The Ocean at the End of the Lane in WACKY READING CHALLENGES

Jun 20, 2018 Bobbi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, always-a-reread, horror, fantasy, grabby-hands

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Jan 21, 2019 Debra Barstad rated it liked it

Not sure how I feel about this one. it was good but yet it was a bit strange. Many people loved this book but I felt it fell short somewhere just not sure what it is.

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Nov 03, 2014 Jody rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: popsugar-fall-2015, made-me-cry, owned-books

I'm not quite sure what it is about Neil Gaiman's writing style, but it just resonates with me. It's deceptively simple - but not sparse & barren like Hemingway. It's also beautifully lush & gorgeous, but not pretentious & overtly flowery (or wanky) like Nabokov. It makes you think, but it's not dumbed down to the level of The Alchemist or Life of Pi - there are clear messages there, but they also don't slam you in the face with the obvious stick. He has a real gift - the saying "he has a way wi ...more

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Dec 10, 2016 Marina rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2016, fantasy, magical-realism

Most amazing reading experience this year!!

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Neil Gaiman himself and I was hooked from the very beginning. The story is interesting and drew me in from start till finish. I started listening to it yesterday but didn't get very far since we had a birthday to go to. But luckily that meant I could spent almost 5 hours today just lying on my sofa listening to this wonderful story.

The way Gaiman tells the story really is amazing. His writing is beautiful even whe ...more

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May 29, 2022 Irene rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: own-physical, slow-beginning, 5-stars, vromans, confusing, my-weak-stomach, magical-realism, under-300-pages, unanswered-questions, went-in-blind

This is a difficult book to review, so I'll just list the main thoughts I had while reading it. As a note, I went into it completely blind - without even reading the blurb on the book jacket - so that could have shaped my reading experience as well:

- The first page almost turned me off from the book, with excessively wordy sentences and a very unclear image of what was going on. I think I had to read it three times. Here's an example of the fourth sentence of the book in its run-on glory (which This is a difficult book to review, so I'll just list the main thoughts I had while reading it. As a note, I went into it completely blind - without even reading the blurb on the book jacket - so that could have shaped my reading experience as well:

- The first page almost turned me off from the book, with excessively wordy sentences and a very unclear image of what was going on. I think I had to read it three times. Here's an example of the fourth sentence of the book in its run-on glory (which made sense narratively but was not hugely enjoyable to read):

I had done my duty in the morning, spoken the words I was meant to speak, and I meant them as I spoke them, and then, when the service was done, I got to my car and I drove, randomly without a plan, with an hour or so to kill before I met more people I had not seen for years and shook more hands and drank too many cups of tea from the best china.

- About 1/3 of the way into the book, things start picking up, and I would 100% say the second half of the book was an absolute page-turner.

- I have a weak stomach, and some of the scenes early on in the book really grossed me out. For example, a graphically-described nightmare of something being metal being stuck in the boy's throat. Another example is the worm in the boy's foot (view spoiler). I'm twitching just typing this out.

- For a book that isn't listed as horror, it's definitely scary at some points. Maybe it's because I didn't even realize it was a fantasy book at first (which in hindsight was dumb since Neil Gaiman is one of the world's foremost fantasy authors) so it caught me off guard, but I definitely got spooked out.

- The ending of this book is slightly open-ended. Not ambiguous, exactly, but some things aren't completely wrapped up, and I'm a sucker for any kind of ending that isn't your typical HEA - open endings, sad/tragic endings, bittersweet endings, you name it. NOT that this book is those things, but there is a slight lack of closure which I personally enjoyed a lot because it fit the kind of story Gaiman was telling.

- That said, I don't think I fully understand a lot of what happens in this book. I don't mean philosophically, because obviously that's up to interpretation, but I mean literal events that occurred in the book. For example, it took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that very early on the book, when the boy describes what I thought was a ventriloquist's dummy, it was actually referring to a person. This was before anything fantastical had occurred, so I guess I was interpreting things too literally to fully appreciate Gaiman's writing.

At any rate, this book is a fantastic work of magical realism, and is the perfect example of how a child narrator does not equal a children's book. It's brutal, grotesque, horrifying, magical, and endearing, and I'm really glad I pushed myself to get past the first 1/3. I've gone back-and-forth between giving this book 4 or 5 stars because the storytelling is a 5/5 but the personal enjoyment was a 4/5. But since I liked this book more than The Graveyard Book, which I gave 5 stars, this is officially my second 5-star read by Neil Gaiman.

*2022 Around the Year Reading Challenge*
Prompt #40: A book related to one of the 22 Tarot Major Arcana cards
Used random tarot generator and got The Empress card, which represents femininity, nature, nurturing (love of home and family), and abundance. If you've read this book, you'll know exactly which character fits this archetype - the narrator actually uses the word "empress" at some point to describe her. ...more

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Jan 31, 2014 Cecilia rated it it was amazing

I LOVED this book! Simply enchanting. It is mysterious and filled with fantasy, unanswered questions, and depth. It fills you up with metaphors about life, spirituality, fears, and courage. I couldn't get enough. ...more

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