The Graveyard Book

In anyone else's hands, except perhaps Ray Bradbury, this would either be a sickeningly sweet confection, or it would simply fall apart under the weight of all its improbability.

Instead, this is a murder mystery/coming of age/fantasy novel that carries a whole lot of magic in its pages.

I'll not say more than that, because I firmly believe everyone should go into a Gaiman book with no expectations, and let him wash the story over you. He's a freaking master.

Honestly, I can't imagine "reading" this when Neil Gaiman such does a brilliant job "narrating" it. It was freaking brilliant. His accent, the care to differentiate his character's voice, and his cadence, made this a true treat to listen to. The Graveyard Book opens with a gruesome family murder and a small baby boy who miraculously escapes to a graveyard. When the killer tracks the baby to the neighboring graveyard the residents (aka ghosts) band together to protect the baby boy and vow to raise him in the safety of the graveyard. Unsure of what his name is they decide to call him Nobody, or Bod for short. Bod has an unusual childhood, never being allowed to leave the gates of the cemetery his lessons include opening and closing ghoul show more gates, disappearing, and haunting. As he gets older though he longs to be around other breathing humans. A perfect and not too scary book for middle grade readers that is equal parts funny and spooky. Very endearing :) show less

This is a really delightful book, would recommend for any age.

Gaiman always strikes me as a bit of a balance: always clever, inventive, sometimes a bit cute, sometimes a bit gothy (for lack of a better way to put that), always a bit meta-interested in story, and I sometimes feel like he's about 2 degrees of tilt from going too far in any of those directions.

This is one is perfect.

Charming, but not cloying. Surprising, without feeling like it was manipulated to be so. Gaiman's core story and characters here are deft and natural-feeling, enough so that he can quietly insert some jokes (like the classic mummy/vampire/werewolf mashup, or the Jacks) without abrading the reader. The detail-work here is delightful, setting up a whole show more atmosphere of calm, shot through with vivid little snippets and a kind of horrific-comic tone, or comic-horrific, that might be Gaiman's signature move: in anyone else's hands it would collapse into Burton-esque vaudeville, but here the innocence of the protagonist, and the general plain goodness that surrounds him, allows us to run into murderers and monsters, ghouls and night-gaunts, in a way that keeps the horror, delighting fantasy, and quiet humor running simultaneously.

Structurally, the novel is also about three quarters of the way to a fix-up--many of the chapters could sort-of kind-of stand on their own--while preserving an overall arc and a satisfying ending. It strikes me as an unusual thing to see done well: the story neither loses its place nor feels like it's rushing you anywhere in particular. Following a child both closely and believably from age 2 to 17 or so is also quite a trick.

It's scattered throughout with ringing little lines and phrases, without feeling flowery or distracting. Really a beautiful read, a pastiche-free homage to childhood and reading itself. show less

This is the best Neil Gaiman book I have ever read. Hell, this is one of the best books I have ever read.

THE GRAVEYARD BOOK IS AMAZING.

In every page. In every aspect. In every dimension.

There's some real powerful storytelling going on here. I don't know where Gaiman gets it. (He says he has a maggot in his mind. I say, whatever that thing is, keep it alive.)

First few pages into this book and it's already intriguing. Not to mention that it's accompanied with great illustrations. Then we get to the graveyard, and I'm just like, whoa, I know what a graveyard is, and I've read several books about it too (hi Niffenegger). Enter Gaiman and his imaginative storytelling prowess, and this world suddenly looks so fresh and so fascinatingly show more different and- just, amazing. Because he begins to fill it with inhabitants with different stories of their own, and they're not meant to be creepy and scary like your usual graveyard residents. They were all really likable.

And then we grow up with Nobody Owens and have adventures with him. If you're still not totally lost in the story by this point, something has got to be wrong with you. I think the supernatural part of the story is very well-written, seeing that Bod is a boy playing with the borders of the living and the dead. And Gaiman just carries on gracefully.

Then as you get to the ending.. well, it just plain blew my mind, because there was actually a lot of unsaid things going on in the background. And when it was ready for the big reveal- raise curtain- it leaves you amazed. Because the puzzle pieces fit, and boy do they make a wonderful picture.



Although Gaiman gives us some answers, he leaves some questions unanswered. I'm grateful for that actually, because he's giving his readers the freedom to think as they wish. *cough*cansomeonepleasestopJKRowling*cough*

That's it. I think I used the word "amazing" too much.
P.S. There's also Silas, by the way, who was tasked to be Bod's guardian. I'll probably love the guy to death. show less

Just as each day I wake my dreams remain shrouded by night, so each day I live my childhood becomes more dreamlike and drifts a little bit further beyond my grasp. The results of that childhood are evident every day, the loves and insecurities produced in the factory of my childhood course through my veins with every beat but the factory itself is dark, empty and abandoned. THE GRAVEYARD BOOK captures this feeling for me. From the beginning it has the quality and language of dreams in its description of the murders that set the story in motion. As the child grows, the ghosts who raise him, echoes of the people they were at the moment they died, are dreams that walk and talk. It is a joy of the book that the real world remains a threat show more to this dream childhood the way ghosts are usually considered a threat to the living. As the child grows, some of his ghost friends fall away, reject him, as he continues to grow up (and grow more real) while they remain still. Others remain by his side, watching over him and teaching him what they learned up to the point they stopped living. As a child I would have absolutely adored this book. As an adult there are modest flaws that bothered me. The author admits to having written the book in chunks over time and this lends to a certain disjointed quality in the narrative, some abrupt stops and simplified solutions. I also never bought the conspiracy revealed at the end to be responsible for the murders that start the book. Beyond all that I loved the book's presentation of childhood being a land of ghosts. The magic used to navigate those lands left behind as we grow. The whole world before us as we walk out the gates that once protected but also contained us. show less

I flat-out loved this. It's my second book by Gaiman--my third if you count Good Omens, which Gaiman co-wrote with Terry Pratchett. I do love Good Omens more, and that tempted me to dock this a star to show that distance, but goodness with this just such an awesome read--particularly after trying to make my way through Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, which I've been finding tedious, I have to give it top marks. This, in contrast, was a blast to read. Gaiman wrote that one of his inspirations was Kipling's The Jungle Book, and I could see that. His Bod Owens is a Mowgli of the graveyard--a real live boy growing up amongst ghosties and ghoulies rather than the jungle. As Gaiman wrote: it takes a graveyard to raise a child... This book show more just delighted me with its imaginative world building and vivid characters that would make Dickens--or Kipling--proud. The book can be found inhabiting the children's section, but this adult certainly found it an unalloyed pleasure. show less

A young boy grows up in a graveyard, surrounded by spirits and ghouls.

I love me some good children's lit, and I love me some Neil Gaiman even more. Put the two together, and I'm a happy girl indeed.

THE GRAVEYARD BOOK is a creepier take on THE JUNGLE BOOK, but you don't need to have read Kipling's classic to enjoy Gaiman's version. It's a wonderful little book that reads like a collection of interconnected short stories. Bod ages at least a year between chapters, and one - "The Witch's Headstone" - was in fact published as a short story a couple of years before the novel was released. His adventures are episodic, but there's a definite sense of growth and change running beneath the narrative. Gaiman shows us how Bod matures as the story show more unfolds, and we see how his potential for change sometimes puts him at odds with his ghostly friends. There's a lot of flashy surface stuff here, but there's also a deeper thread that parents and educators are bound to appreciate.

Be aware, though, that it is a darker story. Gaiman writes horror, and he doesn't pull many punches even when his books are for younger readers. The book begins with a murder, and many of the ghosts died unpleasant deaths. Bod's adventures are scary as well as fun. Religious families may also take issue with the fact that the graveyard seems to be the final destination for most folks.

I'd certainly recommend this, though. It's an entertaining read with a lot of heart, and the more I think about it, the more I like it. I'd love to read more about Bod, but I don't imagine there'll ever be a sequel to this. I suspect that the anticipatory feeling the reader gets as she finishes may be part of the point.

(A slightly different version of this review originally appeared on my blog, Stella Matutina). show less