Reread: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

 After The Graveyard Book, I found The Ocean at the End of the Lane in the Kindle Unlimted library, and started reading it to Boen. Neil Gaiman stated in his blog that he deliberately started the novel slow so that younger readers wouldn't end up reading a book meant for adults, but I'm the kind of person who ignores warning labels on books.

Reading two Gaiman books so close together tells me that Gaiman loves re-using the Hempstock name --- the name clearly means something to him, but the Hempstock in this novel has nothing to do with the Lizzie Hempstock in the Graveyard Book.

I've decided that Gaiman works best in the shorter genre, and in this case, the novel is short enough that much like Stardust, the book can shine in every phase. The terror of a 7 year old of his own father who's turned evil by a monster he brought back from the faerie land is palpable, and I will admit that the book has a tendency to keep Boen awake instead of lulling him to sleep as the story is paced just right, with enough scary and exciting things happenings while the more mundane, prosaic events in between those moments of terror grounds the story.

The book never actually reveals who the Hempstocks actually are, or the nature of the magic that is practiced in the world, but doesn't flinch away from the sacrifices that are made. The narrative touch is also great --- the narrator rather than a person telling about events as they happen, is an older adult remembering events as they happened to the 7 year old self, comes through with authenticity and demonstrates the craft that Gaiman has mastered over the years.

There are lots of little gems that make the book quotable as well:

“Oh, monsters are scared,” said Lettie. “That’s why they’re monsters. And as for grown-ups . . .” She stopped talking, rubbed her freckled nose with a finger. Then, “I’m going to tell you something important. Grown-ups don’t look like grown-ups on the inside either. Outside, they’re big and thoughtless and they always know what they’re doing. Inside, they look just like they always have. Like they did when they were your age. The truth is, there aren’t any grown-ups. Not one, in the whole wide world.” (pg. 155)

I'm glad that Boen made me read this book to him.