The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel

by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman (Narrator)

WINNER OF THE SPECSAVERS NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS 2013 BOOK OF THE YEAR

The Ocean at the End of the Lane is the bestselling magical novel from Neil Gaiman, one of the most brilliant storytellers of our generation and author of the epic novel American Gods, and the much-loved Sandman series. 'Possibly Gaiman's most lyrical, scary and beautiful work yet. It's a tale of childhood for grown-ups, a fantasy rooted in the darkest corners of reality' (Independent on Sunday). If you loved the mesmerising world of Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus or were drawn into J.K. Rowling's magical universe, this book is for you.

It began for our narrator forty years ago when the family lodger stole their car and committed suicide in it, stirring up ancient powers best left undisturbed. Dark creatures from beyond this world are on the loose, and it will take everything our narrator has just to stay alive: there is primal horror here, and menace unleashed - within his family and from the forces that have gathered to destroy it.

His only defence is three women, on a farm at the end of the lane. The youngest of them claims that her duckpond is an ocean. The oldest can remember the Big Bang.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane is a fable that reshapes modern fantasy: moving, terrifying and elegiac - as pure as a dream, as delicate as a butterfly's wing, as dangerous as a knife in the dark.

• ISBN10: 0062255681
• ISBN13: 9780062255686
• Publish Date: 18 June 2013
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc
• Imprint: HarperAudio
• Edition: Unabridged edition
• Format: Audiobook (MP3)
• Duration: 6 hours and 22 minutes
• Language: English

Reviews

[inlibrisveritas]

4.5 Stars

This is my second Neil Gaiman novel, and my first audiobook by him…and yes he actually reads it himself!

The Ocean at the End of the Lane takes on a very contemporary approach and slowly adds in that fairy tale feel and I mean classic fairy tale, not the fluff that Disney serves. It very much feels like a children’s story meant for adults, and I think that is my main draw to Gaiman’s work. I love the whimsy that he manages to mix with darker plot elements. I loved that it focused on the main character as a kid, and held onto those childlike emotions even when the content becomes more graphic. Seeing as I’ve only read two Gaiman books I find myself unsure of what to expect when I pick one up. I know I’ll get a book with his signature bedtime story style, but the content is always something I wonder about and Ocean at the End of the Lane was so wildly different than I what I had expected.

The story is incredibly short, but I never wanted it to end especially since I had Gaiman himself narrating the audiobook. His voice is like a more soothing Alan Rickman, and honestly I could listen to his voice all day…which I did and then pouted when the audiobook ended. His a fantastic reader. If you’ve already read the book, then I still urge you to find or borrow the audio edition because he brings his own characters to life in a way only an author can.

[nitzan_schwarz]

2015 tbr challenge + cleaning my shelves 2015

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"I wondered, as I wondered so often when I was that age, who I was, and what exactly was looking at the face in the mirror. If the face I was looking at wasn't me, and I know it wasn't, because I would still be me whatever happened to my face, then what was me? And what was watching?"

 I think I have a new fantasy in life; to spend one day inside Neil Gaiman's extraordinary mind. I've a feeling it would either be the most incredible and magical experience of my life, or the most traumatizing one.

I wasn't sold on The Ocean at the End of the Lane before I started it. I've only read one of Gaiman's other novels, Stardust, and I wasn't overly impressed with it. So you could say I was wary of reading this book. Because what if I couldn't love it? What then?

So I breathed a sigh of pure relief when I opened the first page, the one from before the prologue, and realized that there is absolutely no way I could not love this. When I realized that this was going to be phenomenal.

"The Dream was haunting me: standing behind me, present and yet invisible, like the back of my head, simultaneously there and not there."

It's almost impossible to describe this book. If someone asks you what's it about, you would either over-explain it to the point you yourself couldn't make head or tail of it, or simplify it so much it would present it less than it actually is.

It's a book that needs to be read, and that's the best answer there is to it. 

It's narrated by a man, recalling bizarre childhood experiences. He has no name. For most of the story, he is eight years old. But that's not to say the topics and subjects dealt with in this book are childish - au contraire.The depth, themes and manner of handling both is decidedly "adult". 

If anything, this book could be read by anyone, but the level of understanding it would differ. I can see in my mind's eye my younger cousin reading it right now (as a young teen), and then reading it again in ten years and discovering a completely different experience. It's like watching these childhood cartoons you loved again and realizing so many of the jokes were wasted on your younger self. But you still loved them. 

I think it's brilliant. 

This book gave me the actual chills. It's like a horror story, only not... quite. The things this boy goes through are horrifying to the point I had to read with the lights on, but what was even scarier was how he forgot. Somehow, that seemed exceptionally cruel.

And don't think you can prepare yourselves; nothing happened as I thought it would, and at a certain point I had no idea what to expect anymore. It was like floating in a dream. You think you're headed in one direction, only to suddenly find yourself in a completely different story. The only difference was that this actually made sense.

Gaiman's lyrical, poetic, enchanting words were a big part of weaving this effect, as is the choice to make the boy and his life completely arbitrary. He has no name. His family is nameless. The city he lives in, his street... he could've easily been anyone, even me (were I a boy and had a sister). 

And, for the duration of the book, it was. I guess that's the whole point.

"...In those dreams I spoke that language too, the first language, and I had dominion over the nature of all that was real. In my dream, it was the tongue of what is, and anything spoken in it became real, because nothing said in that language can be a lie. It is the most basic building brick of everything. In my dreams, I have used that language to heal the sick and to fly; once I dreamed I kept a perfect little bed-and-breakfast by the seaside, and to everyone who came to stay with me I would say, in that tongue, "Be whole.' and they would become whole, not be broken people, not any longer, because I had spoken the language of shaping."

[lovelybookshelf]

I've been tricked into loving a fantasy novel! I now understand why so many people are enthusiastic about Gaiman's writing, and I'm planning to read more. Read my full review of this title at A Lovely Bookshelf on the Wall.

[laughingrachel]

This book really encapsulates childhood to me. The plot is mysterious enough to get you to keep reading but straightforward enough that you love it and it doesn't drive you crazy. Some questions don't really get traditional answers per say, but answered enough in their own way. And isn't that how life goes?

It's a fun read to jump into without really knowing much. I highly recommend it.

Another Neil Gaiman favorite on my shelf.

[ellieroth]

Reseña completa: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Siempre tuve la idea de que el primer libro de Neil Gaiman que leería sería “Coraline”, hay un gato famoso en el libro, hay película del libro, no sé, siempre tuve esa idea.

A Irene de House of Cards le encantó el libro, sutilmente mientras marcaba este libro en Goodreads ella me dijo “Es mi escritor favorito” yo estoy segura que lo que intentó decirme fue “Si destruyes este libro, te mato gato”. Yo lo sé. Y es por su culpa también que el libro me encantó. Porque fuera de broma, el libro está BUENÍSIMO. ¿Se acuerdan que les dije que estaba teniendo problemas para encontrar libros que me satisfagan? El Océano al final del Camino fue una intentó desesperado para mi mala racha se acabara (intentó desesperado lo digo en el bueno sentido), pensé que como todo lo estaba leyendo era en inglés mi cerebro se cansó de procesar tanta palabra rara para él.

Y como disfruté este libro.

Tenía un tiempo considerable sin vivir tanto un libro, cada capítulo que terminaba era simplemente bajar el eReader un ratito, mirar al vacío y pensar “Wow, ¿qué más puede pasar?” y les digo que el señor Gaiman siempre, SIEMPRE encontraba algo que pase. Nos trabaja a la tensión porque desde antes que algo suceda él nos advierte que es lo que podría pasar. Creo que no vivía esta clase de emoción desde Insurgent, ya sé que son libros total, completa, abismalmente diferentes pero la sensación de estar al borde, de releer párrafos enteros porque simplemente crees que eso que está pasando no está pasando, no lo vivía desde hace un tiempo. Incluso llegó un momento en que me dije “Basta, para de leer, ya pasó de todo ¿qué si el final te defrauda?” Y gracias al Hada de los Libros no fue así. Conserva la calidad de toda la lectura.

Me gustaría hablarles de escenas en específico pero no quiero arruinarles la emoción de lo que es la lectura de este libro o de cómo la portada es tan perfecta para una escena importante o… Simplemente léanlo, en lo personal tomo este libro como uno de los pocos que quiero comprar por docena y empezar a regalar.

[empressbrooke]

I feel like I'm the only person not rating this 5 stars and gushing over how it changed my life. I think maybe I shouldn't have read all these full-of-praise reviews before starting it. It reminds me of how everyone kept enthusiastically telling me that The Hangover was the funniest movie ever made, and when I finally saw it, all I could think was, "Well, I laughed at it, but funniest movie ever made? It wasn't that great!"

What I'm trying to say is that I probably would have liked it more if my expectations hadn't been pumped up so high that I was expecting the foundations of my world to move. It also felt a bit like [b:Coraline|17061|Coraline|Neil Gaiman|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327871014s/17061.jpg|2834844] Part 2, and I really, really loved Coraline so this book had some very big shoes to fill.

On the upside, Gaiman's prose was wonderful as always, and I liked his version of the Maiden/Mother/Crone trio being farmers in the English countryside. He does have a knack for weaving in mythology in a way that makes it feel new and fresh.

[Mystereity Reviews]

Neil Gaiman doesn't create stories, he creates worlds that you crawl in to for a a short time and doesn't ever really leave you.

[arronkau]

Another wonderful story by Neil Gaiman. He always manages to capture some hidden magic and bottle it up in his books, and this one is no exception.

[lisacee]

The prose is beautiful as always from Neil Gaiman, but the story just didn't grab me. Nothing happened in this book because everything was almost-forgotten or erased by the end. I would have liked a bit more length to this book in order to get to know the characters a bit more.

[adastra]

Neil Gaiman combines his autobiography with his own typical style of storytelling we're familiar with. It's a very decent story, however, some of the "meta passages" come off as a bit weird as they come very close to breaching the fourth wall. Neil, you can be subtler than this!