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What Members Thought
Honestly, Neil, this was not your best work.
I got what you were going for. You've spanned countless genres and subgenres across your work, even given birth to a few new ones, but the magical realism memoir just feels half-hearted from you. Your characters are interesting, as always, your prose is clear and strong, as always, but the story dragged or skipped with alarming incongruity. Was this two stories, perhaps? Did you fall asleep writing one, and wake up to start writing the other, without ...more
I got what you were going for. You've spanned countless genres and subgenres across your work, even given birth to a few new ones, but the magical realism memoir just feels half-hearted from you. Your characters are interesting, as always, your prose is clear and strong, as always, but the story dragged or skipped with alarming incongruity. Was this two stories, perhaps? Did you fall asleep writing one, and wake up to start writing the other, without ...more
I'm torn. It's good - probably very good - but it feels like a big, fat, softball right across the center of the plate for his fans. A magical world alongside (but hidden from) our own where things turn sinister when the protagonist inadvertently wanders from the safe path... it's Gaiman 101, mixing bits of his childhood in with tropes that will be familiar to anyone who has read his comics or prose work. I know he can stretch himself to do work I can admire even if I don't love it. He's not doi
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3.5 stars. Magical story about childhood, friendship, helplessness, and evil. An enthralling story in Gaiman's typical style. Although written for adults, the book is also suitable for teenagers.
I listened to the audio version narrated by the author and enjoyed it very much. Gaiman reading his own words highlighted some of the autobiographic touches to the story. Since I was listening to the story, I didn't have the ability to linger over some of my favorite passages.
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I listened to the audio version narrated by the author and enjoyed it very much. Gaiman reading his own words highlighted some of the autobiographic touches to the story. Since I was listening to the story, I didn't have the ability to linger over some of my favorite passages.
...more
With hauntingly beautiful characters and a dreamlike quality surrounding the entire story, this is a novel worth slipping into. Despite its short length, it captures truths about the impermanence of childhood and asks big questions about how reliable memory really is. How often do we miss the bigger picture because our vision is too narrow?
It's impossible for me to rate a book by Gaiman with less than 5 stars. Enchanting and dark and comforting. All at once. Of course I adored this story.
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He can certainly create tension and fear with his writing!
A bit odd, but at the end I was blown away by all the layers of reality/unreality/perception and how it translated. Giving Tree meets Life of Pi ending meets Dr. Who (thank you, MB - you were exactly right - it would have made a great Dr. Who episode).
Gaiman's most recent novella is an exploration of childhood fears. The imagery is so vivid that I felt horrified picturing the antagonist. A neat little work.
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Dec 04, 2013
Deanna M
marked it as to-read
Dec 09, 2013
Liz
marked it as to-read
Feb 28, 2014
Jess
rated it
really liked it
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review of another edition
Shelves:
bookclub,
2014-audio
Jun 26, 2014
Tara
marked it as to-read
Aug 03, 2014
Sarah
marked it as to-read
Jul 02, 2015
Jill
marked it as to-read
