The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel

Actual rating 3.5. It held my interest to an extent, I was able to finish it without getting bored or slowing down my rate of reading. However it didn't strike me as particularly amazing or inspiring to warrant 4 or 5 stars. It felt very similar to Coraline, which I know is another of his books, and so maybe that's the point, but it took away some of the "original" feeling. The imagery was great though, very unique perception of the world and its surroundings.

Perfect combo of spooky, adventure, friendship and coming of age. I love Neil’s writing style. 10/10

“‘Oh, monsters are scared,’ said Lettie. ‘That's why they're monsters.’”

“Grown-ups don't look like grown-ups on the inside either. Outside, they're big and thoughtless and they always know what they're doing. Inside, they look just like they always have. Like they did when they were your age. Truth is, there aren't any grown-ups. Not one, in the whole wide world.”

Don’t underestimate Neil Gaiman. He’s been writing and thinking about writing a long time now and it’s showing. This reads like a children’s book or a young adult novel but if you’re paying attention it’s unmistakably written by a weaver of both literature and fantasy.

4.5 | The way Gaiman captivates childhood and imagination and friendships and family life and everything in between in the perspective of a child is astonishing, can't wait to read more by him.

It seems to me that Neil Gaiman is an acquired taste, one of which many have acquired.

I'm always a little back and forth about him.



The problem is that some authors only have a story to tell, but it doesn't necessarily make them a good writer just to have the story. Gaiman is both a storyteller and a writer. Every line comes across as pure magic. And for that reason, I hold him to a much higher standard than some novice wannabe.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane is pure whimsy. It is childhood as seen through the eyes of a child (or a very child-like adult) - unfiltered observation and wonder.

Lettie shrugged. "Nobody actually looks like what they really are on the inside. You don't. I don't. People are much more complicated than that. It's true of everybody."

There's no denying this. And as much as I like to think that if I looked on the outside like all the things I am and all the things I feel on the inside, I'd look like a Monet...the truth is I'd be much more of a Picasso (totally f'ed up but kind of cool?).

As I've gotten older, I've gotten more and more nostalgic. I'm nostalgic to a point where it becomes severely and sometimes cripplingly depressing. I think this may be why I liked this book so much.

We went into my house through the front door. It was not locked - unless we went away on holidays I do not ever remember it being locked - and we went inside.

I didn't have locked doors until I was twenty-five. This seemingly small reminder of my childhood - a combination of the time and the place - took my breath away.

And just one more quote - just for the pure perfection of it.

Adults should not weep, I knew. They did not have mothers who would comfort them.

Don't give up on Gaiman. Trust the hype surrounding him. You can't just cannonball in and expect to love him. Take the corner stairs - step by step by step. Line by line by line.