Review: Violent Cases

Violent Cases is the very first collaboration between master storyteller Neil Gaiman and genius artist Dave McKean.  This strange story explores the frailty of memory and the many faces of violence as seen through the eyes of an innocent child.


At a mere 48 pages, VC is a quick but absorbing read.

The narrator, an unidentified 20-something male, who spins his tale from what looks to be the couch of a bachelor pad, begins by making it clear that his memory of the events described are most definitely incomplete, and perhaps even wildly incorrect in some areas.  He goes on to describe his unlikely childhood friendship to a elderly osteopath, hired to mend his injured arm after a burst of violence from his father.  He is somewhere between 4 to 6 years old, and lives in a small town in England.  It is revealed that he is a antisocial child, who prefers listening in on adult conversations more than the company of other children.

The narrator is instantly taken with the kindly old man, who entrances him with tales of his old life as attendant to the American gangster, Al Capone himself!  The narrator is elated by way in which the osteopath speaks to him, confiding in him as an equal, instead of speaking down to him as a child.  His father, quick to anger, dismisses his questions with annoyance, while his grandparents ignore that he asks questions at all.  The osteopath carefully listens to all that he says, and answers as honestly as he can.  Over the course of two visits and a chance meeting at a hotel, the osteopath reveals more and more stories about his life running with dangerous Prohibition-Era criminals, and his mixed feeling of respect and fear of the infamous Capone.  As time goes on, it becomes clear that the old man is still haunted by his past, as his stories plunge deeper and deeper into dark and violent episodes.  Though the narrator does not understand it then, for the reader, the osteopath's fear of his past catching up to him is palpable.

In the end, these three meetings are all of the memories that the narrator possesses of the man.  He wonders at the possibilities of his fate, and theorizes on the effect these episodes may have had on his development.  It is clear to the reader that there is some connection in the narrator's mind between the violence done upon his family by his father and the violence of Al Capone as described by the osteopath.

The most amazing part of this book for me was the way in which McKean's art describes and informs Gaiman's words.  Apart from being beautiful, they perfectly encapsulate the meaning and lost meaning behind the narrator's memories.  Bold, wistful drawings sprawl across the page, delighting the eye and sparking pictorial connections, a secret visual language specific to dreams and memories.

Fantastic book!