Customer Reviews

The Graveyard Book CD

5 star:		(344)
4 star:		(116)
3 star:		(29)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(23)

 

 

What a fun read. It kept me up 'til 7 in the morning yesterday, and I do not regret it a bit.

The story of Nobody Owens--his adopted name, as this is a wee human child spared the murderous spree of a dreadful assasin, then taken in by a cemetery full of ghosts from assorted centuries, and guarded by them because the assasin has not given up the quest to kill him--is unputdownable. Every adventure as he grows from toddler to teenager mixes wonders and frights and humor. It's just such fun to see him learn ghostly ways and interact with humans and nonhumans.

There's so much to recommend in the story (and my fellow reviewers cover plenty, so I need not repeat it), but I agree that the trip into the world of the ghouls was a wild ride. I have to give props to Gaiman for the total magic that he infused into the chapter on the Danse Macabre. It would have been a terrific short story--that strange, strange day--but it worked wonderfully in the tale, showing us clearly a thing or two about Nobody and his mysterious, powerful Guardian, Silas. (His particular fantasy niche, while never said specifically in so many words is , nevertheless, no great riddle.)

The near-end brings Nobody into confrontation with the horrible killer, and Nobody comes into his own, but it costs him. It's a well-crafted ending that is inevitable given all Nobody's learned as the story progressed. If you don't figure it out pretty well in advance, you werent' paying attention.

The bittersweet--but natural and fitting-- ending made me sad as I closed the book. It feels complete, yes, but I so want to see more written on Nobody Owens. I have no idea if Mr. Gaiman has planned another or several more novels with this character, but I can say that I would very much like to read more on Nobody and Silas.

I should add that there are illustrations scattered throughout, however, I'm not a particular fan of all the included art. I normally really enjoy McKean's partnering with Mr. Gaiman, but several of the illustrations just left me unimpressed. Though, honestly, I was so wrapped up in the tale, I didn't give them that much of a lingering look. So, the fault may lie more with my impatience to read.

A wonderful story. If you enjoyed the award-winning CORALINE, you're in for a treat. This one's better.

Thanks, Mr. G.

Mir


UPDATE Jan 26, 2009: This book just won Gaiman the prestigious Newbery Medal!

I've noticed that there's been an increased interest in the macabre in children's literature lately. Sometimes when I've had a glass or two of wine and I'm in a contemplative mood I try weaving together a postulation that ties the current love of violent movies into this rise in children's literary darkness. Is the violence of the world today trickling down into our entertainment? Hogwash and poppycock and other words of scoff and denial, says sober I. But I've certainly seen a distinct rise in the Gothic and otherworldly over the last few years, and one wonders if it's because kids want more of that kind of stuff or publishers are merely getting less squeamish. All that aside, generally I'll read a May Bird book or an Everlost title and they'll be fun examinations of the hereafter, but not the kind of things that touch my heart. Great writing doesn't have to transcend its genre. It just has to be emotionally honest with the reader. And The Graveyard Book is one of the most emotionally honest books I've yet to have read this year. Smart and focused, touching and wry, it takes the story of a boy raised by ghosts and extends it beyond the restrictive borders of the setting. Great stuff.

It starts with three murders. There were supposed to be four. The man Jack was one of the best, maybe THE best, and how hard is it to kill a toddler anyway? But on that particular night the little boy went for a midnight toddle out the front door while the murderer was busy and straight into the nearby graveyard. Saved and protected by the denizens of that particular abode (the ghosts and the far more corporeal if mysterious Silas), the little boy is called Bod, short for Nobody because no one knows his name. As he grows older, Bod learns the secrets of the graveyard, though he has to be careful. The man (or is it "men"?) who killed his family could come back for him. Best to stay quiet and out of sight. Yet as Bod grows older it becomes clear that hiding may not be the best way to confront his enemies. And what's more, Bod must come to grips with what it means to grow up.

Can I level with you? You know Coraline? Mr. Gaiman's previous foray into middle grade children's literature. Come close now, I don't want to speak too loudly. Uh... I didn't much care for it. WAIT! Come back, come back, I didn't mean it! Well, maybe I did a tad. It was a nice book. A sufficient story. But it was very much (new category alert) an adult-author-to-children's-author-first-timer-title. Gaiman appeared to be finding his sealegs with Coraline. He took the old Alice in Wonderland trope which adult authors naturally gravitate to on their first tries (see: Un Lun Dun, Summerland, The King in the Window, etc.). Throw in some rats, bees, and buttons, and voila! Instant success. But Coraline for all its readability and charm didn't get me here [thumps chest:]. I didn't feel emotionally close to the material. Now why it should be that I'd feel closer emotionally to a book filled with a plethora of ghosts, ghouls, night-gaunts, and Hounds of God, I can only chalk up to The Graveyard Book's strong vision.

My husband likes to say that the whole reason Buffy the Vampire Slayer worked as a television show was that it was a natural metaphor for the high school (and eventually college) experience. Likewise, The Graveyard Book has this strong,strange, wonderful metaphor about kids growing up, learning about the wider world, and exploring beyond the safe boundaries of their homes. There's so much you can read into this book. I mean, aren't all adults just ghosts to kids anyway? Those funny talking people whose time has passed but that may provide some shelter and wisdom against the wider, crueler world. Plus Mr. Gaiman also includes characters in Bod's world that kids will wish they had in their own. Silas, a man who may be a vampire (though the word is never said) is every child's fantasy; A mysterious/magical guardian/friend who will tell you the truth when your parents will not.

One thing I particularly liked about the book was the fact that Bod makes quite a few careless or thoughtless mistakes and yet you don't feel particularly inclined to throttle him because of them. Too often in a work of fiction a person isn't properly put into the head of their protagonist. So when that character walks off and does something stupid there's the sense (sometimes faint, sometimes not) that they deserved it and you're not going to stick around and read about somebody that dumb, are you? But even when Bod is at his most intolerable, his most childishly selfish and single-minded, you can understand and sympathize with him. Bod is no brat, a fact that implies right there that he is someone worth rooting for. We see our own young selves in Bod, and we root for him as a result. And as Bod reaches each stage in his growth, he encounters experiences and personalities that help him to reach maturity. That's a lot to put on the plate of a l'il ole fantasy novel, particularly one that's appropriate for younger kids.

And it is appropriate too. Don't let the fact that the first sentence in the book ("There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife") put you off. The murder of Bod's family is swift, immediate, and off-screen. What remains is just a great fantasy novel that has the potential to appeal to both boy and girl readers. Kid wants a ghost story? Check. Kid wants a fantasy novel set in another world appropriate for Harry Potter fans? Check. Kid wants a "good book". That's my favorite request. When the eleven-year-old comes up to my desk and begs for "a good book" I can just show them the cover and the title of this puppy and feel zero guilt when their little eyes light up. A good book it is.

I guess that if I have any objections at all to the title it has something to do with the villains. They're a bit sketchy, which I suppose is the point, but we live in an era where children's fantasy novels spend oodles of time defining their antagonists' motivations and histories. Gaiman's more interested in his hero, which is natural, but the villains' raison d'être is just a bit too vague for the average reader. Honestly, if it weren't for the fact that Bod's family is slaughtered at the start of this tale you wouldn't necessarily know whether or not to believe that these people are as nasty as we've been told.

That said the book's a peach. I once heard someone postulate that maybe Neil Gaiman wrote it just so that he could play with the sentence "It takes a graveyard to raise a child." Unlikely. Fun, but unlikely. I mean, he does make a casual allusion that isn't far off from that phrase, but he never goes whole hog. This book doesn't feel like it was written to back up a joke. It feels like a book written by a parent with children growing up and moving out. It's a title that tips its hat to kids making their way in the world, their pasts behind them, their futures unknown. This is not yet another silly little fantasy novel, but something with weight and depth. The fact that it just happens to be loads of fun to boot is simply a nice bonus. Highly recommended.

Gaiman's latest finds the popular author channeling Rudyard Kipling's 1894 story collection The Jungle Book, particularly the story of the boy, Mowgli, who was raised in the jungle by animals, specifically by his mentors, Baloo the bear, Kaa the snake, and Bagheera, the panther. As indicated by its title, Gaiman's take on the story involves a boy who is raised by the denizens of a graveyard.

Like many ideas he's developed, it is one that occurred to Gaiman a long way back, and stayed with him over the years. In the author's own words:

"Around 1985 or 1986, we lived in a house with no garden, but we had a graveyard just over the run, so that was where my son Michael (three or four at the time) rode his little tricycle. And I remember watching him, and thinking it would be fun to do The Jungle Book, only set in a graveyard instead of a jungle, and that was the start of it. Because I tend to be fairly slow about these things, it's taken me...twenty-two years to get to it."

The first half of Chapter One (which I was fortunate enough to hear Gaiman read aloud at a November, 2007 gathering at the University of Minnesota) describes how a man named Jack enters a house and kills its occupants, except for an infant, a boy, who manages to escape the killing zone and ends up in a nearby graveyard. There, the denizens of the graveyard reach a momentous decision, deciding to raise the toddler as a member of their extended family. After much humorous and heated debate, they name him Nobody, because he's like nobody else in the cemetery. Bod, as he comes to be known, is still in danger, however, as Jack (like the lethal and murderous tiger Shere Khan in The Jungle Book) is still looking for him, hoping to finish his task of eliminating the members of Bod's family.

That's the setup; to discuss subsequent chapters in any detail would be a disservice to Gaiman's constant readers. Suffice it to say all the praise lavished on the author in the blurbs above is justified: Gaiman deftly blends action, humor, horror, and a good deal of, well, humanity, into a suspenseful storyline, offsetting the grim goings on with a cast of irrepressible characters sure to strike a favorable chord with readers. Always an interesting, inventive, and intuitive storyteller, Gaiman has outdone himself with The Graveyard Book, creating a tale destined to be well received both critically and commercially. This one might have taken twenty-two years to finish, but it has proven to be well worth the wait.

First things first, this is a children's book. It is a book, written for 10-15 year olds that some adults will also enjoy. If you are the sort of adult who enjoyed the Harry Potter series or Gaiman's Coraline, you will enjoy this also. I make this point as Amazon and other booksellers aren't going out of their way to let casual readers know that this is not the same as American Gods, or Neverwhere or his books written primarily for adults. I think this is mostly due to marketing people who want to sell this book to as many people as they can. If they went heavy on the "its a kids book" then it wouldn't sell as well.

Also, this book is fairly short. It has a lot of great illustrations and while the length of a book doesn't equal quality, which would you rather buy -- a great short book or a great long book? Its about half the pages as American Gods.

That being said its a Neil Gaiman book & Neil is literally in a class of his own. He is not a genre author -- he is a masterful author who happens to write fantasy books. I believe if he were not writing in a genre field, he would without a doubt be perceived as some of the more renowned contemporary authors are. He is easily, the best author writing today - end of story.

The book's premise is simple, a boy whose parents are murdered under mysterious circumstances, is raised by the ghosts & denizens of a Graveyard and kept safe from those seeking to do him hard. There he learns the tricks of the graveyard such as Fade or Haunt, and to dream walk. These skills he employs to stay safely hidden from the outside world until eventually, those seeking to do him harm learn of his existence and return. There he takes matters into his own hands to protect not only himself, but his home and those he loves.

This was a charming book, but its also very safe. As a kids book, its a little grim but not too grim. Certainly far less grim than the average hour of American TV. For adults, I think some might be disappointed. Neil weaves a world of greater mystery than we see, our view being nearly entirely limited to the Graveyard and surrounding small town. I longed to see Bod's adventures outside of the Graveyard and really hope we see him in the future. Also, the book to closely followed the pattern and plot of its inspiration, the Jungle Book. I would have preferred a little more deviation.

For me, tho i enjoyed it, the book was too safe. I know its a kids book, but its also being heavily marketed to adults. And as such, there are no surprises, no one dies who does not deserve it (mostly). All's well that ends well. Good conquers evil, etc. In a kids book this is expected but in a adult book, it feels like Neil took the easy way out. The mystery surrounding why Bod's family was murdered is a bit thin.

In the end, a good solid read for kids, but I can't help feeling I'd rather have read an adult Gaiman book along the lines of Neverwhere or American Gods. I would love for Neil to have kicked this up to the adult level. Or perhaps make an adult counter story to this.

I can't imagine anyone saying they're not a Neil Gaiman fan. He is an exceptional storyteller, and a master at infusing the novel, the unique, and the off-skew into his stories.

The Graveyard Book has all of the elements of Gaiman's unique abilities embedded within the story. I marvel at the breadth of his originality and imagination. I found The Graveyard Book to be a great literary snack, no matter that it is essentially a children's fantasy novel. It is also, however, devoid of weight.

As the story of the novel's genesis goes, the idea that inspired Gaiman to write the book was one long in incubation. The actual writing, however, began in Chapter 4, according to the author, and the book reads exactly so - like it was begun in the middle, with numerous clever novelties sewn together by a master storyteller, but at the end of the day lacking in the sort of coherent gravity that makes a book great - and in my case, that garners a 5 star rating.

I would encourage anyone to read the book. It is, as I said, a great snack. Gaiman's imagination and imagery are worth a look every time, but this book is a sitcom. It's a neatly packaged riff. But even children's books can have gravity, and in fact one might argue that they, more than any other, should.

The Jacks of All Trades, as they are described in the book, have no apparent reason for being. They're a serviceable boogeyman, but no more. The convenience of a certain ritualistic trio of artifacts at the end of the book goes unexplained. The whim of the Sleer at the end is a bit like having a Mack truck take out the bad-guy at the end of a story rather than the creativity, ingenuity, effort, or sacrifice of the hero. The artifice of the Sleer is too apparent, its convenience too great to create a compelling conclusion.

Short of the novelty of a vampire, werewolf, and mummy, what is the nature of this Order counter to the Jack of All Trades? What is its purpose?

The relationships between all the moving parts are just a little too tenuous to build the suspense, drama or caring that could take a novel idea, and a great character in Bod, to the next level.

By the end of the book, most everything that Bod needed to do was done for him by others. What are his great lessons? What is he carrying into the next phase of his life except a novel childhood? "The girl" will have no memories of him. He no longer seems to have any of the attributes his "Run of the Graveyard" gave him. His enemies were defeated for him so he no longer has that purpose. It doesn't seem like much. Thus, it doesn't leave the reader with much either.

I liked the book. It was fun. The imagery, dialogue, and characters amused. I might even read it again. But even this novel has the potential to be so much more - to mean¬ so much more. For those books that do, I offer 5 stores. Neil just wasn't trying that hard this time. Due to the opportunity missed, I grant 3. Still, heartily recommend the read.

Some authors shouldn't be the one to read for their audiobooks, but Neil Gaiman is not one of them. His reading brings the story into vibrant life, making the humor funnier, the tension thicker, and the tender moments more touching. I have never bought a book and considered buying the audio version as well--it has always been one or the other--until now. I can't recommend The Graveyard Book or its audio version highly enough. In fact, I think I'll start listening to it again right now.

Previous to this I've read Coraline, Stardust, and American Gods, each seeming to target a different reader age group. The Graveyard Book probably targets readers somewhere between Coraline and Stardust, but as a 25 year old, I enjoyed this novel more than the previous three, and I loved those to begin with. It combines the darkness of Coraline with the magic of Stardust and the delightful contemporization of mythological lore in the style of American Gods. Highly recommended.

The idea of a story that played homage to the Jungle Book but changed the setting to a graveyard really sparked my interest; so it was with eager anticipation that I read this book.

In the end "The Graveyard Book" exceeded my expectations. While the book is aimed at a younger audience I believe it is something that can easily be enjoyed by people of all ages (and in my opinion that is what makes a great story). Instead of making the graveyard a scary and forbidding place, Gaiman has created a graveyard that is inviting and intriguing. In fact the setting of the story is almost a character in itself.

The story focuses on the adventures of young boy named Bod who is raised by some colorful & fun inhabitants of a graveyard. While there is somewhat of a general plot, the story is mainly made up of Bod's mini adventures in the graveyard as he grows up over the years. If you enjoy a well done growing up story this is one of the best I read.

Finally the story ends perfectly; not too happy & not too sad, but just right. You will definitely be left with a feeling of satisfaction when you reached the final page of "The Graveyard Book."

"The Graveyard Book" is inspired by stories in Kipling's two JUNGLE BOOKS. Kipling's stories mostly concerned Mowgli, a boy raised by wolves (and other animals) in the jungle. These concern Bod, a "live boy", raised by ghosts (and other monsters) in a graveyard. The result is series of 8 tales, containing some rather effective moments of borrowed magic, which have been rather loosely stitched togother in a very weak overall story arc, wherein the whole is less than the sum of its parts.

Each of the 8 tales here can be tied to a counter-part story in the JUNGLE BOOKS (usually but not always a Mowgli tale), upon which it is (often very loosely) based. For those who enjoyed these stories, and may be interested in comparing the originals, they are as follows:

1. "How Nobody Came to the Graveyard" is inspired by "Mowgli's
Brothers". In each, an infant child is hunted by a deadly killer, but falls under the protection of an unusual set of foster parents....

2. "A New Friend" is inspired by "Quiquern". In each, a boy who claims he can see spirits undertakes a dark and perilous journey. A girl, though she cannot see what he sees, trusts him and joins him. Toward the end, she also sees a "spirit"....

3. "The Hounds of God" is inspired by "Kaa's Hunting". In each, a boy, frustrated with his teacher's lessons, allows himself to be befriended by self-important, chattering simian villains. Swinging by their arms, they carry the boy on an airborne journey to their hidden city. But the boy manages to send a flying messenger to his teacher....

4. "The Witch's Headstone" is inspired by "The Kings Ankus". In each, a boy finds a secret forgotten underground chamber, still guarded by an ancient serpentine creature. Ignoring the impotent guardian, the boy takes a valuable treasure. But the treasure brings only violence and tragedy to those who possess it....

5. "Nobody Owen's School Days" is inspired by "Tiger, Tiger" and its follow-up story "Letting in the Jungle". In each, our boy hero returns briefly to his own kind, but then seeks to inflict terrible vengeance upon humans for their acts of injustice....

6. "Danse Macabre" is inspired by "Toomai of the Elephants". In each, a boy hears rumors of a legendary dance, about which the participants do not speak....

7. "Every Man Jack" is inspired by "Red Dog". In each, a boy tries to help defeat a pack of vicious killers by luring them into a series of traps, while a climactic battle looms....

8. "Leavings and Partings" is inspired by the last Mowgli tale, "The Spring Running".

One of the problems is that, while Gaiman draws much inspiration from Kipling, resulting in genuinely effective moments, he never truly develops these sufficiently to make them his own. Events often occur, and characters often behave for reasons that made sense only in the originals. For instance, the girl's behavior in "A New Friend" just doesn't ring true.

The stories are often so pale in comparison with the originals that the reader often wishes the author had followed Kipling more closely. One early typical example: Kipling's Monkey-Folk fought like demons when their city was invaded, resulting in a deadly climactic battle. Gaiman's monkey-like ghouls flee like rabbits when faced with a similar threat, resuling in anticlimax. Other reviewers have complained about anti-climactic ending in "Every Man Jack"; and I have nothing to add, except to urge you to compare the climax in Kipling's "Red Dog".

Dispite his apparent distaste for violence, Gaiman still displays a disturbing indifference to morality, as judged by his too-sympathetic portrayal of the ghost of Liz Hempstock, a witch who protests her death by retaliating with the vengeful, spiteful mass murder of an entire community. Are we really supposed to like this evil person?

I have to start this review with a confession; Neil Gaiman holds a special place in my reading heart. His Sandman comics series was the first series I found that proved that comic books could be written on multiple levels - for kids and adults. With that said I'm going to do my best to give you an honest review of his latest novel, The Graveyard Book.

The Graveyard Book is a novel of horror. Marketed at Young Adults, but there are terror filled moments in these pages. There's also a bittersweet longing that, for lack of a better word, haunts this book. The novel begins with a woman, a man and the elder child dead in their home. The killer's name is Jack and there is one more murder to be committed. The youngest child, a toddler. But, only a teddy bear remains in his crib. The boy, while sucking on his "nummer" has already escaped down the stairs and out the door. Walking in his weeble-wobble way he's already headed up the hill towards the graveyard.

The toddler will grow to manhood in this graveyard. Protected and taught the secrets of life and death by its inhabitants. The dead, the undead, the spirits and the demons find the boy and name him Nobody or Bod for short. Bod remains in the graveyard because he knows that Jack is waiting for him should he emerge.

Gaiman does a brilliant retelling of Kipling's Jungle Books, and succeeds in making the story greater then the original. Trade the jungle for a graveyard. Trade the bear for a ghost. Trade the bloodthirsty tiger for a murderous killer. It's all there, but with something more. The premise is there, but Gaiman works his usual genius. Making the graveyard a place of magic and melancholy. Where the dead sit and talk, and you love them for it.

You will be the one left out in the cold if you pay too close of attention to the YA classification. Just like with The Sandman almost 20 years ago, Gaiman makes this novel accessible and enjoyable for ages 8 to 80. Don't do yourself the disservice of missing out on the wonderment found in The Graveyard Book. I think I may have found the first novel to read to my son in a few years. The Graveyard Book rightfully deserves 5 out of 5 tombstones.

Also, if you have a chance, please pick up a copy of the the audio book. Mr. Gaiman's reads it himself and it's truly stellar. He's one of the few author's I know of who do their own audio books, and he has an amazing reading voice. The Graveyard Book, to me, is even better than Coraline, which was his previous novel aimed at YA's and soon to be a motion picture.

Reviewed at Bitten by Books Paranormal Fiction Review Site by SunandHeir