Today I'll talk about one of the latest books that I've read: Neil Gaiman's THE GRAVEYARD BOOK.
Synopsis:
Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy.
He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead.
There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy-an ancient Indigo Man beneath the hill, a gateway to a desert leading to an abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible menace of the Sleer.
But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod's family…
Beloved master storyteller Neil Gaiman returns with a luminous new novel for the audience that embraced his New York Times bestselling modern classic Coraline. Magical, terrifying, and filled with breathtaking adventures, The Graveyard Book is sure to enthrall readers of all ages.
Synopsis:
Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy.
He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead.
There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy-an ancient Indigo Man beneath the hill, a gateway to a desert leading to an abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible menace of the Sleer.
But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod's family…
Beloved master storyteller Neil Gaiman returns with a luminous new novel for the audience that embraced his New York Times bestselling modern classic Coraline. Magical, terrifying, and filled with breathtaking adventures, The Graveyard Book is sure to enthrall readers of all ages.
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Okay, this is the first book that I've read from the Neil Gaiman (would you say I'm missing a lot?) and for me, it was a fair choice.
I got a lot of expectations on this one for everyone seemed to love this book! Well my expectations were met, barely.
The book had a nice story, yeah, Jungle Book but in the graveyard. Nobody Owens, or Bod,was taken care of by the ghosts and was protected from the killers of his parents. The readers could see how Bod lived his life and grew into a fine young boy destined for great adventures! But yeah, since this one is patterned from the Jungle Book, it is quite predictable.
This story is filled with LOVABLE characters (I think that all caps would emphasize my, umm, emphasis?). Living with ghosts, Bod learned the ways of the dead. But these are not those ghosts that you see in horror flicks, these are those that had once experienced to live and retain their memories. These ghosts know how to live and love like real people, by this Gaiman depicted a new dimension on perception of ghosts, and this is a plus point for me.
The ending was quite expected but the adventure towards it was GREAT. There were some fun parts but there are also heartbreaking scenes, I'm not the one who usually cries when reading a book, but at one point I felt tears at the sides of my eyes while reading this one.
The illustrations were weird, some made it hard for me to understand but given the mood of the book, I say it is acceptable.
Good book all in all! You could buy this one for your children and find yourself enjoying it too! Recommended for young readers and die-hard Gaiman fans!
I got a lot of expectations on this one for everyone seemed to love this book! Well my expectations were met, barely.
The book had a nice story, yeah, Jungle Book but in the graveyard. Nobody Owens, or Bod,was taken care of by the ghosts and was protected from the killers of his parents. The readers could see how Bod lived his life and grew into a fine young boy destined for great adventures! But yeah, since this one is patterned from the Jungle Book, it is quite predictable.
This story is filled with LOVABLE characters (I think that all caps would emphasize my, umm, emphasis?). Living with ghosts, Bod learned the ways of the dead. But these are not those ghosts that you see in horror flicks, these are those that had once experienced to live and retain their memories. These ghosts know how to live and love like real people, by this Gaiman depicted a new dimension on perception of ghosts, and this is a plus point for me.
The ending was quite expected but the adventure towards it was GREAT. There were some fun parts but there are also heartbreaking scenes, I'm not the one who usually cries when reading a book, but at one point I felt tears at the sides of my eyes while reading this one.
The illustrations were weird, some made it hard for me to understand but given the mood of the book, I say it is acceptable.
Good book all in all! You could buy this one for your children and find yourself enjoying it too! Recommended for young readers and die-hard Gaiman fans!
Characters - 5 stars
Story - 3 stars
Writing - 4 stars
Overall - 4 stars
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Very good review! I am not familiar with this author, but this sounds like an interesting book!
ReplyDeleteGreat review! I'm interested in reading it:) Thanks Ivan.
ReplyDelete@Linda and Paper Cut Reviewer - thanks for the comments! Hope you found this review helpful!
ReplyDeleteI think you and I are pretty much in agreement on this book. The story was good, but I too felt he went out of character from time to time, and the writing style was just...oof. Not good for me. If I were to keep reading the series (and my son has, he's in the middle of the third book now), it would be for the story and nothing else.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen the movie yet, but I probably will when it comes out on DVD. :)