Sunday, July 20, 2014

THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE by NEIL GAIMAN

Product Details


I'm not quite sure what made me think I would like this book except that so many bloggers I respect were raving about it.  It's fantasy which I never read; perhaps I thought this was a good time to try the genre in order to widen my reading experience.

Actually, I can see why fans of fantasy would love the book.  There is a real story here, a human story that readers can identify with to a certain extent.  The writing is excellent, so evocative of the protagonist's experiences and fears, and as far as I can tell, true to a boy's thinking.  Each character was created beautifully.

But in the long run, this story just isn't for me.  I'm a fan of mystery novels and nonfiction so you can see how I'm not cut out for this story where a pond is an ocean, and parts of a farm are where fantasy creatures live, and you can pull growing kittens out of the ground like plants.

If you like fantasy, please do read this book.  It's so well written that you will love it and broaden your reading life.  Otherwise, no.

Source:  William Morrow/HarperCollins

2 comments:

  1. Yeah, I've kind of been avoiding this one since I don't enjoy fantasy. I might give it a try one day - who knows?

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  2. I've been "thinking" about it, but not big on fantasy either so...not sure.

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