The Graveyard Book in Surreal and Weird Books Group!

Aug 03, 2009 Danielle The Book Huntress rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: vampire, audiobook, fantasy, hero-i-loved, favorites, 2011-reading, favorite-or-autobuy-author, library-checkout, ghost, werewolf

This review is hard to write. Not because I can't think of enough wonderful things to say about this book, but because there are so many things I loved about it. I am very glad that I had the experience of listening to this book on audio. Hearing Mr. Gaiman read it is icing on the scrumptious cake. He has a beautifully expressive, soothing, and emotive voice. He wrote it, so he has the advantage of knowing exactly what emphasis to put on the different lines and passages, and how he wants the var This review is hard to write. Not because I can't think of enough wonderful things to say about this book, but because there are so many things I loved about it. I am very glad that I had the experience of listening to this book on audio. Hearing Mr. Gaiman read it is icing on the scrumptious cake. He has a beautifully expressive, soothing, and emotive voice. He wrote it, so he has the advantage of knowing exactly what emphasis to put on the different lines and passages, and how he wants the various parts read.

I had never read Neil Gaiman before this year, and it has been my pleasure to discover him. He is a wonderful fantasist, blessed with the understanding of the joy and the awe that fantasy inspires in a reader. In this case, he manages to take a very dark subject, death, and give it a sense of whimsy and beauty.

The idea of an orphan growing up in a graveyard seems morbid, however this book doesn't read that way at all (except perhaps the parts with the ghouls, but that was on purpose). Instead of reading about a lonely, abandoned child stuck in a place of death, I felt the warm, loving way the graveyard and its denizens adopted the orphaned toddler, raising him into a lovely young man. I felt as though I grew to know all the folks in the graveyard, as if they were members of a large, eccentric family. I loved how Mr. Gaiman would introduce a new ghost by what his/her tombstone said. It was just the right touch. This and the abundant personality of the ghosts helped me to avoid descending into sadness at the realization that these were all departed folks lingering on the mortal plane. It felt natural to me. That takes talent.

Similarly the whole idea of a murderer looking for an innocent child to finish what he'd started so many years ago could have been excessively dark. It was dark, but the darkness doesn't overwhelm this story, not knowing that the Bod is far from alone in the world. He has a strong wall of protection around him, in the forms of his ghostly family, his guardian Silas, his sometimes babysitter Ms. Lupesco, and the graveyard itself. And Bod grows into a young boy/man with quite a good head on his shoulders, a good heart, and one who is resourceful enough to deal with his very evil pursuer(s), and to learn from his missteps in the complicated world of the living.

I truly love this book. The mood, the story, the writing, and the narrator. It will definitely go on my favorites shelf. I think I shall have to get me a paper copy, because this is definitely one for a reread.

Highly recommended! ...more

56 likes · Like · see review

Jan 02, 2013 Ronyell rated it it was amazing

Shelves: neil-gaiman, young-adult-teen-books, 1001-children-s-books, my-blog-reviews, read-in-2013, newbery-medal, world-fantasy-nominee, hugo-award

“There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife.”

That is pretty much the opening sentence to Neil Gaiman’s classic story, “The Graveyard Book,” so you definitely know what kind of book you are getting yourself into! After reading so many of Neil Gaiman’s fantastic books (“Coraline,” the “Sandman” series and “American Gods”), I just had to check out one of his most beloved young adult books, “The Graveyard Book” which also had the honor of winning the Newbery Medal Award! Filled with h Silas

“There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife.”

That is pretty much the opening sentence to Neil Gaiman’s classic story, “The Graveyard Book,” so you definitely know what kind of book you are getting yourself into! After reading so many of Neil Gaiman’s fantastic books (“Coraline,” the “Sandman” series and “American Gods”), I just had to check out one of his most beloved young adult books, “The Graveyard Book” which also had the honor of winning the Newbery Medal Award! Filled with heartwarming scenes and your average creepy themes, “The Graveyard Book” is certain to be a hit with fans of Neil Gaiman’s works!

The book starts off with the murder of an innocent family, which was caused by a man named Jack (they call him “the man Jack” throughout the book). When the man Jack thought that he killed the whole family, it turns out that the youngest child, who was a baby boy, managed to escape from Jack and ran to the graveyard. Since Jack could not find the child, he decided to give off the chase. When the citizens of the graveyard found out that the young boy’s family was killed, a ghost couple named Mr. and Mrs. Owens, decided to raise the boy themselves and they called him Nobody Owens. After that, the young boy Nobody Owens begin having many adventures in the graveyard including meeting the frightening Sleer and meeting a human girl named Scarlett, while also trying to figure out who murdered his family.

Wow! I was totally blown away by the plot and the imagery in this book! As always, Neil Gaiman had crafted a brilliant story that not only revolves around the mystery of the murder of Nobody Owens’ real family, but also provided a heartwarming story about a young boy trying to discover who he really is and what he really wants out of life. I loved the way that Neil Gaiman made Nobody Owens into a sympathetic character who only wanted to see what life was like outside of the graveyard since he spent his whole life living in a graveyard and I often felt sorry for Nobody as his curiosity about the real world would not let him rest. It was also interesting in the way that Neil Gaiman mixed in the supernatural elements (such as Nobody Owens being able to fade so no one can see him and his ability to talk to the dead) into the story as it made the story extremely creative and creepy to read through! I really enjoyed the murder mystery aspect of the story as I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat trying to figure out if the man Jack will ever find Nobody Owens and how Nobody Owens would handle the man Jack if he ever comes across him! Dave McKean’s illustrations are simply gorgeous and creepy at the same time as the characters look a bit abstract, as their bodies are far too lean, but it fit the surreal atmosphere of the story! I also loved the way that Dave McKean shadowed the characters’ facial expressions as it made the characters look extremely dramatic and mysterious in every page they appear in. I also loved the creepy images of the graveyard as they really give off a mysterious and frightening feel to the story (the book is called “The Graveyard Book” after all!)

Even though this book is aimed at a young audience, there are some genuinely creepy moments in this book which includes what Nobody Owens did to two bullies at school and some readers might be a bit frightened at the creepy atmosphere of this book. Also, since there are many scenes of dead people talking to Nobody Owens, some readers would be frightened by the scenes of dead people walking around.

Overall, “The Graveyard Book” is a truly fantastic book for fans of Neil Gaiman’s works and books with ghost, monsters and friendly strange children!

Review is also shown on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

...more

23 likes · Like · see review