Trying to identify book(s) with 'Gnomes' that moved too fast to be seen

Question

As a kid I read these stories about these "gnome" men who moved too fast to be seen by normal people (sometimes they'd see a blur). Because they lived so fast they only lived like 3 days but that was years to them. I believe "gnome" had alternative spelling too, because somehow they were different.

I remember in one of the books they had to stand really still to get a humans attention and talked about tying his shoes to trip him when he was sleeping. It also mentioned when things go missing or get moved it's them.

I really want to find the book again but all I can find is that Gnomes book that's a bit different. I remember reading novels and I am pretty sure it didn't have full colour pictures.

Please help!

Answer 1

The Nome Trilogy by Terry Pratchett, (AKA The Bromeliad Trilogy) Truckers, Diggers, and Wings

Nomes are small. On the whole, small creatures don’t live for a long time. But perhaps they do live fast.

Let me explain.

One of the shortest-lived creatures on the planet Earth is the adult common mayfly. It lasts for one day. The longest-living things are bristlecone pine trees, at 4,700 years and still counting.

This may seem tough on mayflies. But the important thing is not how long your life is, but how long it seems.

To a mayfly, a single hour may last as long as a century. Perhaps old mayflies sit around complaining about how life this minute isn’t a patch on the good old minutes of long ago, when the world was young and the sun seemed so much brighter and larvae showed you a bit of respect. Whereas the trees, which are not famous for their quick reactions, may just have time to notice the way the sky keeps flickering before the dry rot and woodworm set in.

It’s all a sort of relativity. The faster you live, the more time stretches out. To a nome, a year lasts as long as ten years does to a human.

Remember it. Don’t let it concern you. They don’t. They don’t even know.