The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
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Book Reviews of The Graveyard Book
Book Review: In a word, exceptional
Summary: 5 Stars
There are few writers out there today who have the ability to keep me totally spellbound. David Almond, for sure. A handful of adult novelists. One author who gets my undivided attention every time with his mastery of language and devotion to limitless imagination is Neil Gaiman. Whether he's writing graphic novels, short stories, sci-fi novels or fiction for young adults, he always brings his "A" game to the table. His most recent work, THE GRAVEYARD BOOK, takes his standard "A" game to a whole new level of measured storytelling.
Drawing inspiration from Rudyard Kipling's classic THE JUNGLE BOOK, Gaiman tells the story of an orphaned boy, raised not in a jungle by animals but in a graveyard by ghosts. Bod, short for Nobody, wanders into the graveyard as an infant as his family is dispatched by "the man Jack." In the graveyard, Bod is discovered by the kindly ghosts of Mr. and Mrs. Owens, who entice the other local spirits to take the boy in and grant him the "Freedom of the Graveyard" (a special charm that gives Bod sanctuary within the graveyard's boundaries). A being called Silas --- who is neither fully dead nor alive (and may actually be a vampire) --- is charged with being the boy's guardian and seeing that he's educated.
Bod's childhood is filled with the varied lessons taught to him from the graveyard's residents. His teachers include Miss Lupescu, a strict but sympathetic werewolf, and a witch named Liza Hempstock, who skulks about the graveyard's unsanctified ground. But, as you'd expect, the graveyard is also full of dangers, such as the set of devious ghouls Bod encounters who go by names like the Duke of Westminster and the Thirty-Third President of the United States. But little prepares him for the day when the man Jack returns to finish the job he started years ago.
Although he tips his hat to Kipling, Gaiman skillfully makes the story his own with his boundlessly creative imagery and energetic prose. In crafting the tale of Bod, Gaiman revisits the occasionally dark and funny, and always enthralling, ground he covered in CORALINE. Many of the chapters stand alone as short stories, but every small adventure adds up to form a complete tale that feels timeless and important. And the climactic scene towards the end is not to be missed. Fans of his other works will not be disappointed, and there's a very good chance he'll amass an entirely new armada of admirers once word spreads about how phenomenal this book is.
THE GRAVEYARD BOOK is, in a word, exceptional. Gaiman remains a force to be reckoned with, no matter the intended audience, regardless of the subject matter.
--- Reviewed by Brian Farrey
Book Review: Gaiman works his usual genius
Summary: 5 Stars
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
Book Review: Gaiman riffs on Kipling's Jungle Book
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Book Review: Expands on the story about Bod from Gaiman's "M is for Magic"
Summary: 5 Stars
When I heard that Gaiman was releasing another book I was very excited and I am happy to say that this book met all of my expectations. Gaiman is such an excellent storyteller.
This book expands on one of the short stories in "M is for Magic" by Neil Gaiman. In that story we meet Bod, a boy who lives in a graveyard. This book tells about how Bod got there and of the adventures he had there. You learn more about the mysterious Jack too! In fact I believe chapter 4 or 5 of The Graveyard Book, is actually an exact reprint of this story.
The story starts with a creepy killer named Jack who kills Bod's whole family (trust me no spoilers here, this happens in the first page); Bod as a small, curious toddler escapes to the graveyard. The book is interesting in that for the first two-thirds of the book each chapter is more of a short-story about Nobody Owens (Bod). Initially there is a large time span between each chapter and in each chapter (short-story) we learn about one of Bod's adventures in the Graveyard. As you get towards the end of the book things happen closer together and the chapters turn into more of what you would consider a standard chapter.
It is fascinating to hear about a boy who is raised in a graveyard by ghosts. Bod develops into and strong and very interesting character, that you can't help but love. Silas, the guardian of the graveyard, is also fascinating. Gaiman, as usual, adds an ironic touch to the story by showing how similar Bod's issues when growing up are with any other childs.
As for being a kids' book; for the most part the book would be okay to read to a young child. The first chapter, where Jack murders Bod's family, I found the be extremly creepy; so I would shy away at reading this chapter to a young child. Many of the other chapters are also scary. If a child under 10 was going to read this book, I would say a parent should read through it first and then you can read it together and skip any inappropriate parts. This book, naturally, deals a ton with death and what it means to be dead.
I absolutely loved this book. I thought the age level was a bit higher than Gaiman's Coraline. People who complain about Gaiman being too morbid, haven't read enough Gaiman. He is like the young adult, fairy tale version of Stepan King...many of his stories are crafted to make you think and feel slightly uncomfortable. This was absolutely a wonderfully crafted story, it's one I am keeping to add to my book collection.
Book Review: THE GRAVEYARD BOOK BY NEIL GAIMAN, ILLUSTRATIONS BY DAVE MCKEAN
Summary: 5 Stars
It seems inevitable in some ways that Neil Gaiman would one day write a book about a graveyard; and furthermore would make it a children's book; and even furthermore write a wonderful tale about growing up, learning from your mistakes, and appreciating life to it's fullest. Welcome to The Graveyard Book.
Nobody Owens is doomed to begin with. After his family is tragically killed by a determined and terrifying murderer who is now after him to finish the job, Bod finds himself in a graveyard adopted by some very strange ghosts and a father figure, Silas, who is neither dead nor alive, but somewhere in between. His growing up and education is not one filled with arithmetic and grammar, but abilities of the dead like Fading and Dreamwalking.
It is no surprise that the book Gaiman was destined to write - and has spent many years working on and putting the pieces slowly together - features some of the strongest characters he has ever written. First off there is Bod Owens, a wonderful young boy you can't help falling in love with as you grow up with him and experience his many adventures. Silas, the strong, paternal caretaker who is shrouded in mystery as to his origins and what it means being one of the "Honor Guard." Miss Lupescu, an Eastern European lady who looks after Bod for a summer, teaching him, and forcing him to eat her unusual foods. It is a relationship that begins with hate, but ends in love and respect. Liza Hempstock, a witch buried in potter's field, shunned by most in the graveyard, but becomes an unusual acquaintance for Bod. Scarlett, a living girl who considers Bod an imaginary friend at first, and then something more later. There is even an appearance from the Lady on the Grey for the Danse Macabre.
At the end of The Graveyard Book, the reader is moved to sadness, as all things must come to end. Gaiman has said that many readers told him they cried at the end, which is no surprise when we feel a little part of Bod in all of us. It is the innocent, adventurous spirit within that harkens back to stories like Peter Pan and The Jungle Book, which Gaiman references in his acknowledgements. The Graveyard Book doesn't end with a bang or a whimper, but with a moving expression of hope: "But between now and then, there was Life; and Bod walked into it with his heart and his eyes wide open."
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