A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.
Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly …
A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.
Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what.
A groundbreaking work from a master, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is told with a rare understanding of all that makes us human, and shows the power of stories to reveal and shelter us from the darkness inside and out. It is a stirring, terrifying, and elegiac fable as delicate as a butterfly's wing and as menacing as a knife in the dark.
I'll try and keep this short, Gaiman as an author creates some of the most intricate and beautiful characters I have seen, particularly those of monsters. In this text Gaiman successfully conveys the terror of a monster from a child's perspective, while also tackling questions regarding memory and the different perceptions of the world from adult's perspectives versus children's. While I know some people struggle with magical realism as a mode or genre, I still would give this text a chance as it is truly a gem and so powerful.
Much like Stardust, also by Neil Gaiman, The Ocean At The End Of The Lane is a traditional-style fairytale for adults and I thought it was absolutely wonderful. The story flows perfectly with vivid descriptions and larger than life characters. How does Gaiman manage to maintain such inventiveness while also telling fabulous stories? The characters are perfect for their situations I loved the Hempstocks and could picture Ursula in great detail. I had already read other reviews so knew that this is more a novella than a full-length novel and I think it's just about the right length for the story being told although I would happily have spent much longer within this book. As it is short though, I devoured all this fantastic escapism in a single evening.
I guess it is long for a novella, but short for a novel. That means there is not a lot of room to build up characters. The protagonist is a bookish but uncomplicated boy but e.g. the parents are mostly ciphers.
It's an engaging story, I finished it in a few sessions, something I don't do very often these days. It feel very English, and very Rural, which isn't what I remember of Gaiman. It doesn't really break any new ground, but it well crafted, and the setting is more completely related than the characters.
It does have some scenes that would probably give sensitive souls (and children) nightmares.
Review of 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
There's something about this book, a subtlety, a softness...that just pulled me in. It really does feel as though you're seeing from the eyes of a seven-year-old.
Review of 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Neil Gaiman writes GOOD monsters. Oh, and good protagonists. And don't forget he writes amazing mysterious supporting characters. Were I qualified, I'd say this is an excellent example of Gaiman at his usual finest. Simple on the surface, but subtly deep so that you'll be thinking about it for months after. Not quite enough to excite me to 5-stars, but I highly recommend it. A timeless book destined to become a classic.
Review of 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This is a book about magic - the horrifying magic of childhood, and the misleading magic of memory. It's written very much like a children's book, though Gaiman includes a couple of "adult moments", maybe to clarify that this is not one of his children's books. The book is mostly told through the eyes of a seven year old, though at times the narrator, who is in fact that child as an adult, pulls back and gives a more grown up interpretation of what he saw, again, "adult moments", and there is no attempt to rationalize what is experienced. The child simply absorbs and accepts everything as true, which might not give enough credit to children (or give them too much credit), but this strengthens the feeling of a children's book. I heard this as an audiobook, the Gaiman's haunting performance added much to the text. It may have helped …
This is a book about magic - the horrifying magic of childhood, and the misleading magic of memory. It's written very much like a children's book, though Gaiman includes a couple of "adult moments", maybe to clarify that this is not one of his children's books. The book is mostly told through the eyes of a seven year old, though at times the narrator, who is in fact that child as an adult, pulls back and gives a more grown up interpretation of what he saw, again, "adult moments", and there is no attempt to rationalize what is experienced. The child simply absorbs and accepts everything as true, which might not give enough credit to children (or give them too much credit), but this strengthens the feeling of a children's book. I heard this as an audiobook, the Gaiman's haunting performance added much to the text. It may have helped that I dozed off near the end and the story and my own dreams may have mixed to some extent. The story certainly has a dreamlike quality to is, like much of Gaiman's work. Some of the observations about childhood vs. adulthood were a bit cliche and overdone, but I enjoyed Gaiman's ever inventive story. I think parents will probably like this story more than readers in the twenties, who might not feel the full emotional horror of one of the key scenes in the book, that drives a lot of the psychological action later on. But this is a book that should appeal to anyone who still remembers what it's like being a kid.
Review of 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
The Ocean At The End of the Lane is a gem of a book, mostly because it seems to be such a clear window into the experience of being a child. Gaiman's novel is very adult, and yet, it's told very convincingly in the voice of a seven year old boy. This tale has a distinctive, magical atmosphere.
One of my favorite quotes:
Adults follow paths. Children explore. Adults are content to walk the same way, hundreds of times, or thousands; perhaps it never occurs to adults to step off the paths, to creep beneath rhododendrons, to find the spaces between fences. I was a child, which meant that I knew a dozen different ways of getting out of our property and into the lane, ways that would not involve walking down our drive.”
The storyline flows so nicely that it's hard to put down after beginning. And it's not …
The Ocean At The End of the Lane is a gem of a book, mostly because it seems to be such a clear window into the experience of being a child. Gaiman's novel is very adult, and yet, it's told very convincingly in the voice of a seven year old boy. This tale has a distinctive, magical atmosphere.
One of my favorite quotes:
Adults follow paths. Children explore. Adults are content to walk the same way, hundreds of times, or thousands; perhaps it never occurs to adults to step off the paths, to creep beneath rhododendrons, to find the spaces between fences. I was a child, which meant that I knew a dozen different ways of getting out of our property and into the lane, ways that would not involve walking down our drive.”
The storyline flows so nicely that it's hard to put down after beginning. And it's not long, so--go ahead, sit down and enjoy this one!
Review of 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
The Ocean at the End of the Lane is a magnificently poignant book that once again show's Neil Gaiman's brilliance at not merely putting words onto paper but rather using them to paint wonderful colorful and evocative words of art in our imaginations.
The mark of a good book for me has always been in its ability to capture your heart and imagination and draw you deep into its world so that you lose all track of your surroundings and the passing of time. The Ocean at the End of the Lane is just such a book and from beginning to end you'll find yourself laughing, crying and just enjoying every word and sentence and paragraph before coming to the end and wishing for more.
