The Ocean at the End of the Lane

[maplemood]

Since I've read this one before, but only once before, and since it's my favorite of Neil Gaiman's adult books (even counting American Gods), I decided to buy a copy when I saw they were selling them in the college bookstore, and I'm really glad I did. I wouldn't exactly call The Ocean at the End of the Lane comfort reading, but it turned out to be the perfect book for me when it came to taking a break from the stress of all my final papers. Because it's such a strange book, with an ending that's hopeful and bittersweet but not exactly happy, and a good bit more body horror than I remembered, and this nagging, aching sadness running through the entire thing--not to mention the Hempstock women. I loved them all the first time around, and I think I might love them even more now; there's a sense that they have goals and problems, and a history, far outside the scope of the narrator's story, but at the same time they're so incredibly kind, practical, and patient, and exactly what the narrator needs them to be, when he needs them to be. Letty especially switches between being more of a friend/big-sister type and an almost-mother, which is something I don't remember picking up on when I first read it. 

Also, even though I remembered the basic plot--middle-aged man comes back home for his father's funeral, finds himself drawn to the farm where his friend Letty, her mother, and her grandmother, lived when he was around seven, starts to remember all the deeply dark, deeply scary interdimensional weirdness that cropped up after his parents' tenant committed suicide in their car--I didn't remember most of the smaller details, including the fact that my favorite character (Letty's mother, Ginnie) actually has a pretty big role (I'd been remembering her as more of a side character than she actually is), and the fact that the main villain's characterization goes from absolutely terrifying to absolutely heartbreaking so fast it almost gave me whiplash. Or the Hunger Birds! Or the field that grows kittens! There are quite a few scenes that run on dream logic, specifically the kinds of dreams that are so weird you can't tell if they're nightmares or not. And most of those scenes do turn nightmarish (like I said, there's a lot more body horror than I remembered, though it's not all that graphic, just squirmy and disturbing), but at the end of them all there's the Hempstocks and their big, warm, comforting farm house. Even with all the weirdness and horror, the message of the book--life goes on, and you'll forget most of it, including the most important, truest parts, but at the same time, you really won't, because nothing is ever completely lost--is comforting in a uniquely melancholy, Neil-Gaiman-ish way, so maybe it is a comfort read after all? But still. Weirdness and horror. There's a lot of that, too.

Comments

[skye_writer]

I need to reread that book. It is so strange, but I remember being moved by it. I remember seeing Gaiman on tour for the book, too, which was a lovely experience.

[maplemood]

Gosh, I bet it was--he's an incredible writer and seems like a funny and kind person, too! All his books have this wonderful strangeness to them, but this one even more so, I think.

[skye_writer]

It really was. That night he read a different passage than he'd been reading on his other tour stops, because the weather conspired to be thunderstorming that night in Nashville. (Whether it conspired with Gaiman has not been proven, but sometimes I wonder... :P ) His skill at reading from his own works is really unmatched, and the passage he read that night (starting on page 80 of the hardback, a few pages into Chapter 8) was full of tension. I'm still so glad I got a chance to see him on tour, especially since the Ocean tour was his last signing tour.

[maplemood]

And now I'm even more jealous. :) I'm pretty sure he actually narrated the audiobook of The Graveyard Book, so that shouldn't surprise me--also, if it's the scene I'm thinking of (I don't have my copy with me at the moment, so I can't check, a thunderstorm would provide perfect background noise.

[strangelyjonathan]

That book has been on my maybe list for a long time. I don't know why, but it seems the older I get, the more squeamish I've been about horror, which is very odd because I used to love horror novels. I've read quite a few of Neil Gaiman's books though, and loved them all. I'll even confess to have read Good Omens twice over.

[maplemood]

For all the horror elements, I'd say it's more of a dark fantasy, which helps--I'm pretty picky about horror, too, and I don't like stuff that's all unrelenting gore and misery, which The Ocean at the End of the Lane definitely isn't.

I actually haven't read Good Omens yet, though I love both Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, so it's on the list! My other favorite Neil Gaiman novels are Coraline and The Graveyard Book.