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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
This is a mixture of Gaiman's short stories and narrative poems. I skipped the poems, read several of the stories, but some seemed more explicitly sexual than I'd expected and after one particular story I didn't want to read any further.
A wonderful collection of short stories that helped break my funk and get me back into reading
It's like this beautiful little binding of all Neil Gaiman's random thoughts and personalities spilled onto the pages, and it's just incredibly fun, truly random and very VERY Neil-Gaiman-ish. I highly recommend to anyone who loves short stories/quick reads and or, loves neil gaiman!
what was the deal with sex, women and children, though
I was pretty disappointed in this collection, being a huge Gaiman fan. The vast majority just were not good in my opinion, though there were some good ones mixed in and towards the end of the collection.
This is a collection of short stories/poems, mostly with a "it's not what it seems" type theme. Because it's a collection, it's always difficult to rate. Most of the stories rate a strong 5 stars, but a few were only so-so, which dropped the rating.
Some of my favorite stories were "Murder Mysteries," "Snow, Glass, Apples," "Changes," "We Can Get Them for You Wholesale," and "The Sweeper of Dreams." Not necessarily in that order.
The strengths tended to be amazing creativity and story telling. The creation of worlds and lives inside a few pages was well executed. And like the original purpose of stories, each one seemed to teach a lesson and tell the reader more about life and living.
The weakness that some stories had worked as a strength for some of the stories. I found some stories to be too vague, but this was only my first read through and subsequent reads (or more thorough reads) may reveal clearer understanding.
This feels like a book I'll return to time and again, to flip through and read those stories that I hold dear and to re-discover those that I hadn't fully met.
Some of my favorite stories were "Murder Mysteries," "Snow, Glass, Apples," "Changes," "We Can Get Them for You Wholesale," and "The Sweeper of Dreams." Not necessarily in that order.
The strengths tended to be amazing creativity and story telling. The creation of worlds and lives inside a few pages was well executed. And like the original purpose of stories, each one seemed to teach a lesson and tell the reader more about life and living.
The weakness that some stories had worked as a strength for some of the stories. I found some stories to be too vague, but this was only my first read through and subsequent reads (or more thorough reads) may reveal clearer understanding.
This feels like a book I'll return to time and again, to flip through and read those stories that I hold dear and to re-discover those that I hadn't fully met.
Like most short fiction collections, there are some stories in here that fall short of the author's normal caliber, but then there are those that really showcase the writer's ability--and Smoke and Mirrors is no exception. The only reason this got four stars instead of five is the inconsistency of the work; but I personally think it's worth picking up for reading Gaiman's twist on the Holy Grail story (the title of which I forget), "Murder Mysteries", and "Snow, Glass, Apples".
What on earth? I am so glad I didn't read this when I picked it up. 15 year old me would have been way more upset than 20 year old me is, and I am pretty upset. It was all just so unecessary.
I'm frustrated! Frustrated, I say! It took me exactly one entire month to finish this book, and I didn't like it as much as I expected to. In fact, I would be giving it 2 stars if it weren't for the last two stories. Two stars. Neil Gaiman. Two. Stars. See? Frustrated.
I've had lots of people telling me how hit-or-miss Gaiman can be, how his stories' formula starts to get old after a while, but I didn't quite believe that. I mean I hadn't seen this in Neil Gaiman at all—until now. See, it's not that S&M's stories are bad, they're just... weak. Meh. So so. Wishy-washy. Come on, it's Neil fucking Gaiman we're talking about, I sure as Hell expected more than wishy-washy. Also, I'm not sure that I got them? Maybe I'm being paranoid, but the point went way over my head in some.
The two very last stories saved it for me: Murder Mysteries, and Snow, Glass, Apples. Snow, Glass, Apples was, in fact, the reason I picked S&M up, to begin with—and I was terrified it would suck. It didn't. I'm happy.
I've had lots of people telling me how hit-or-miss Gaiman can be, how his stories' formula starts to get old after a while, but I didn't quite believe that. I mean I hadn't seen this in Neil Gaiman at all—until now. See, it's not that S&M's stories are bad, they're just... weak. Meh. So so. Wishy-washy. Come on, it's Neil fucking Gaiman we're talking about, I sure as Hell expected more than wishy-washy. Also, I'm not sure that I got them? Maybe I'm being paranoid, but the point went way over my head in some.
The two very last stories saved it for me: Murder Mysteries, and Snow, Glass, Apples. Snow, Glass, Apples was, in fact, the reason I picked S&M up, to begin with—and I was terrified it would suck. It didn't. I'm happy.