Categories: BooksREVIEWS

Of Magic, Wonder and a Pond that is Actually an Ocean

It’s been a really long time since a book has absorbed me in its tale. I can’t remember the last time that I wished to spend every free moment wandering through a book’s pages. Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean At The End of The Lane gave me that feeling. It’s the kind of book that makes you fall in love with the art of storytelling all over again.
The novel follows a man’s journey back to his village to attend a funeral. He then remembers snippets of his past and the story then takes you back to his childhood, particularly to the strange and magical events that unfold after the death of a man who lived with the protagonist’s family.
I would describe the book as a fairy tale for adults, for while Gaiman leads you on an Enid Blyton like tour of a magical Essex village, adult themes of love, death and greed are subtly juxtaposed in between.
Gaiman is a wonderful story teller whose words and characters grip you like a sudden cold wind on a sunny day. He shows you glimpses of different worlds devoid of space and time and reminds you of the innocence and wonder of being a child in an adult world.
-Nathaniel D’Costa

GETTING TO KNOW NEIL GAIMAN

Neil Gaiman is a prolific English writer of graphic novels, short stories, novels, comic books, films, TV shows and audio plays

HIS THEMES
Fantasy, science fiction, horror, fairy tales, magical realism
RECOMMENDED FOR
those who enjoy escaping to a dimension entirely unlike reality
TRIVIA
* Started reading at the age of four
* Was a journalist before he published his first fiction work, a short story; he was 24
* Wrote a Batman story for DC Comics
* Has written two episodes of Doctor Who

READING SHELF

The Sandman
A dazzling comic book series on an entity called Dream who rules over the world of dreams

American Gods: A novel on Shadow, an ex-con who operates in the realm of gods and mythological creatures

The Graveyard Book : A scinitillating book about a toddler raised in a graveyard by ghosts

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