The Ocean at the End of the Lane in 2017 Reading Challenge

Mar 25, 2014 Lindsay Fouts rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, magical-realism, 2013-favorites

What an amazing book! Brought back the magic of childhood, the good and the bad. Anything is possible when you are 7 years old.

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Jan 21, 2020 Cinder rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. 3.5 really but bumped it to a 4 instead of dropping to a 3 bc Gaiman is a great writer. I’d love to hear other people’s thoughts on this novel. IMO, the Hempstocks & their magical farm, Ursula, and the varmints weren’t real and was created in the mind of a lonely boy who loved to read and who had a vivid imagination. When tragedy struck and he was exposed to seeing the dead man, he found safety in a world where three women of different ages protected him. When he felt his family was letting him 3.5 really but bumped it to a 4 instead of dropping to a 3 bc Gaiman is a great writer. I’d love to hear other people’s thoughts on this novel. IMO, the Hempstocks & their magical farm, Ursula, and the varmints weren’t real and was created in the mind of a lonely boy who loved to read and who had a vivid imagination. When tragedy struck and he was exposed to seeing the dead man, he found safety in a world where three women of different ages protected him. When he felt his family was letting him down he had another family to turn to. When his kitten was his only source of comfort & then taken from him, in his alt reality there was a similar kitten there to comfort him whenever he needed. Maybe his father really had an affair and he turned the nanny into a monster bc at 7 years old, we believe only a monster could make our parents do bad things. Towards the end the Hempstock women tell him that he has visited many times but doesn’t remember - all times when he was under stress. I think the ages of the women are important and represent his stages of life. Since Lettie is from his childhood & peak of his imagination she isn’t physically present at the end. They mention he gave them back the kitty. Maybe this was when he found comfort in something else (like the girl he mentions that I assume he marries). The gate left in his heart could be him shutting himself down subconsciously. His family says they no longer have money, so he creates someone who gives money to everyone. I feel the ending where he mentions the two moons and something about imagining the whole thing is what led me to believe most of the story was in his imagination, a childhood escape when faced with problems that he had no control over. I could be totally off and am open to accepting this is simply just a fantasy novel full of monsters and magical women but then I have some questions. Like why 40 years later is Lettie still sleeping and if the hunger birds really ate his heart how did he live? There’s more but I’ll leave it at that. :) ...more

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Dec 16, 2014 Uma Sreekanth rated it really liked it

This book not only stretched my imagination but also made me question reality and be aware of the subtleties of existence that we forget to acknowledge. An insightful and enriching read :)

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Feb 18, 2014 Ned Hanlon rated it really liked it

I like Neil Gaiman's books. I keep wanting to read them so I must... right? However, I have come away from the three I have read (American gods, neverwhere and now The Ocean at the End of the Lane) slightly dissatisfied. It seems odd to say this but I feel that Gaiman has not quite figured how to write a novel. American Gods was meandering and epic in scope but felt like some major editing to turn it into a work with any continuity. The Ocean at the end of the lane felt the opposite: it had the ...more

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