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4.38 AVERAGE
4.38 AVERAGE
I truly respect both Gaiman and Riddell, and I enjoy a lot of both of their works. There are some absolute gems of quotes and art in this little book that I would love to create posters of to have in my classroom.
However I also think its entirely healthy to say I have different viewpoints to other parts of Gaiman's outlook, in fact, he says so himself in the first section of this book!
Some gems I loved:
> "Everything changes when we read."
> "Fiction builds empathy. Fiction is something you build up from twenty-six letters and a handful of punctuation marks, and you, and you alone, using your imagination, create a world... and when you return to your own world, you're going to be slightly changed."
> "The urge, starting out, is to copy. And that's not a bad thing. Most of us only find our own voice after we've sounded like a lot of other people. But the one thing you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision."
Something I differ on:
"People who know what they are doing know the rules, and know what is possible and impossible. You do not. And you should not...if you don't know it's impossible it's easier to do."
Oooh I'm sorry there Neil but if anything, knowing the rules and being told something is impossible, powers me more than anything else. Knowing the rules helps me play the system built against me, and knowing that what not to do, or what people have said is impossible is wrong, fuels me to be the one to do it.
Without learning those rules as a foundation, I would never feel confident enough to break them. How do I break something I don't know exists? Pure luck? Learning what I'm supposed to do first gives me a power to knowingly not. Knowing what's wrong gives me evidence and reason to tear it down.
There's a privilege and a confidence in choosing not to know and push onwards anyway that I envy, but also could never justify.
However I also think its entirely healthy to say I have different viewpoints to other parts of Gaiman's outlook, in fact, he says so himself in the first section of this book!
Some gems I loved:
> "Everything changes when we read."
> "Fiction builds empathy. Fiction is something you build up from twenty-six letters and a handful of punctuation marks, and you, and you alone, using your imagination, create a world... and when you return to your own world, you're going to be slightly changed."
> "The urge, starting out, is to copy. And that's not a bad thing. Most of us only find our own voice after we've sounded like a lot of other people. But the one thing you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision."
Something I differ on:
"People who know what they are doing know the rules, and know what is possible and impossible. You do not. And you should not...if you don't know it's impossible it's easier to do."
Oooh I'm sorry there Neil but if anything, knowing the rules and being told something is impossible, powers me more than anything else. Knowing the rules helps me play the system built against me, and knowing that what not to do, or what people have said is impossible is wrong, fuels me to be the one to do it.
Without learning those rules as a foundation, I would never feel confident enough to break them. How do I break something I don't know exists? Pure luck? Learning what I'm supposed to do first gives me a power to knowingly not. Knowing what's wrong gives me evidence and reason to tear it down.
There's a privilege and a confidence in choosing not to know and push onwards anyway that I envy, but also could never justify.
Make good art. I'm serious. Husband runs off with a politician? Make good art. Leg crushed and then eaten by mutated boa constrictor? Make good art. IRS on your trail? Make good art. Cat exploded? Make good art.
This volume may be compact, but its message is resonant in ways that really ought to be impossible for a book of its size. I think I read it in under half an hour, but I'm sure its message will stick with me long beyond that.
A slim, pocket-sized anthology of four pieces of writing by Neil Gaiman, Art Matters is a rallying cry to artists everywhere and the people who thrive on artists' work. Discussing topics ranging from the indestructability of an idea and the importance of libraries to the importance of not getting distracted in your own artistic endeavors, Gaiman articulately and entertainingly implores us to look beyond the world's insistence that stories don't matter, that art is irrelevant. I mean, it's classic Gaiman writing--a little snark, a lot of heart, and a heaping mound of brilliance that manages to avoid any hint of pretentiousness.
And don't get me started on the illustrations. If I was a Bookstagrammer, boy howdy, would I be sharing the heck out of this book. Chris Riddell perfectly matches Gaiman's tone with lively sketches, somehow making even something like a simple chair feel delightfully animated, or making a swarm of messages in bottles look downright terrifying. In some books, the pictures can distract from the text, or can fail to do the writing justice with their blandness; in this collection, that is certainly not the case. They actually enhance the message, putting the importance of visual art right alongside the importance of the written word, and the effect is perfect.
I know it sounds like I'm heaping praises on this book, but I really can't find anything to complain about it. Please, read this book. If you're reading this review, you clearly value the written word already, and if you're feeling some despair in this cold society we live in, this will definitely boost your spirits. And even if it doesn't (which I can't foresee happening, but I guess you never know...), it doesn't take long to read, so you won't feel like you wasted hours of your life. Really, though, it won't be a waste. I promise.
Tl;dr this book is great, Neil Gaiman writes brilliantly, it's funny and smart, and the pictures rock. Read it.
“But the one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision.”
“The old rules are crumbling and nobody knows what the new rules are. So make up your own rules.”
“The old rules are crumbling and nobody knows what the new rules are. So make up your own rules.”
A wonderful book that highlights, not just the art of making art, but living it and breathing it and needing it, even when all other obstacles tell you to hide under a rock and stay there. As someone who loves to write, and read, I'll probably keep this book on my desk, always, and if I travel, it will definitely fit in my purse.
Short collection of essays by fiction writer Gaiman. I listened to the audiobook which I’d recommend since the author is the reader and makes his essays still just as inviting as his fiction. Good quick read to be passionate about art again.
Inspiring, quick read (or listen). And, so many wonderful takeaways sprinkled throughout.
“The world always seems brighter when you've just made something that wasn't there before."
*edited to add: this became available at my library, so I went ahead and checked it out. The illustrations sprinkled throughout are so wonderful! I enjoyed the audio version, as it was read by the author Neil Gaiman himself, but it was so worth a second flip through to experience Chris Riddell’s illustrations.
“The world always seems brighter when you've just made something that wasn't there before."
*edited to add: this became available at my library, so I went ahead and checked it out. The illustrations sprinkled throughout are so wonderful! I enjoyed the audio version, as it was read by the author Neil Gaiman himself, but it was so worth a second flip through to experience Chris Riddell’s illustrations.
This book maybe changed my perspective on some things and made me want to really sit with what was said, process it, and see how it applies in my own life.
I've come across one of the essays before. So it wasn't an entirely new thing. That's the only disappointment I have about this book. Although I believe the ideas are worth repeating. Or as in this case, worth listening again and again. A quick read or listen for some much-needed inspiration.
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced