Jayson’s Reviews > The Ocean at the End of the Lane > Status Update

Notes:
(1) The only notable bonus material is Gaiman's interview with the Bookclub Girl Podcast.
- Included, I assume, because it's about the book specifically.
(2) My main takeaway from the interview is that the unnamed narrator is Neil Gaiman himself, though the family is fictional.
- That's surprising, although I'd assumed it was somewhat autobiographical.
- The house described in the book is Gaiman's family home.

Notes:
(1) It's revealed this isn't the first time the narrator's revisited the Hempstock farm. He returns at times of personal crisis.
- This makes me think that going back is actually an anti-suicide pilgrimage, a periodic reminder of Lettie's sacrifice.
- After all, the book begins with a funeral, suicide and the line "the end of the road." "The end of the lane" isn't mentioned until the epilogue, as if a bookend.

Notes:
(1) It's interesting how the true form of these supernatural characters are described in terms of fabric.
- Ursula is "made of gray and pink canvas that flapped in the gusts of storm wind."
- "Lettie Hempstock was made of silken sheets the color of ice, filled with tiny flickering candle flames."
- Flapping versus flickering and canvas versus silk are interesting contrasts. They're both coarse versus delicate.

Notes:
(1) Lettie says her family can use spells but they don't. The closest thing we get to a spell is Old Mrs. Hempstock snipping memories out of cloth.
- Likely a direct allusion to the Fates of Greek myth, in both cases the eldest one does the cutting.
(2) Ursula seems to represent a child's first (unsexual) awareness of sexual things.
- The narrator sees her in her bra, completely naked, and actually having sex.

Notes:
(1) Ursula Monkton reveals herself as a monster in more ways than one. She seduces the father, thus corrupting familial integrity.
- Once again, she's creeping into substitute mother territory.
(2) "He was hugging her from behind. Her midi skirt was hiked around her waist."
- That's quite the euphemism. Despite having a child protagonist, this is most certainly Gaiman's most "adult" book since "American Gods."

Notes:
(1) The prevalence of pre-decimalized coins is interesting.
- They're mundane items yet symbolic of a bygone age and links to a medieval world.
(2) Since Ursula wears a pink and grey skirt, we assume she's the same creature as the foot worm and the canvas monster.
- All three are striped pink and grey.
- Being a shape-shifter, she's akin to the Other Mother in "Coraline." As a nanny, she'd be "another mother."

Notes:
(1) I'm in between audiobooks at the moment. I recently finished an eight-book series and the book I chose next finished much sooner than expected.
- So, when in doubt go with Neil Gaiman.
(2) I have two more Neil Gaiman audiobooks left to listen to, this and "The Graveyard Book."
- I chose this one simply because it's shorter. I have some audiobooks on hold at my library and I want to be free to receive them.