Brevity is the soul of wit, isn't it?

I stumbled upon Neil Gaiman's website this evening.

Specifically, the short story: I Cthulu: or What's A Tentacle-Faced Thing Like Me Doing In A Sunken City Like This (Latitude 47° 9' S, Longitude 126° 43' W)?

Neil [is it OK to call you Neil, Mr Gaiman?] wrote Stardust, a recent movie release, American Gods and a few other novels. Wonderful reads, well composed hilarious, poignant and witty things.

He has a some anthologies, Smoke and Mirrors is my favourite [because of the ineffable quality of We Can Get Them For You Wholesale, Murder Myesteries and Nicholas Was...], Fragile Things is great too.

I usually prefer short stories to novels; the writer can give the story both barrels of the "imagery gun", unlikely to fatigue the reader. If a novel is treated so, one is [read: "I am"] left too addled to digest what was read.

My best example: Grapes of Wrath.^# The novel reminded me of⁺ a huge, rich, cream-laden black forest gateaux, either eat it in one go or not at all... I chose the latter. [Ducks head in anticipation of attacks from literati]. But short stories? Ha! Do. Your. Worst.

I wonder... Is my limited capacity for absorbing intricately detailed works of literature rooted in being part of a world where "instant gratification takes too long" [Carrie Fisher]? Sure, I easily read novels with soft-core prose, but I give a website scant sentences to win me over.^*

Tragic. Doubly so, since the aforementioned "tragic" rings hollow. Tut. Tut. Tut. Feigning despair at my cultural decadence... Huh, still no reaction. It is too late for me. Quick! Go read a classic piece of literature. And enjoy it.

^#No arguing, Steinbeck deserves every literary accolade he garnered and may be awarded posthumously
⁺[I abandoned the following analogy, don't know why] a 1m³ steel cube covered in μm scale etchings on its surface; a work of patient mastery, but my appreciation suffers from the law of diminishing returns. It becomes less leisurely , more a pilgrimage-like
^*Anyone who read this far is eligible to collect a sweet from me, the next time they are in University College Dublin :)