(The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains Limited Edition: A Tale of Travel and Darkness with Pictures of All Kinds)

by Neil Gaiman

Hardcover

Status

Available

Call number

PR6057.A319 T78

Publication

William Morrow & Company

Description

"Beautifully illustrated by renowned artist Eddie Campbell, this is a four-color edition of Neil Gaiman's award-winning novelette "The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains" -- a haunting story of family, the otherworld, and retribution"--

User reviews

LibraryThing member paradoxosalpha
The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains is very much a picture book for adults. The format reaches beyond the usual picture book approach (no two-page spread lacks illustration) to include occasional sequential art, comic-strip style presentations of dialogue, and the like. Although the
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illustrations are all the work of artist Campbell, and the style is consistent, the media vary through different sorts of painting and drawing, reflecting the multimedia origins of this story, which Gaiman originally wrote as a piece for spoken performance. (The details of the composition history are given as end matter to the book.)

The story is grim and grippingly told, with subdued supernatural features, and a variety of motives only gradually becoming clear. The magical elements straddle folklore and contemporary fantasy in a sort of neo-Dunsanian style which Gaiman has exercised before. It is set in the Outer Hebrides during the Jacobean period, and told in the first person by a dwarf, who is the tale's unusual and vivid protagonist.

I read it in two brief sittings. The opening sentences make it clear that the story will be something less than cheery, and it delivers on that promise.
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LibraryThing member ecataldi
LOVED this. As always Gaiman brilliantly brings to life an old tale, "a tale of travel and darkness with pictures of all kinds." It's a quick read and you will have it done within an hour, but the story will stick with you. It's mesmerizing and powerful in its simplicity and raw emotion. It's hard
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to summarize this book without giving too much away. Just know that the haunting illustrations and great story-line are worth an hour of your life. Gaiman is a master of the dark otherworlds; this story of vengeance, adventure, and shadow is no exception.
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LibraryThing member Neftzger
A wonderful folk tale that is everything we've come to expect from Neil Gaiman - an overarching darkness throughout, a plot that involves mystery, unexpected revelations with twists and turns of events, and a new way of looking at things we've taken for granted. The story follows two men on a
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journey in search of gold in the Black Cave in the Mountains, but I won't reveal too much else since the story is fairly brief, and I don't want to spoil it for anyone.

The book is heavily illustrated, which initially gives it the appearance of a picture book. However, the book is really part graphic novel, part short story, and part picture book. The blending of these genres is refreshing in this context, and I loved the way it made the text come alive in some parts and allowed my imagination come alive in others.

Fans of Gaiman's work (such as myself) will be very pleased with this one.
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LibraryThing member jen.e.moore
A nicely psychological story with wonderful illustrations that add a lot - I enjoyed this immensely.
LibraryThing member questbird
An 'adult picture book' more than a graphic novel, the result of a successful collaboration between Neil Gaiman (words) and Eddie Cambell (pictures).
LibraryThing member KatharineDB
Sorry - but I have not read a Neil Gaiman book yet that disappointed. This book is as visually gorgeous as is the tale - a combo of graphic novel and fairy tale - about truth and love and revenge .. a must own for any lover of Neil or the graphic genre
LibraryThing member Carmenere
As Gaiman writes in his post script, "It's not a pure prose, not a graphic novel. It's a story with pictures unlike anything else I've written." So what is it? It seems to be a legend told in the dark style that Gaiman's readers have come to know and expect. Basically, it is a tale of a dwarf,
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why's he need to be short? I don't know. He hears there's gold to be found in a distant cave and he needs the help of a man to take him there. Ok, that's all you need to know, it's a short story and I think the message is loud and clear. It's a dark tail, dark illustrations but it will certainly make you contemplate it.
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LibraryThing member BenjaminHahn
Not quite a novel, not quite a graphic novel. I don't care, it's by Neil Gaiman, it's set in Scotland, there is skull on the cover and just look at the title: The Truth is a a Cave in the Black Mountains! How could you deny the pull of that spell? Anyway, Neil Gaiman did not let me down. This story
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is short but delightfully mysterious, a little creepy, and frosted with that slight sense of the ancient magic that is hard to find these days. The book itself is solid with a satisfying weight to it. As usual, it wasn't cheap. There is a price. There is always a price.
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LibraryThing member kaylaraeintheway
I first read this short story online many months ago. It confused me, and I'm not quite sure why. Maybe because the version I read did not have the amazing artwork by Eddie Campbell. I would have loved to see this read live by Gaiman, with the backing of a string quartet as Campbell's illustrations
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are projected behind them (but alas, the San Francisco show was sold out).

This is a story about a little man and a reiver who go out on a journey to a certain dark cave in the mountains. There is gold in the cave for those brave (and stupid) enough to go get it, but in exchange, the person loses all sense of good and evil. As the two men continue on their journey, we discover that the little man chose this particular guide for a very specific reason...

Another haunting and fantastic story by Gaiman that makes you think about humanity and the nature of good and evil.
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LibraryThing member lilibrarian
A small man, a dwarf, hires a guide to take him to a mysterious island in search of a cursed treasure. This is no regular man, and the choice of guide was anything but random.
LibraryThing member krau0098
This is a short story/graphic novel that take place on Isle of Skye in Scotland. In the story a dwarf visits a man who is supposed to know the location of a cave that holds all the gold a man can dream of...for a price. So starts a journey deep into greed and darkness.

This book is a bit of an
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oddity. It was apparently based on a live reading Gaiman did of this story while Campbell did live artwork. It’s part short story and part graphic novel. It is definitely intended for adults/older young adults. There is a cabin that the two characters stop at where the man obviously abuses his wife (emotionally/physically/sexually).

It’s a very good short story and I really enjoyed that part of the book. The story is full of the deep and dark irony that I have come to associate with many of Gaiman’s books. The story has a bit of a folklore feel to it as well as telling a moral of sorts.

I did not like the illustration. The bigger pictures are done in a very unfinished waterpaint looking style that I didn’t really enjoy. The graphic novel panels look like someone gave a child a marker and told them to make loose sketches of people. I am not familiar with Campbell’s art style, so I am guessing this is just his typical style. However, it wasn’t for me.

Overall a very well done short story that is done in a unique way. However I did not enjoy the illustration style. Also this may kind of look like a picture book, but I would recommend for older young adults and adults. A must have for any Neil Gaiman fanatic, but not my favorite.
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LibraryThing member hoosgracie
A very short story/novella, which like much of Gaiman's work is a dark twisted fairy tale. Thoroughly enjoyable on audio, with musical accompaniment that mostly enhances the story.
LibraryThing member hailelib
Gaiman tells a great story and Campbell's paintings and drawings really add to it making this a wonderful book that's hard to describe. Although it could be described as a picture book of sorts this is definitely not for children but any adult who has enjoyed Gaiman's writing before should give it
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a try.
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LibraryThing member Ailinel
This book marries comic panels, watercolors, art, and a story in a fascinating blend. Written to be read aloud, the tale flows easily as the reader follows two men on the Isle of Skye as they journey to a cave filled with gold-- a cave that is not always there, and that takes something from those
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who enter it. A revenge tale and a bit of a mystery, the story is powerful, worth reading aloud, and something that will bring back memories for anyone who has been to Skye.
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LibraryThing member StigE
This is very Gaiman-y. Excellent and haunting illustrations as well.
LibraryThing member Nataliec7
To be honest, this wasn't my usual genre of book but I'm open to reading all different styles of books. I picked up this little gem and began it before bed last night and very quickly I realised that it was right up my street. The illustrations are just excellent and fitting to this tale.
My
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eyelids were heavy and I tried to fight sleep to finish this and I just wanted to know everything, but reluctant I put it down and slept. Fast forward to this morning when I reached over and finished it.
It was as disturbing as I though it would be, yet intriguing and written so well. The first by Neil Gaiman I have read but certainly not the last. I just listened to the audiobook sample after reading the reviews and will listen to it as soon as I find it.
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LibraryThing member ardvisoor
Incredible work!!This is a short novelette from Gaiman along with Eddie Campbell’s dark fascinating paintings. Reading this story is very fast and like other Gaiman’s work very rich. Campbell’s graphic novel’s style is strange and at first I didn’t really enjoy it but after a few pages I
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was all in. So much harmony between the story and the art work.

Story starts with a small man looking for a guide to accompany him to a mysterious cave. For the contrast the guide man is very big/tall. As they travel story reveals itself and the companions’ true intentions.
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LibraryThing member tangledthread
This is not quite a graphic novel that takes place on the Isle of Skye in the Outer Hebrides. It was originally published in a short story collection before being made into this novella.
Like most Neil Gaiman stories, it's a dark tale with a little magical mysticism thrown in.
LibraryThing member Aridy
The story was pretty dark, though that is expected out of the word-smith, Neil Gaiman. It was an interesting short tale.
LibraryThing member nkmunn
1/2-3/4 of the way in and I was hooked. Sitting in the car listening in the garage. Sitting in the car listening in the parking lot waiting outside my daughter's school. The music is overwhelming at first. It took me a while to acclimate to it, then it seemed perfect by the end too.
LibraryThing member decaturmamaof2
Love the story, and the art really enhances the tale.
LibraryThing member Glennis.LeBlanc
This is more of a novelette crossed with tons on illustrations. It is set in Scotland around the time they are trying to get Bonnie Prince Charles onto the throne since there are hints about giving gold to a king so he can come back. What starts out as a quest for gold turns into revenge tale. Good
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story and you can read it separate here or read it in the collection it first appeared in 2011 in Stories
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LibraryThing member PDCRead
Legend says that in the Black Mountains is a cave filled with gold. One day Calum MacInnes has a dwarf call at his home seeking this mythical place. MacInnes reluctantly agrees to guide him there, for a price, and they set off for Misty Island where it supposedly is located. There is a healthy
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amount of distrust between the travellers, MacInnes at one point tries to lose the man, but he finds him fairly quickly. They do bond eventually and slowly reveal secrets from their past, dark secrets that no others had known before. Their secrets are linked to the cave of gold, which is claimed holds a curse for those that take it, a curse that MacInnes thinks he still carries from the first time he visited. Will they find the cave and is it cursed?

This is a moody, atmospheric tale that Gaiman has written, full of XXX and revenge. It is a story that I first read in Trigger Warnings and quite liked, but the dark tale is perfectly complemented by the artwork of Eddie Campbell who manages to convey the brooding skies and mountains of the region as the characters swirl around each other. Solid stuff from Gaiman once again.
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LibraryThing member melrailey
If there's one thing I absolutely love about Neil Gaiman, it's his versatility. He can write these dense fantasy novels and then follow it up with a childrens book and then follow that with something like The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains. I would best describe this book as a flushed out
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parable. I loved the way he takes a story that seems simple on the surface and then makes it all complicated and difficult and dense. The artwork was superb. In truth, I just wish I had also bought the audiobook and let Gaiman himself read it to me.
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LibraryThing member Linyarai
The artwork in this one was really interesting, it varied between almost comic strips and full images. The story was good, and a bit twisted, I would have liked to keep reading about the character.

Awards

Shirley Jackson Award (Winner — Novelette — 2010)
Locus Award (Finalist — Novelette — 2011)

Original publication date

2010
2014 (illustrations by Campbell)
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