04 May 2010

Touch the wooden gate in the wall you never saw before

There are people in the world who like to be shown how to do something, and there are people who like to work things out for themselves. And there are people who like to have the instructions at hand, but manfully steadfastly ignore them.

And then there are people who helpfully devise and illustrate reassuring Instructions for any of us who find ourselves stranded in a fairytale.*

You may recall we have noted before that we are fans of these Instructions - and of Neil Gaiman reading them.



And now (well, in June) we offer them to you in a very user-friendly format indeed. A book! Yes! A book. Of illustrated Instructions. Clever? Yes, we thought so.



So remember:
The deep well you walk past leads to Winter's realm;
there is another land at the bottom of it.
If you turn around here,
you can walk back, safely;
you will lose no face.
I will think no less of you.
Excellent! There's even a get-out clause for those moments when your courage fails. And for other moments:
Do not lose hope - what you seek will be found.
No thanks required. As ever, we are here to help.



*And let's face it, sometimes life can feel stranger than a fairytale, so in those moments it may be useful to have Mr Gaiman's Instructions to hand - even if you choose to ignore them. We will think no less of you.

3 comments:

thaliak said...

No thanks required, but I still thought I'd say, 'Thanks for the blogging, Onions!'
I might not comment often, but I am still reading, and enjoying.
And welcome back to the intrepid, travelling Onion too.

The Alien Onions said...

thaliak: We are delighted to hear of your enjoyments!

And thank you for the welcome home. To wake up in a yak herder's hut surrounded only by snowy peaks (and yaks) did indeed feel intrepid. And rather a lot of the amazing.

-J

Menakata said...

Sound great !!!!

thank you so much for sharing.