Neil Gaiman won out last weekend. I knew I could count on him to provide me with a real story that would feed my need for story. So I picked up the copy of The Graveyard Book that Aaron and Abby gave me for Christmas.
It is designated "juvenile fiction," but I find that some works in this genre are more compelling than a lot of adult fiction. What matters to me is that is an enjoyable story with interesting characters and both depths and surprises to it. It follows a toddler who escapes death at the hands of a determined killer when the ghostly inhabitants of a graveyard take him in. A couple who never had a child become his parents and a non-living, non-dead gentleman takes the role of guardian.
The book is episodic, looking in on the child at different ages as he learns from the dead around him as well as an occasional living person. The ghosts are varied as they come from different eras of history. Nobody is an appealing child, vulnerable, curious, daring, sweet, and rebellious. How he is at various ages is consistent with children of those ages. He is quite a typical child, if you leave aside that he lives in a graveyard and learns from ghosts and other mystical creatures. But you can't leave that aside and that is what makes the story intriguing. This is a coming of age tale with a definite fantastic bent. It has suspense, horror, yearning, mystery, and a bittersweet ending. Or is it an end? I would love to see the adventures of Nobody Owens as he explores the wider world.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment