Quick Review | Fortunately, the Milk

Lately I have been in quite a Neil-Gaiman-fever, and I think it begins to show! After reading ‘Art Matters’, an inspirational little booklet about – you’ve already guessed it – why art matters so much, I picked up another story of his: Fortunately, the Milk. 

 

N E I L    G A I M A N    –    F O R T U N A T E L Y ,    T H E    M I L K

“Do not, whatever else you might do,” said the professor,
“touch those two stones together.”
“Why not?”
“Because, according to my calculations, if the same object from two different times touches itself, one of two things will happen. Either the Universe will cease to exist. Or three remarkable dwarfs will dance through the streets with flowerpots on their heads.”
“That sounds astonishingly specific,” I said.

Neil Gaiman | Fortunately, the milk | S. 71ff

This little story is ludicrous,  absurd and utterly funny. I like to think of ‘Fortunately, the Milk’ as the ideal bed time story, with plot twists and time travelling, pirates and vampires, and a story teller that claims each and every little detail of his story is true and has happened exactly this way.

This outrageously silly adventure is illustrated by the talented Chris Riddell, one of my favourite illustrators of all time. Together, Riddell and Gaiman create a reading experience that feels more than entertaining. What I loved most about this, was the notion that no matter how mundane or ordinary something seems to be (like going out to buy a bottle of milk), a creative mind can do anything with it.

So let’s get carried away and create outrageous, funny, thoughtful stories! Oh, and go ahead and read the book. Seriously, it will make you laugh – or at least smile pretty widely. That is, if you aren’t a globby green alien ready to replace trees with plastic flamingos…

 

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Author:        Neil Gaiman
Title:             Fortunately, the Milk
Illustrator:  Chris Riddell
Press:            Bloomsbury
Year of publication:  this edition: 2015; first published 2013
[Genre:         Fiction]