Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 not up to his usual standard... November 16, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I couldn't wait to get my hands on this one, but when i did... i wasn't satisfied.
This book isn't bad at all, and if you are a neil-fan, by all means read it. But, this book just wasn't as inventive, as surprising, touching or original.
the concept is great... the excecution.. not that great. There is nothing new, and i felt that i'd seen all the tricks before.
(Strangely, the book read as a script. i could just see the film sequences in my head.)
Also having read M is for Magic, i was already familiar with a great deal of the story. i almost skipped that part, but forced myself to read it again.
I sometimes thought: this is a real children's book, don't be so critical, but then characters such as victor hugo and the 66th president of U.S.A. are introduced, and i can't imagine kids being that familiar with french literature... It felt like Neil was sending me straight to wikipedia, to read up on some elemental history.
and the end... well... i suppose it was poignant, but i was not satisfied.
i remember being shattered coming to the end of neverwhere, wanting it to go on forever... i hardly dare pick up coraline again, because it disturbed and frightened me so.
The Graveyard book left me... unimpressed.
 A children's classic in the making November 11, 2008
Structured so that each chapter works as a short story in its own right while also contributing to the overriding story arc of the novel, this novel includes all the wit, subtlety and bittersweet touches that you expect from a Gaiman book. It begins with the murder of Bod's family and his 'escape' to a nearby graveyard, where he is adopted by the ghostly inhabitants and Silas, a vampire in all but name, agrees to serve as his guardian. Subsequent chapters pick out incidents in Bod's life - one for each year as he ages, including his friendship with a little girl called Scarlett, a centennial dance involving the living and the dead, Bod's accidental visit to the Land of the Ghouls and his encounter with the ghost of a young woman murdered for being a witch. Permeating it all is the threat from The Man Jack who murdered Bod's parents and who, together with The Jacks, is still searching for Bod.
Characterisation is great, particularly Silas and Miss Lupescu (an East European woman who looks after Bod when Silas is on his travels) who are superb and utterly credible. Bod himself is likeable, and the incidents that Gaiman highlights from his life are interesting and believable - the chapter where Bod tries to go to a school for living children is particularly moving.
I would have liked to have seen more of Silas and Miss Lupescu's adventures as the Hounds of God, which Gaiman gives tantalising details of without ever really expanding (what's there works, but I'd have liked more description). I also wasn't enamoured with the introduction of the prophecy element towards the end of the book - it came far too late and I really needed to see it developed more and earlier for it to work and I couldn't help but wish that The Jacks had some other motive for hunting down Bod instead.
That said, I really admire Gaiman for not going for the easy happy ending here. Without going into spoilers, it would have been very easy for him to give the readers what they want and expect and wrap up his novel in a neat little bow. Although he doesn't do this, the ending he does provide is satisfying and fits in well with the characters and hopefully, will set up the possibility of their returning in future novels.
 Beyong the Grave... November 6, 2008
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
Hate to be the one (slightly)dissenting voice here, but just finished The Graveyard Book, and thought I'd offer a differing opinion than those already below...
I don't think this piece of work is accomplished as some are claiming. For me, the opening was wondeful: atmospheric, an interesting tilt to the language, full of colour and excitement and oddness. But after that (and in particular, the middle section), the narrative fell away, exposing what is merely a collection of fantasy cliches (though well-embroidered with Gaiman's imagination), doled out in the form of short stories. This brings me to perhaps my biggest problem with the book - the structure did not serve the story well. As a kind of Bildungsroman, it should have given more of a sense of continuity; change; development. Breaking the narrative into fragments (seemingly without rhyme or reason) does not serve the story well enough as a coming-of-age piece, and the momentum was largely lost...abandoned when it was just gaining pace. As a result, each section resolved itself into a kind of "fable"; each chapter summed by the "lesson" learned in each.
The ending was a major disappointment though: a prophecy? Really? After Harry Potter et al, is this all Mr Gaiman could come up with? And a secret society of (effectively) murderers? His story-telling skills simply weren't up to the task of orchestrating a big ending; it felt shamelessly cinematic, and much too concerned with a contrived tying-up of loose ends. Though on the plus side, the denouement was suitable poignant...
On the whole, I wouldn't recommend NOT to buy this book. I'm just not convinced of its already-touted status as "an instant classic!".
 A Ghoulish Delight for Both Adults and Kiddies October 25, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Gaiman is a master story-teller, there is no doubt about that, but it's very hard to think of him as a children's story-book writer (and yes I know he has written other children's books before, but they always seemed...not quite right). However, after reading through this novel of his one can clearly see that he has the skills necessary to delight and educate the young ones without dulling it down too much or losing the young ones on the way.
The story can be considered to be an homage to Kipling's "Jungle Book" with excellent references being made to Kipling's story that are easily recognizable. The hero of the tale, Nobody Owens, is endearing, while at the same time not a weak character. Except for the fact that he was raised by ghots of the graveyard, he is an entirely believable character, which makes the novel even more enjoyable.
Fans of Gaiman will not be disappointed by this novel, those new to him will definitely enjoy it, and those who are looking for a good book to read to a child will also be well served by this.
Raised *by* the dead? That doesn't sound right... October 20, 2008
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
What one word best describes this tale of an infant whose whole family are murdered, and who toddles to the safety of a local graveyard, where he's raised and educated by the resident dead? That word, surprisingly, would be "charming".
And it is, in every sense of the word. It's eloquent without being condescending, comforting without being soft, sharp without being bitter, and it captivates your attention throughout its entirety, leaving you perfectly satisfied by the end.
The cast of characters are written to perfection. The dead maintain an eerie timelessness, whilst the other supernatural creatures are subtle yet distinct, ("Silas ate only one food, and it was not bananas"); the villains pull off the trick of being both evil *and* credible; the living have a refreshing mundane quality, and Bod the protagonist is left with the uneasy struggle of being neither fish nor fowl (nor dead).
A delight to read and a joy to think about.
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