The Graveyard Book

[Dagny]

I recently picked this up at the library and really enjoyed it. it's not complicated, nor heavy, nor earthshattering, just really, really satisfying.

Makes me wanna go hang out in cemeteries, just to see who i might run into.

I figure this is one of those books where people are either going to love it or hate it. Everyone goes nuts for Gaiman's Sandmand and AMerican Gods, and this certainly isn't anything like those, so if that's what you're looking for, you might get turned off by the simple style. have you read it? what do you think?

A friend of mine asked if it would be appropriate for his 11 year old daughter, and i figured she could certainly get through all the words just fine, but i'm not sure if it would be interesting for a kid.

[MJRevell]

I loved it... and think a kid would very much find it interesting.

[GOLLUM]

Neil's been asked that question on both the Graveyard book and Coraline (incl. movie) and that was for a 5 year old. Simply put, he said it would depend upon the 5 year old, which I guess is logical, actually...that was specifically for Coraline but you get the general idea.

I had a literary dinner with Neil last year where he was promoting the graveyard book in Melbourne, Australia and he read out excerpts form the first 2 chapters and it had the audience in stitches! He's a fantastic voice-over and has done his own audio books, so they also come recommended.

In case anyone's wondering, first week in my new job has meant I'll post Neil's bibliography this weekend.

Cheers...

[BookStop]

My son is 10 and he is loving the book, so I imagine an 11 year old reader would handle it fine. It's really very good.

[Patrick Mahon]

Originally Posted by BookStop

My son is 10 and he is loving the book, so I imagine an 11 year old reader would handle it fine. It's really very good.

I've just finished it, and loved it. And though the style is different from American Gods, I thought there was still enough of the Gaiman approach to storytelling in it that those who like his other books certainly shouldn't be put off.

On the basis of what you've said, Bookstop, I might just have to give it to my 10 year old son, and see what he makes of it.

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

A much better novel than Neverwhere, Anansi Boys or Stardust. Quite dark, fantastic and gripping, with a male protagonist who for once is not completely nondescript, although he still tends to be overshadowed by his supporting cast. A very tightly engineered plot too, although some of the credit goes to Kipling, whose Jungle Books this story is partly patterned after.

The dark stuff gets going with a brutal multiple murder in chapter one - awesome way to start a juvenile novel, Mr. Gaiman - and just gets better with a delicious visit to a funereal world where ghouls feast on what it is that ghouls feast on and night gaunts circle overhead. It put me in mind of scenes from Lovecraft's 'The Dream Quest Of Unknown Kadath'. There are lots of other great set-pieces, including a memorable danse macabre, dreamwalking and knock-out final confrontation with the villainous Jacks-Of-All-Trades. The villains, as usual, are exquisitely wicked and genuinely creepy and the roster of supporting characters parallels Kipling's while being memorable in its own right.

Definitely one of his most satisfying long-format works. May even be as good as Coraline.

[Teresa Edgerton]

I liked it a lot, but I didn't love it the way I thought I would. Possibly a case of impossibly high expectations, based on all of the good things I had heard and how appealing the central premise sounded to me. For me, it fell down a little around about the middle of the story. I'm not sure why. The fact that it wasn't that long ago and I don't remember that much about the middle may be a clue.

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

I think you're right - the review above is one I wrote earlier this year in the first flush of enthusiasm. The book never quite matches up to the early chapters, although the macabray and the boy's relationship with the ghost-witch do add something to the latter part of the novel. The revelation of the Man Jacks organisation didn't do much for me either - I am rather weary of fictional covert organisations to take over the world or somesuch that seem to have been around for ages, but still have to hide their existence. How much can they really have achieved?

Still, I liked it better than ANANSI BOYS. I think as a novelist, he is better off writing for a younger audience. (Outside of his short stories, and AMERICAN GODS, I think his graphic novel work is his strong suit).

[Teresa Edgerton]

Yes, I liked the witch. Her personality seemed more vivid than some of the others, perhaps because it had more contradictions.

[Mouse]

I've read the short story of this, which is in one of Neil Gaiman's anthologies (can't remember which) and I have the actual full book waiting to be read on my shelf. Either going to be that or Anansi Boys next.

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

I'm not sure what short story that is - I have both SMOKE AND MIRRORS and FRAGILE THINGS, as far as I know neither contains a predecessor piece to this novel.

[GOLLUM]

Originally Posted by knivesout

I'm not sure what short story that is - I have both SMOKE AND MIRRORS and FRAGILE THINGS, as far as I know neither contains a predecessor piece to this novel.

You'll find it in his other anthology M is for Magic. I've got an original HB copy but then I've got copies of everything Neil's produced....I'm an unrepentant completist when it comes to top line writers.

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Is that the collection Scholastic (re)printed?

[Mouse]

Ah yep, M is for Magic. And yep, mine is the Scholastic one.

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

I've seen it in the children's racks and resisted the temptation to buy it thinking I already have all the stories in it. I shall have to remedy that now, much to the detriment of my monthly budget.