The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Kindle Edition

Right up front I should admit, I'd never heard of Neil Gaiman before I read an enthusiastic newspaper review about this book and decided to preorder it a few days ago. Last night, it was wirelessly delivered to my Kindle and this morning, I picked it up and started reading. Almost instantly, I was so absorbed and lost in the storytelling experience that I didn't do anything else until I finished it a few hours later.

It's a short book; it's enchanting; it's very well written...definitely top-quality fantasy literature. I'm not a fan of fantasy literature, but this book swept me away into such a delightful and fascinating series of incredible adventures--or should I say misadventures--that I could not pull myself away. The author is correct to warn that this is not a fable for children...the reality is far too stark and dark, and there are definitely some adult themes.

"The Ocean at the End of the Lane" is a tale about a lonely bookish seven-year old whose life takes a terrifying turn into a dark and creepy reality. The child is never named, but in recent interviews, the author admits that this child is very much like he was at that age. The child lives in the lovely English countryside of Sussex--the same environment where the author grew up. And like Gaiman, the child is wise, responsible, and moral beyond his years. The parents are blithely confident that nothing bad could happen to their brilliant bookish son in such a bucolic setting. But of course, bad things can, and do happen, especially to the pure and innocent...

The parents have no idea that the Hempstocks--an eleven-year-old girl, her mother, and grandmother--who live by a pond at the end of the lane, are really a group of immortals who play at being human. Our seven-year-old child makes friends with the girl, Lettie Hempstock, and she introduces him to the pond, which is really an ocean. Eventually, our narrator and Lettie take a trip into a higher plain of reality that is entered somehow through the property owned by the Hempstocks, and so begins a series of remarkable misadventures with unforeseen consequences.

This novel is a heroic tale about the age-old battle between childhood innocence and mythic forces. The book will charm you, fill you with awe, make you feel on edge, surprise you, and make you want to keep on reading no mater what important obligations you might have waiting for you to accomplish.

Since finishing the book this afternoon, I was so curious about this fine writer that I started doing research into his life, philosophy, and writing. It seems that in prepublication interviews, Gaiman says that he's prouder of this particular work than anything else he's ever written...and, as I learned today, this is an author who has had an insanely prolific career spanning blockbuster successes across a large number of different creative media. He says he's put an enormous amount of effort into writing and rewriting this book in order to get the tone, words, and dramatic focus just right. A number of critics have already said they consider this work to be as close to sterling literary fiction as Gaiman is ever likely to get.

Indeed, I was very impressed. For me, this work is, without doubt, first-rate fantasy and escapist fiction...and very fine literature, as well. It delivers a highly imaginative, fabulous and fascinating fable that envelops, and attempts to explain, everything in the space-time continuum. Yes, it's that ambitious! It had me hooked from the first to the last page. Simply put: it is an incredible gem of a novel.

So, let me start this review with two caveats--one, I am a hardcore Neil Gaiman fan, and two, I didn't think I'd like Ocean at first. I read the first few chapters, it didn't catch me, and I put it down.

Finally, I caved and bought a copy for completion's sake. This was a very good decision.

It's slow in the beginning, but the stage-setting really is worth it. The wild ride and beautiful imagery, delivered in the matter-of-fact prose, really makes for a lovely read. It's also scary as h---, probably the scariest thing he's ever written. I was really impressed with the way he mixed folklore and a touch of science, too. The characters are well-realised and sympathetic. It really feels like it belongs in the Neverwhere/American Gods universe, but this story is even more close and personal, so that takes it to the next level.

Negatives? Well, the opening is a bit slow, and I can't say it's an emotionally easy read. I did tear up a bit at the end, too, and it's a classic bittersweet Gaiman ending.

Over all, though, it was a gorgeous book, a perfect adult fairytale, and the pacing in 3/4ths of it is wonderful. I'm very sad that Studio Ghibli's Miyuzaki has retired, because he would be the perfect animator to take this tale on. Even if you're not a Gaiman fan, this is a great introduction, and I have to recommend it wholeheartedly.

I have never read a book that truly captures the essence of childhood as well as Neil Gaiman did in his novel The Ocean at the End of the Lane. I was so surprised at how well I was able to relate to our unnamed narrator, at least I don't remember his name being mentioned, because despite the fact that this is categorized as an adult story, it is mainly told through the voice of a seven year old child. As a child, I felt as if adults knew everything and could do no wrong. They could protect you, take you places, and they always knew the answers to everything. Yet, at the same time I also knew that as a child, how much powers adults have-over young children, and over each other. And how, in the midst of it all, children grow up and become adults without even knowing it. The transition from childhood to adulthood is a long one, but it happens so fast that we seem to forget everything we knew when were growing up. Now instead of understanding why we want to explore and get our hands and feet dirty, we understand that it is a better choice to walk on the road that is paved for us.

The fantasy aspect of this story is thrilling because I found myself second guessing what/who is real, and what is all in his head. But the best part about this novel, is the fact that what is real and what isn't real isn't the main point-the point is what we learn from it and what we get out of it.

I also love how Neil Gainman explores the wonders of childhood innocence-of when a child knows something is right/wrong even if he/she cannot explain how he/she knows, of how a child can sense evil/goodness before adults can, and of how strong hope is embedded in each child.

It's a great notion that as children, we want nothing more than to grow up, but once we are grown, we are pulled by some invisible yearning to fall right back into the world we so desperately wanted to leave.

I just can't get over how wonderful this story is, despite the fact that at times it did get a bit weird for me. But I know, I just know, that once I re-read it, I will understand it better and I will love it just as much, if not more.