Reading interlude: Violent Cases by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean
“I didn’t like parties. I liked the ice cream, I admitted. And, I liked the crisps. But I didn’t like the man with the bald head. And anyway, they weren’t my friends… The bald man, I explained, came on – and made things come out of his mouth. And he said ‘Abra-ca-dabra-dish!’ And there were loud bangs. And the other boys and girls weren’t my friends. But their mummies and daddies were my Mummy and Daddy’s friends, so I had to go to their parties. And did he know, I added venomously, what I had to say when it was all over? He shook his head. ‘Thank you for having me,’ I told him. ‘Thank you for having me!’ I shook my head in horror.”
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Today I read this fantastic short story – in the form of a graphic novel (or possibly a graphic novella, thinking about it). Because I wouldn’t try to pass off a regular short story in terms of a whole book in 50 Book Challenge terms then I can’t pull the same stunt here. Written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Dave McKean in 1986, one of the first projects they collaborated on, it has been through countless different editions (details below) but has always remained in print. Originally it boasted an introduction by Alan Moore, now mislaid, in my edition anyway.
The layout is spare and economical with few words used and none wasted. The art is dense, referential, multi-layered and muted, using shades of blue, grey and brown. The story raises questions from the outset. The narrator is, seemingly, a young Mr Neil Gaiman. He assures us that he only wants to give us the facts. Is this truth, half-truth or fantasy? We are seeing a very adult world through the eyes of a child and we must bring our adult understanding to bear if we are to work out what is going on. And, if this is not enough to be getting on with, there’s questions about the nature of memory. What’s imagined and what’s remembered? How far can other people’s equally subjective memories of events validate our own recollections? I found this by accident on the shelf in the local library and it took me about half an hour to read. Truly serendipitous.
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