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Aug 23, 2013
Chrissy (The Every Free Chance Reader)
rated it
it was amazing
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Did I enjoy this book: Of course! A girl needs her Gaiman fix, doesn’t she?
The Ocean at the End of the Lane is a dark, quirky little tale that, if you’re anything like me, you’ll have trouble putting down. Gaiman creates a fantasy world full of magic and mystery – or maybe it’s just a little boy’s imagination – I’m not sure it matters much, really. His characters are, as always, just the right amount of crazy. I liked Lettie Hempstock so much she might overtake Door (from Neverwhere) on my “List ...more
The Ocean at the End of the Lane is a dark, quirky little tale that, if you’re anything like me, you’ll have trouble putting down. Gaiman creates a fantasy world full of magic and mystery – or maybe it’s just a little boy’s imagination – I’m not sure it matters much, really. His characters are, as always, just the right amount of crazy. I liked Lettie Hempstock so much she might overtake Door (from Neverwhere) on my “List ...more
This is the first novel by Neil Gaiman that I've read. I enjoyed it, and would recommend it to readers that love magical realism. My favorite parts of this novel are the ones involving magic, although I also loved how the main character found joy and satisfaction in simple things like a well made cheese and tomato sandwich whenever he interacted with the Hempstock women or spent time on their farm.
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Neil Gaiman wrties lots of books. None of them are "literary" but all are higly readable. I'vbe been devouring them at a rate of about one a week.
He combines elements from folklore and traditional religions from around the world into stories set in the Depression, WW2, or the present day. This is a Depression Era book.
In someways it's standard issue: Like Moon Over Manifest, there's a lonely, odd kid and a cast of odd adults, a series of events which help the child grow up, and revealed secrets ...more
He combines elements from folklore and traditional religions from around the world into stories set in the Depression, WW2, or the present day. This is a Depression Era book.
In someways it's standard issue: Like Moon Over Manifest, there's a lonely, odd kid and a cast of odd adults, a series of events which help the child grow up, and revealed secrets ...more
Gaiman combines magic, fantasy and realism in a coming-of-age novel about a boy who meets an older girl who lives down the lane from him. When she introduces him to the ocean at the end of the lane, he sees a farmer's pond. The longer he's around this girl, however, the safer he feels in her presence.
A problem at home sends him fleeing in the middle of the night to the girl's farm. Along the way, he feels a sense of dread and foreboding until he steps on her land. She finds him hiding in a field ...more
A problem at home sends him fleeing in the middle of the night to the girl's farm. Along the way, he feels a sense of dread and foreboding until he steps on her land. She finds him hiding in a field ...more
Gaiman always tends to write with a lyrical sort of prose, even when describing his more graphic or frightening scenes, and that voice carries through to this short novel. This book reminds me of how fairy tales were always meant to be until the likes of Disney sweetened them and made them more palatable. Old Russian stories of Baba Yaga or the French tale of Bluebeard come to mind. It is that sort of timelessness that reverberated through these pages, of the bubble innocence from childhood bein
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I can see how this was a charming book... I think I'm just not good at being charmed.
Well-written and I certainly didn't have to force myself to keep reading, but it didn't catch me up in a wistful, magical world like it seems to have for other readers. My loss, I guess. ...more
Well-written and I certainly didn't have to force myself to keep reading, but it didn't catch me up in a wistful, magical world like it seems to have for other readers. My loss, I guess. ...more
This is the second book of Gaiman's that I have listened to and I liked much more then the first. The Ocean at the End of Lane was the epitome of nostalgia. A nameless boy reminices about his youth, or what he believes happened in his youth. What was real and what wasn't....who knows for sure?
Very enjoyable story. ...more
Very enjoyable story. ...more
Dec 05, 2013
Anne Barwell
marked it as to-read
Dec 07, 2013
Jerry Scot
marked it as to-read
Dec 07, 2013
Mae
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Dec 29, 2013
Shellby
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Jan 27, 2014
Nina
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Aug 05, 2014
Mary Ann
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Feb 26, 2018
Wendy
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Mar 02, 2019
Sandra Sørensen
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Dec 30, 2019
Dirk
marked it as to-read
Oct 03, 2022
Amanda
marked it as to-read
