XXXIV
Book Title: "Coraline"
Author: Neil Gaiman
Page Count: 192
First Published: 2002
Rating: superfunk - golden - sweet - blah - superblah - blergh - goatfood
I'm not sure I'd give this book to any children of mine, especially not if I raise them in a British country manor. This was one scary book, very dark and macabre and so just right for me, maybe a bit TOO scary. Coraline is a single child who has moved into a new flat with her parents, who both work at home and spend more time with their computers than with their daughter. But Coraline is a resourceful child (as only children tend to be) and goes out exploring. She gets to know the neighbours and the surroundings, until one day, it rains, and she has to stay inside. On exploring the flat, she finds a door that leads nowhere, until her mother leaves it unlocked. Then, it leads to the other flat, where Coraline's other parents are waiting for her. And this other world is really freaking scary. I mean, Wonderland had a Queen that wanted to behead everyone, but at least there was a pretty garden and a puppy. And then there's a talking cat, and lost children, and adventures and stuff and in the end we learn what Coraline seems to have known all along: That a world in which you can have everything is not fun, and the real world is vastly preferable.
Now I want to read more of Gaiman's stuff, but where to start? I once tried to read "Neverwhere" but had to stop because it was so boring.
Author: Neil Gaiman
Page Count: 192
First Published: 2002
Rating: superfunk - golden - sweet - blah - superblah - blergh - goatfood
I'm not sure I'd give this book to any children of mine, especially not if I raise them in a British country manor. This was one scary book, very dark and macabre and so just right for me, maybe a bit TOO scary. Coraline is a single child who has moved into a new flat with her parents, who both work at home and spend more time with their computers than with their daughter. But Coraline is a resourceful child (as only children tend to be) and goes out exploring. She gets to know the neighbours and the surroundings, until one day, it rains, and she has to stay inside. On exploring the flat, she finds a door that leads nowhere, until her mother leaves it unlocked. Then, it leads to the other flat, where Coraline's other parents are waiting for her. And this other world is really freaking scary. I mean, Wonderland had a Queen that wanted to behead everyone, but at least there was a pretty garden and a puppy. And then there's a talking cat, and lost children, and adventures and stuff and in the end we learn what Coraline seems to have known all along: That a world in which you can have everything is not fun, and the real world is vastly preferable.
Now I want to read more of Gaiman's stuff, but where to start? I once tried to read "Neverwhere" but had to stop because it was so boring.