The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

by Neil Gaiman

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.

Reviewed by Jyc on

4 of 5 stars

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★★★★ // Perhaps there are several ways to read this book (a myth, a fairy tale for grown-ups, etc.) but to me, it was about longing for innocence. As kids, we are conditioned to believe that we will be great when we grow old. Our lives are being shaped towards that one particular image. We're going to be adults who have things figured out. The idea of stumbling, much less feeling sad and momentarily lost, is not acceptable. But the truth is, as well all know, we are far from being perfect. Maybe we even make much more mistakes as adults because we no longer have that innocence that allows us to be carefree. We're afraid to make mistakes as adults because it's much more difficult to be forgiven for it—whether by other people or yourself. The more we're afraid of doing certain things, the more we end up doing them.

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. The truth is, there aren't any grown-ups. Not one, in the whole wide world.


This story is constructed around a series of 'weird' events that may or may not be real. Just as how most kids would be talking about a friend or a place or anything that they witness, and most adults would dismiss as something imagined. It's almost like a long dream, or maybe it was a memory. No one ever really and completely remembers their childhood. It's always this vague picture. Still, much of what we went through as a child comes back to us one way or another later on in life in different forms. Different, but recognizable. At times, they help us cope with whatever we're going through. Other times, they're like monsters that we can't seem to run away from.

I do not miss childhood, but I miss the way I took pleasure in small things, even as greater things crumbled. I could not control the world I was in, could not walk away from the things or people or moments that hurt, but I found joy in the things that made me happy.


Well, you know, we live on with the memories we wish we could lose.

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  • Started reading
  • 17 August, 2019: Finished reading
  • 17 August, 2019: Reviewed