The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Graveyard Book
Book Review: A delightful, easy read.
Summary: 5 Stars
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was the first title I read by Neil Gaiman and suggested by a friend who read it for a book club. I liked the idea of each chapter being mildly independent of the next so that there were several good stopping points when I was called away from my reading. The language is easy to understand yet the imagery provocative. I enjoyed the contrasting characters and setting. I would recommend this to anyone seeking a good book for a lazy afternoon.Book Review: A fantastic book for all ages
Summary: 5 Stars
What is there to say except I HEART NEIL GAIMAN!! When I first heard of him I didn't understand how people could be so obsessed. Then, I read Neverwhere and began to understand but I love him even more after The Graveyard Book. The funny thing is that when I think about the story I can't even really place what makes me love him. It could be quotes like:
"You're always you, and that don't change, and you're always changing, and there's nothing you can do about it."
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That may be part of it, I just know that every time I close one of his books, whether for a moment, or after the final page, I feel a giddy, delightful connection. You would think I would feel sad to let go of the characters, but I don't. I think I said something similar at the end of Neverwhere.
One of the most interesting things to me was that while reading I kept thinking about Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Neffenegger. The graveyard and ghosts all felt familiar and my feelings while reading both were very similar. Then, I got to the end of the book and under the "acknowledgments" Gaiman talks about Neffenegger.
"A lot of what she told me crept into Chapters Six and Seven."
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This may seem like more of a review on Neil Gaiman than a review of the Graveyard Book but if you haven't read him yet, DO! If you need a place to start, The Graveyard Book is wonderful. What more do you really need to know?
Book Review: A great dark book for kids
Summary: 4 Stars
Bod, short for Nobody Owens, escaped his own death when he was just an infant. Though his attacker had not given up Bod has remained safe in the graveyard, whose inhabitants have taken him in. Bod learns what he can through the years from the different ghosts and other folk who reside in the graveyard. Now and then he ventures out into the real world but nothing good usually comes from those escapades. This is the story of him coming into his own, after being under the watchful eye of his Guardian.
This was an enjoyable book. I loved the illustrations, even though some of them looked unfinished I think they went with the text very nicely. This wasn't a flowing novel really, each chapter was like a different clip from Bod's life. The chapters progressed in order and Bod was a little older in each one until the end. It was interesting to read about Bod in the real world and how he reacted and how people reacted to him, because he was a little different than they were. The relationships that Bod made were interesting, some of them good, some of them bad, most of them weird. The writing was spot on for being a book about a graveyard filled with dead people from decades ago in England. I don't have any bad things to say about this book. It's Neil Gaiman, it was a good story and that is pretty much all. I liked it. Read it. You have the time, what are you reading right now? LAME, read this instead.
First Line:
"There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife."
Favorite Line:
"A voice by his ear said, ' Say you'll miss me, you lumpkin.'"
Book Review: A great story
Summary: 5 Stars
told by a great storyteller. This one did not disappoint. As always Mr. Gaiman brings us to an imaginative place full of wonder with his creative writing style and narrative. The stories just get better and better. Sometimes they don't live happily ever after, they just live.Book Review: A great twist on a classic theme
Summary: 5 Stars
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman tells the story of Nobody Owens, a young boy who fortuitously wanders off just as an assassin kills both his parents. The toddler is protected, and raised by the ghosts of the graveyard he waddles into.
A new twist on The Jungle Book, I found this book to be a real page turner. The story seemed a little too deep in places for what was going on, and a little open-ended, leaving me to wonder if perhaps there's some sort of sequel in the not-too-distant future, but otherwise, I have very little to complain about with this book. It's joined the prestigous ranks of "Books I Bought While Poor" meaning that I snatched it up for my personal collection despite my paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle. Oh, and it won the Hugo, so obviously at least a few other people think it's a decent book.
To be honest, I haven't read much Gaiman, which makes me (and likely you) very sad. I'll be correcting that soon, starting with Neverwhere, and moving right into American Gods and Anansi Boys. I have Good Omens on my bookshelf, so I suppose I'll get to that one at some point, too.
Final Score: 9/10. A great book for younger readers, and a great way to kill a boring afternoon for adults. Enjoyable, highly readable, and quickly read.