Book Review: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaimain
Title: The Graveyard Book
Author: Neil Gaiman
What it says on the back: Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn’t live in a graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts. There are dangers and adventures for Bod in the graveyard. But it is in the land of the living that real danger lurks for it is there that the man Jack lives and he has already killed Bod’s family.
My thoughts:
I am currently stalking Neil Gaiman in my local bookstores, trying to find more of his books. This was the first (and only) one I could find, so I purchased it. As expected, Gaiman has a simply wonderful writing style, and narrative style. The plot and characters weave through the story like a complicated tapestry and reveal themselves like unexpected treasures. And Gaiman masters the excellent technique of letting the reader fill in the blanks without spelling it all out for you, especially with characters like Silas.
The plot and story is intriguing and bitter sweet. Bod is both very alone and surrounded by friends, welcomed into a world and looking from the outside in. I thoroughly enjoyed the intermingling of history, especially from the ghosts’ perspective, and Bod’s strange view of the living world. Every character is well formed and interesting. And the mystery of Bod’s family and why they were murdered is played out with skill and dexterity. I wish the ending had been dragged out a little more and that the subplot explored further as well.
A lovely, interesting read.
Author: Neil Gaiman
What it says on the back: Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn’t live in a graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts. There are dangers and adventures for Bod in the graveyard. But it is in the land of the living that real danger lurks for it is there that the man Jack lives and he has already killed Bod’s family.
My thoughts:
I am currently stalking Neil Gaiman in my local bookstores, trying to find more of his books. This was the first (and only) one I could find, so I purchased it. As expected, Gaiman has a simply wonderful writing style, and narrative style. The plot and characters weave through the story like a complicated tapestry and reveal themselves like unexpected treasures. And Gaiman masters the excellent technique of letting the reader fill in the blanks without spelling it all out for you, especially with characters like Silas.
The plot and story is intriguing and bitter sweet. Bod is both very alone and surrounded by friends, welcomed into a world and looking from the outside in. I thoroughly enjoyed the intermingling of history, especially from the ghosts’ perspective, and Bod’s strange view of the living world. Every character is well formed and interesting. And the mystery of Bod’s family and why they were murdered is played out with skill and dexterity. I wish the ending had been dragged out a little more and that the subplot explored further as well.
A lovely, interesting read.