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 Hillary on

5 of 5 stars

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Neil Gaiman seems to get better and better with each new book. This book was outstanding. I literally couldn't put it down. It is a page turner all the way through but that ending! I am not gonna post it for fear of spoilers but if you have read it I would love to hear your thoughts.

This book took me back to when I was growing up in the central Appalachian Mountains and had my own hidy places. I loved his descriptions of the environment in the book. It felt as if I was right there with the main character who never has a name in the book. That's ok because he does not really need a name. It starts out like a normal fiction book then it adds in the supernatural elements. Yes, books like this require you to suspend disbelief but Gaiman writes so skillfully that this is not at all difficult to do. In this world, all the schematics makes sense so that you are never like, how did THAT happen?

Like I said I really enjoyed this book, but I was awed at the ending. I want to discuss the ending but again spoilers. I will say this, it is interesting how events that happened to you can change shape in your mind. You think you remember it correctly then you revisit it as an adult and find that your environment and who you are and the blocking out painful bits can shape the event in your mind. Things are not always as they seem. Or are they? This got me to thinking about events in my own childhood and how I remember them and I wonder if my memories are clouded with the stuff that I have accumulated along the way.  How many of my really bad memories have been distorted by time? It is interesting to think about.This review was originally posted on Adventures in Never Never Land

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 22 September, 2015: Finished reading
  • 22 September, 2015: Reviewed