family. I love cats, this story warms my heart and makes me think of my beautiful cat son, Leo. ❤️
Troll Bridge: 3 stars
Don't Ask Jack: 3 stars
This story should have been longer and the Jack-in-the-Box could have been even more creepier, but I still loved it.
The Goldfish Pool and Other Stories: 3 stars
The White Road: 2 stars
These type of stories just not my type.
Queen Of Knives: 3 stars
Changes: DNF 1 star
What the hell is this piece of shit?!
The Daughter of Owls: 1 star
Again what the hell is this piece of shit?!
Shoggoth's Old Peculiar: 2 stars
At the beggining I thought this isn't that bad, but I guess I was wrong.
Virus: 3 stars
Looking for the Girl: 4 stars
A guy looking for a girl he saw in a dirty mag. Always 19 😂. I really enjoyed this one!
Only the End of the World Again: 1.5 star
Not an interesting plot.
Bay Wolf: 3 stars
Baywatch + Beowulf. Surprisingly funny.
We Can Get Them for You Wholesale: 3 stars
Never resist a good bargain... R. I. P.
One Life, Furnished in Early Moorcock: 1.5 star
Boring.
Cold Colors: 1 star
Terrible.
The Sweeper of Dreams: 3 stars
I wanted this to be longer...
Foreign Parts: 2 stars
Giving this 2 stars is very generous of me.
Vampire Sestina: 3 stars
Vampire Poem.
Mouse: 2 stars
Poor Mouse.
The Sea Change: 1.5 star
Honestly I just don't care. Sorry not sorry.
When We Went To See The End of The World by Dawnie Morningside, age 11 1/4: 2 stars
Seeing the title I was hoping for me.
Desert Wind: 2.5 stars
Not horrible, but I'm not interested in it.
Tastings: 3 stars
Weird, but I liked it.
Babycakes: 3.5 stars
Protect animals at all cost (and babies too, I guess). Animals are better than most people, tbh.
Murder Mysteries: 2 stars
Heavenly murder. I don't care.
Snow, Glass and Apples: 4 stars
A twisted Snow White story... I loved this one. -
My first ever book filled with short stories and, naturally, it was BRILLIANT! I honestly expected Neil Gaiman to deliver a somewhat magical experience since he never disappointed me so far. However, I'm new to short stories and didn't know if it was for me since I usually prefer novels. But this collection has some real gems!
Chilling stories, funny stories, sometimes stories with only a couple of lines, other times quite long short stories, but ALWAYS stories with wit and more than two hidden messages. There was only one I actually disliked. And, as a bonus, my edition of the book not only had a foreword but also background information on every single one of the stories, which gave a great insight.
I will definitely read the next two collections as well.! -
Started out strong but ended up inconsistent. Whereas the much-touted Gene Wolfe produced unpredictable story collections of genre-bending, unconventional tales of varied length culled from a wide selection of magazines over decades, IMO any of Wolfe's collections are better than the totality of Gaiman's output. It is not just that this collection is inconsistent, but the stories lack the consistency of good stories. There are plenty of moments when cleverness is evident, but far more where cleverness is all-too-absent. The author knows how to put a sentence together, but some of the sentences he inserts, some of the images, some of the stories themselves, read like what I'd expect from Stephen King. We're talking King after about 400 pages. When he's writing on autopilot. Such as in the story of a clueless American who stumbles into a pub in England and talks about Lovecraft with cultists (and that's all that happens). Or in the one where a man purchases the services of an exterminator A graphically naked troll under a bridge might surprise you in one story, but the logic behind what the troll does will likely confuse you. A quaint, Pythonesque grail story: A skillful demonstration of ye olde writing style but absurd and inadequately delineated - not just in how the world of the story operates, but in the lack of character motivations. If you turn your brain off, it works. A little poem here or there about Santa Claus and werewolves. Little boys in showers laughing at each others' willies. Story after story made me say "so what" internally. Some of them made me gag. To be fair I enjoyed parts of the screenwriter story. I suspect this was an excision from an early draft of American Gods. It combined a nostalgic aura with a few good quips and an appreciation for bygone values. But the repetitions and meandering could've been edited out. Most of the stories wanted a little honing. I still think, as a writer, he is more careful and calculated than Stephen King, but King seems more humble to me, willing to admit that what he is producing is not literary, but pulp. These are simply my feelings. The legions of fans are justification enough for such work, but in this review I'll try to limit myself to what I'd want to know if I was about to jump into this sizable collection. The essences of several stories were intriguing. Usually the ending would reveal piss in the soup. The structural integrity of these narratives are fragile. Without adequate justification, the far-flung ideas come off as mere exercises instead of viable microcosms. Silverberg's
Majipoor Chronicles had a similar cobbled-together mystique. You can fly through a crappy Silverberg book, but Gaiman demands time, reads kind of slow. The pacing is glacial.
The Introduction did not help me enjoy the stories. I don't need to know how he lit upon the ideas for each story, how he expertly weaves together the elements and tropes and allusions, according to the theories he's expounded in every interview, Master Class, and Introduction as if he invented the medium. If he wouldn't mention how he was best buds with Gene Wolfe so often I wouldn't be tempted to compare Gaiman's watered-down storytelling to The Grandmaster Big Daddy Baby-Faced Emperor of Fantasy World Building. -
Нийл Геймън е един от най-любимите ми разказвачи – даровит, сладкодумен, съвременен, непрестанно експериментиращ. Не мога да се наситя. Разказите му са като съставките на перфектния бульон за лечение на творчески блокаж. Жонглирането между фантазия и реалност; черна комедия, драма и хорър; липсата на теми табу; изкривеното и парадоксално до извращение интерпретиране на познати сюжети и тропи, което Нийл си позволява с лукаво задоволство… безценно.
„Дим и огледала“ е типичен пример за такъв невъобразим миш-маш. Сватбено пожелание показва алтернативни реалности; благовъзпитана стара дама се сдобива със Светия Граал на разпродажба в квартален магазин; котка брани стопанина си от демонични сили; отвратителен въшлив трол показва повече човечност от жертвата си; отговор на въпроса в чия компания е умрял Джон Белуши и други кинаджийски лакърдии; лекарство с особен страничен ефект; няколко творби, пропити от почит и любов към Лъвкрафт, Зелазни и Муркок, в които се натъкваме на призрачни градове, тайнствени култове и момчешки фантазии; неостаряващ и неоткриваем фотомодел – еманация на всички мъжки блянове; поръчкови убийства като на промоция в Кауфланд; семеен пикник около портал към друго измерение; жиголо-телепат попада на още по-особен клиент; детективска история с ангели; Снежанка, каквато не сте виждали досега… А това дори не е всичко…
Разбира се, имам и повод за заяждане. Поетичните напълни на Геймън, дали поради осакатяване от превода или друго, винаги са ми изглеждали посредствени. В тази книга са особено много, макар че някои все пак са сполучливи. Е, така или иначе, пътуването беше страхотно. До следващия откачен сборник или роман… -
How weird and marvelous is Gaiman's mind
-
DNF at 50%.
I couldn't really get myself to love any of the stories here. I liked some of them at most; as for the rest... maybe they were just too short. -
So hit and miss!! Average rating of 3.25 stars
-
Rating: 4.0/5.0
This book has lots of peculiar short stories, many of them are explicit in nature and very much adult. So be warned if you are not into that. I found some stories to be very interesting despite being strange, others were a bit boring, but overall I liked the majority of the stories here. These stories are mixtures of fantasy and horror. What differentiates Neil Gaiman's writing here is that most of these stories have no kind of proper ending or closure so be prepared for that. I found all that together make an interesting reading and different than what I have read before in anthologies.
Stories that I have loved from this collection are, Wedding Present, Chivalry, The Price, Troll Bridge, The Goldfish Pool, Looking for the Girl, Foreign Parts, Tastings and Snow, Glass, Apples. Each of these stories is filled with strange events and characters that are very unique in nature and some shocking too. One thing Gaiman does not do here is building the world, he gets into the subject immediately with the characters and as the story progresses the reader will feel the atmosphere of the world the story is set in.
The major flaw of this book is its structure. It has a long boring introduction. Though one of my favorite stories which is The Wedding Present is in the introduction. Read that story then you can skip the introduction if you are not interested in knowing the history behind each story or when it was written by the author. Overall I liked Smoke and Mirrors and would rate it a solid 4.0 out of 5.0 stars. -
This collection of short stories was the perfect way to introduce me to the works of Neil Gaiman. I loved his style of writing. I was afraid it might be a little pretentious and too high-brow for me, but it was quite the opposite. It was simple, enjoyable and highly imaginative.
I mean, it's pretty obvious that in a book of short stories, one will not love ALL of them, but I really enjoyed more than half of the stories and the only problem I had with the remaining ones were that they went completely over my head. (I'll probably, hopefully, get them after a few more readings.)
What amazed me was the sheer variety of themes I got to read. There were stories and poems about cats, vampires, holy grails, fairytale characters, writers, little children, trolls, foxes and so much more. I felt that some stories were just waiting to be made into novels. I don’t know why, but I really want the story ‘Changes’ to be co-written by Neil Gaiman and Stephen King. I would probably be one of the first people to go and buy that book. By the way, ‘Babycakes’ is going to haunt me forever.
I really loved how the author sort of gave the background and inspiration behind each story in the introduction (which incidentally, contained an extra short story). It was interesting to follow his crazy train of thought.
Note to self: Look up Lisa Snellings’ sculptures. -
I hate saying this, but I'm only giving this one 3 stars.
I love Gaiman's writing, I truly do. Somehow I felt a lot of the stories in this anthology were a bit disjointed. Some were boring, to be quite honest. As if they were just something thrown together from a discarded pile. A few of the stories were enjoyable so I'm just going to say I had a neutral time reading this.
That being said, I am not giving up on Gaiman just yet. I know he's an author has the potential to make my weirdly wired brain happy.
3 Ninja-Bunnehs-Disappointed -
a wonderful collection of the madness that is neil gaiman.
