Laith
I absolutely loved this, I can always appreciate a quality all-ages story, and this is right up there with some of my favorites. I was transported back to the fugue of early childhood, an age where everything seems plausible, and your mom still reads you bedtime stories. As I get older, I find myself valuing stories with young protagonists that I can relate to, and Gaiman has created a story that delivers that in spades. Of course, that's not all we get, there's some strong horror delivery that really captures the feeling of childhood imagination running wild and a brilliant conclusion that wrapped that nostalgic feeling in a bow.
If anyone ever asks me what I think of magic realism, I will refer them to this book because it is one of the best examples of the concept. We join our narrator as he returns to his hometown for a funeral, struck by a whim, he chooses to visit the location of his childhood home. The protagonist is drawn to the end of his old lane way and begins to remember his young friend Letty Hempstock. He finds himself calling on the Hempstock farm, drawn into conversation with an old woman whom he presumes is Letty's mother, the protagonist begins to remember with renewed clarity his friendship and adventures with young Letty, and the pond out behind her farm, which she once convinced him was an ocean.
No, I won't say what else this is about, suffice to say that this is a story cut from that same mythopoeia/liminal tradition as the Chronicles of Narnia. It plays with the idea that children occupy a space between the mundane and the magical, serving as bridges between the two worlds they become a part of their own unique mythos. I would say that this reminded me most of Narnia, but of my recent reads this recalled The Spear Cuts Through Water and Cursed Bunny. Both of those books were blending folk tales with modern and personal sensibilities, but I found Gaiman's work much more complete and approachable in comparison.
I'm going to grab a physical copy of this for sure, and it definitely has made the "read to future kids" pile. That said, there are some pretty adult themes that find their way into the book. Much of the story revolves around what happens after the suicide of one of the boarders living in the protagonist's home. This suicide along with horror elements and a later scene featuring sex and infidelity does warrant a disclaimer, this is PG not G. It's nothing gory or horrifying or in the least bit explicit, much of this stuff is broached in the same "are-they-or-aren't-they" fashion as the meant-for-adult jokes slipped into children's programming.
So yeah, this is just a solid gold fun for all ages Narnia type of story. It's short and sweet and doesn't overstay its welcome. You could read this to younger children, and while it's not 100% Astroturfed (nothing that I grew up with really was) don't let that stop you. I am aware that Gaiman is the subject of recent controversy, so I would ask people not to take this review as an endorsement of the author, this is very much a case of separating the art from the artist.
I absolutely loved this, I can always appreciate a quality all-ages story, and this is right up there with some of my favorites. I was transported back to the fugue of early childhood, an age where everything seems plausible, and your mom still reads you bedtime stories. As I get older, I find myself valuing stories with young protagonists that I can relate to, and Gaiman has created a story that delivers that in spades. Of course, that's not all we get, there's some strong horror delivery that really captures the feeling of childhood imagination running wild and a brilliant conclusion that wrapped that nostalgic feeling in a bow.
If anyone ever asks me what I think of magic realism, I will refer them to this book because it is one of the best examples of the concept. We join our narrator as he returns to his hometown for a funeral, struck by a whim, he chooses to visit the location of his childhood home. The protagonist is drawn to the end of his old lane way and begins to remember his young friend Letty Hempstock. He finds himself calling on the Hempstock farm, drawn into conversation with an old woman whom he presumes is Letty's mother, the protagonist begins to remember with renewed clarity his friendship and adventures with young Letty, and the pond out behind her farm, which she once convinced him was an ocean.
No, I won't say what else this is about, suffice to say that this is a story cut from that same mythopoeia/liminal tradition as the Chronicles of Narnia. It plays with the idea that children occupy a space between the mundane and the magical, serving as bridges between the two worlds they become a part of their own unique mythos. I would say that this reminded me most of Narnia, but of my recent reads this recalled The Spear Cuts Through Water and Cursed Bunny. Both of those books were blending folk tales with modern and personal sensibilities, but I found Gaiman's work much more complete and approachable in comparison.
I'm going to grab a physical copy of this for sure, and it definitely has made the "read to future kids" pile. That said, there are some pretty adult themes that find their way into the book. Much of the story revolves around what happens after the suicide of one of the boarders living in the protagonist's home. This suicide along with horror elements and a later scene featuring sex and infidelity does warrant a disclaimer, this is PG not G. It's nothing gory or horrifying or in the least bit explicit, much of this stuff is broached in the same "are-they-or-aren't-they" fashion as the meant-for-adult jokes slipped into children's programming.
So yeah, this is just a solid gold fun for all ages Narnia type of story. It's short and sweet and doesn't overstay its welcome. You could read this to younger children, and while it's not 100% Astroturfed (nothing that I grew up with really was) don't let that stop you. I am aware that Gaiman is the subject of recent controversy, so I would ask people not to take this review as an endorsement of the author, this is very much a case of separating the art from the artist.