Wednesday, March 26, 2014

The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel by Neil Gaiman


A man returns to his childhood home town for a funeral. He apparently goes by change to visit an old neighbor house and starts to remember what happened during a summer years ago...The neighbors might have been something else or more than humans. And they might have been somewhat older than they seem to be. And there might be some other forces and beings with less than pleasant aims. The book is somewhat similar in style as Coraline, but it feels perhaps slightly more adult. The events are seen by the eyes of a child, but they are told by an adult. The happenings are wonderous and fairytale like, very mystical and not well explained, but even that doesn’t harm the book. Somehow I also felt that I was “reading” a film by Hayao Miyazaki as the slow, magical and poetic “feel” is very similar. The writing was excellent, smooth and poetic, but easy to read at the same time. Something which isn’t always true, very often when the author aims for this style of writing the end result is pretty incomprehensive. Very enjoyable and good book, and extremely likely award nominee (and winner).

192 pp.

1 comment:

Raija / Taikakirjaimet said...

Samanlaisia fiiliksiä tästä minullakin. Sen verran jäi Ocean viime vuotisista mieleen ja pinnan yläpuolelle, että nimesin Hugo-ehdokkaaksi. Saa nähdä millainen vetovoima on ollut muihin, en ole nähnyt hirveästi ehdokkuushypetyksiä.