Homer's Travels: Book: Neil Gaiman's "The Ocean At The End Of The Lane"

Friday, September 05, 2014

Book: Neil Gaiman's "The Ocean At The End Of The Lane"

This was a short one.  At one hundred and eighty pages it was the shortest book I've read in years.  This was my first book I've read by Neil Gaiman, a noted graphic novelist and writer.  "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" is a novel intended for adults.  Having said this, while reading this book, I had to double check that I hadn't checked out a young adult book.

The book follows the memories of a man who has returned to his childhood home where he remembers a harrowing time of magical creatures, magic, and life threatening danger.  The book reads like a cross between a fantasy novel and a fairy tale.  Gaiman weaves a magical tale hidden in a normal pastoral setting of the English countryside.

Gaiman captures the uncertainty of memory and the feelings of a young boy in his story telling.  There is a sense of wonder wrapped around the calm acceptance of all the strangeness the seven year old boy is witness to.  I enjoyed the way we wade into the strange world where a pond can be an ocean and shadows can devour you but I wanted for more.  The book is too short.  There is so much more that could be written but, in the end, it all remains a mystery.  I guess that's what makes a good book ... leaving the reader wanting for more.

3 comments:

  1. This is on my "To Read" list. I think you might like Robert McCammon's Boy's Life. Unless I already recommended it to you. Then never mind :)

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  2. I look forward to our future book discussions!

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