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A review by meliemelo
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
(2023 reread)
I reread this book before going to see the incredible, amazing play based on it. Thus, this read had much of a "how will they translate that on stage" feel to it (the answer? very creatively and so, so well, even better than anything I could have expected). Yet, I found myself fully absorbed once more by the story. It truly is a very special book to me.
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(2018 reread)
I was at the bookshop, looking for books to complete my Goodreads challenge, when I saw it: a nice paperback edition of the book that had touched me so profoundly years ago, and that I didn't own yet. So I got it. And read it again.
It's still deep, the connection I have to this book, to this story, the way it speaks to me. Neil Gaiman is an amazing writer, and one of my favourite authors, but this is different. I relate to parts of the story, and not just the ones that don't feel like fiction: I relate to the supernatural parts too, the way they reshape reality. It's not just the kind of books I love to read. It's the kind of book I want to write, someday.
----
(original 2014 read)
I was really touched by this book. Neil Gaiman uses childhood memories to create something and it's both beautiful and terrifying. It's a kind of [b:Lunar Park|4031|Lunar Park|Bret Easton Ellis|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1385309748s/4031.jpg|1374605], though I wouldn't be able to tell you which of the two books is scarier. I read them at two different parts of my life, and as much as Lunar Park disturbed me I don't think it was as profoundly as The Ocean at the end of the lane. I saw bits of myself in this book, small echoes.
And even without that, I loved it. I loved every single page of it.
I reread this book before going to see the incredible, amazing play based on it. Thus, this read had much of a "how will they translate that on stage" feel to it (the answer? very creatively and so, so well, even better than anything I could have expected). Yet, I found myself fully absorbed once more by the story. It truly is a very special book to me.
-----
(2018 reread)
I was at the bookshop, looking for books to complete my Goodreads challenge, when I saw it: a nice paperback edition of the book that had touched me so profoundly years ago, and that I didn't own yet. So I got it. And read it again.
It's still deep, the connection I have to this book, to this story, the way it speaks to me. Neil Gaiman is an amazing writer, and one of my favourite authors, but this is different. I relate to parts of the story, and not just the ones that don't feel like fiction: I relate to the supernatural parts too, the way they reshape reality. It's not just the kind of books I love to read. It's the kind of book I want to write, someday.
----
(original 2014 read)
I was really touched by this book. Neil Gaiman uses childhood memories to create something and it's both beautiful and terrifying. It's a kind of [b:Lunar Park|4031|Lunar Park|Bret Easton Ellis|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1385309748s/4031.jpg|1374605], though I wouldn't be able to tell you which of the two books is scarier. I read them at two different parts of my life, and as much as Lunar Park disturbed me I don't think it was as profoundly as The Ocean at the end of the lane. I saw bits of myself in this book, small echoes.
And even without that, I loved it. I loved every single page of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, and Death
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Suicide