I had planned to write a review of a fairly good self-published book today, but when I finished the latest by this bestselling author, I was stunned and warm and fuzzy and blown completely away. Please forgive my weakness, though I have read many amazing books in the last few months and will do my best to do each justice, I could not pass up the chance to start with a bang, so to speak. So here you go.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
I began reading this book with my guard up, I must admit.
Though I have read and loved Stardust and Neverwhere, and suspected this Neil
Gaiman character may be something altogether special and unique, I never
approach a book that sounds wonderful without the knowledge that I may end up
disappointed. Besides, the book is less than a half-inch thick, so it is bound
to be too brief to be satisfying, right? Wrong.
This deceptively slim book holds complex truths that will
resonate with readers more deeply than its size would imply is possible. Real-life
memories and long-known imaginings are here woven into a seamless tapestry,
breathing a stunning sense of life into what is, on the surface, a fairytale
adventure. The unnamed protagonist returns late in life to a changed childhood
home and remembers, at last, things both tender and terrifying. The emotional
realism is too genuine to dismiss as fantasy, but the fantasy is too mythic and
profound to ignore, possibly changing my view of our cosmos (or at least its possibilities) forever.
Reminiscent of both A Wrinkle in Time and Ray Bradbury’s Green Town stories,
and yet something entirely new and beautiful and sometimes horrifying, this
book takes us on an epic journey from the ordinary adult world, back to the
wonder and danger of that Faerie-land that is childhood.
Mr. Gaiman handles prose like a fish in his native
elemental ocean – it slips and flows and glides through the scenes, unnoticed
and yet perfect in every way. He has a way of taking massive ideas and making
them clear and simple, yet refreshingly powerful and empowering. All this
happens in this not-so-brief tale, one I will not soon forget, especially since
this book will be a permanent fixture in my library and subjected to frequent
re-reads. I heartily recommend it to anyone who has the slightest taste for fantasy,
fairytales, magical realism, supernatural, myth, or just plain amazing fiction.
Last, I’d like to mention (shyly) that it is rare that I
find a writer whose stories make me feel comfortable in my own skin. Perhaps
that is the effect of kindred spirits who may never meet, but who hold similar
secrets and wonders, and I’m honored to be learning at the knee, so to speak,
of such a humbling talent. Such is the magic of reading…and writing.
