Scan barcode
adigi101's reviews
46 reviews
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
5.0
This book was so wonderful. Neil Gaiman has such an understanding of how it feels to be a child, and how it feels to remember being a child. I was searching for some grand, over-arching detailed metaphor as I read, but by the end all I could think about was memory. Memory and truth. How children’s definitions of truth are different, and more…well…true. I wasn’t able to connect the dots for one, solid final meaning because that’s not how memory works, and this is above all a book of memories. Even though it’s fantastical in nature, it reads as a true recollection of events, almost like an especially beautiful memoir. Through all the wonderful prose and scattered metaphoric meaning there is the fact that the story is true. It feels true. It feels grounded in reality. I mean, I believe in it, if that makes sense. To be honest, I’m not sure how to explain how I interpreted this book concisely. The story feels impossible to shape to your own design, like a memory locked in time.