Short Fictions and Wonders: Fragile Things

'Fragile Things' is just as original and creative as all of Neil Gaiman's work, meaning very. I was excited to come across his book of short stories because I love the instant gratification of short stories. They take no commitment to read but give all the satisfaction and excitement of the ending. Often, they are wilder, more daring than full books as well. Neil Gaiman gives short stories his own twist.

His books are never planted firmly in reality, and his short stories soar away from it. One story is told from the point of view of October, one theorizes that the demons who torture in hell are simply the full circle transition of humans who have been sent there and tortured into the demons themselves, and another tells the story of Narnia’s Susan, who wonders why she was kept from Narnia in her old age. Neil Gaiman is the tricky sort of writer who plans out every word to later have relevance.
The only downside was that they’re in book format, and I inhaled the whole book in 2 days, and missed all those subtle Gaiman nuances.

My favorite story, which I did re-read, is entitled 'Harlequin Valentine' It begins with the trickster 'Harlequin', from the Italian Commedia dell'art, literally pinning his heart to the door of his obsession, the lovely Columbine. She pockets the heart in a Ziploc bag and Windex’s her door, and then proceeds to run errands and run into the disguised columbine throughout Valentines Day. She at last enters a diner, and requests a bottle of ketchup, hash browns and sneak knife, and eats poor Harlequins heart. She then pulls Harlequin into the street and claims his mask and cane, becoming harlequin as he fades into a bewildered human busboy only taking a smoke break outside the diner. I was pretty devastated at this point, but all's well that ends weird, apparently: he is ushered back inside and notices a plate with just one bite of meat left, and for reasons unknown to him, eats it, dropping one splatter of ketchup on his sleeve which forms a perfect red diamond, the harlequin trademark. And whistling, he goes to work.

I plan on re-reading all the stories when I have the chance, and am being Harlequin for Halloween. In conclusion, I never had a chance not to like this book, its Neil Gaiman. He does get a bit melancholy at times though, his stories rarely end on the fantastical note he uses throughout his fiction, and Gaiman seems to have a phobia of happy endings.
Next up: Octavian Nothing, The Best Book in the Known Universe
Aka
Should I Start Choosing Books I Can Make Up At Least One Complaint For?