Audiobook Review: The Ocean at the End of the Lane written and narrated by Neil Gaiman

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

by Neil Gaiman (Compact Disc Gaiman)

 

The narrator of this story is a middle-aged man who’d returned to his childhood home in Sussex, England for a funeral, and suddenly recalls events of one summer when he was seven. A man committed suicide in a stolen vehicle, and began a series of magical, scary events. Living in a rundown farm at the end of the lane is 11-year-old Lettie Hempstock, her mother, and her grandmother.

 

A lot is going on in this quiet, little story — suicide, how to be a friend, sacrifice, and Other creatures. And Lettie, who has promised to protect that little boy no matter what.

 

Read by the author, Gaiman is one of the few authors who is capable of reading his own material. His soft, British voice knows his own work to add emphasis and pause in just the right manner in just the right places. If given the choice, always select a Gaiman-read story.

 

And he gives us a tale that slowly unfolds including witches, magic, paranormal, other universes, horror, and an epic battle near the end.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains: A Tale of Travel and Darkness also by Neil Gaiman, also available as an audiobook-on-cd.)

 

( official The Ocean at the End of the Lane page on the official Neil Gaiman web site )

 

See Wyatt P’s earlier review of the print edition of The Ocean at the End of the Lane in the August 2013 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide.

 

Recommended by Charlotte M.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Services

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Review: How to Talk to Girls at Parties by Neil Gaiman (Graphic Novel)

How to Talk to Girls at Parties
by Neil Gaiman, with art by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba [741.5 Gai]

This graphic novel is an adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s LOCUS-Award-winning short story from his 2006 story collection Fragile Things. It was also adapted into a 2017 film (with major changes made).

Enn, an introverted British teenager, and his more extroverted friend Vic, plan to crash a party in their neighborhood of East Croydon. The party they end up isn’t the one they expected, but the girls there seem interesting so they stay. The story is narrated by Enn, who doesn’t feel equipped to “talk to girls at parties” like Vic does with ease. But, over the course of the evening, he interacts with three different girls, each of home has a somewhat unearthly personality.

The artwork in this graphic novel is compelling — at times a bit grotesque but captures the otherworldly tone of Gaiman’s story very well. I’ve read the simple text story a few times before, but I’ll have to admit — if and when I read it again, I’ll now have the images from this graphic novel as I think about the characters. This is a well-done adaptation, and I believe readers will enjoy this even if they haven’t read Gaiman’s story previously.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Fragile Things, the Gaiman short story collection that originally featured the short story upon which this graphic novel is based. Also, pretty much anything else by Gaiman, who is one of the most amazing fantasists writing today.]

[ official How to Talk to Girls at Parties graphic novel web site ] | [ official Neil Gaiman web site ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

Fortunately the Milk

Fortunately the Milk
by Neil Gaiman [j Gaiman]

This light-hearted illustrated juvenile novel is a fun, quick read for anyone, whether you're a prior Neil Gaiman fan or not. Filled with humorous illustrations by Skottie Young, this tells the tale of a small family in England, where the mother has to go away for a few days and leaves the absent-minded father in charge. Right off the bat, the two young daughters in the family discover that there is no milk for their morning cereal, and the father nips off to the corner store for a pint of the white stuff. When he returns, somewhat delayed, and somewhat disheveled, he shares his tale of the mind-boggling adventure he was on after leaving the store -- involving kidnapping by UFO, time traveling with a talking dinosaur in a hot air balloon, pirates and much more. A nearly perfect "tall tale" from Dad to the kids, with comical art that highlights the silliness of it all. Still, exceptionally well told! -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ official Neil Gaiman web site ]

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

Instructions

Instructions
by Neil Gaiman [jP Gaiman]

Instructions is one of my favorite Neil Gaiman poems and is something that is as wonderful from a reader's perspective as it is from a writer's or those that are interested in archetypes. Instructions tells of the journey. Not a specific one, but one that in it's deepest sense is in fact instructions. As I was reading I found myself thinking of many of the adventure fantasy novels and myths I have read and Instructions is that journey. The one you find every hero going on, and every character facing. With this book Neil Gaiman cements himself in my mind as both a wonderful writer as well as a great knowledge of myth and stories. And not to leave it out, Charles Vess's illustrations add a wonderful element to Gaiman's writing and his limited color palette makes the pictures both simple and deep that take nothing away from the writing itself. -- recommended by Wyatt P. - Gere Branch Library

[ official Neil Gaiman web site ]

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

The Ocean at the End of the Lane
by Neil Gaiman

The Ocean at the End of the Lane is really a special novel. It is hard to express just how amazing this book really is. Gaiman writes in such a way that not only do the words leap off the page but they blend together like poetry. This is also one of the rare books that when I was finished I got a sense of satisfaction that is so unusual for me. I have had that feeling with books I didn't care for and some that I loved, this is the latter. The story feels so much like a myth or fairy tale and is just as magical.There is not much I can say about the story itself without taking anything away from the experience and I encourage you to enjoy the magic and dream, Neil Gaiman, for yourself. -- recommended by Wyatt P. - Gere Branch Library

[ official The Ocean at the End of the Lane page on the official Neil Gaiman web site ]

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

New Booktalk Booklist: Everything Neil!

Sarah D., from the Gere Branch Library, presented an all-new booktalk as part of the Gere Branch BooksTalks on December 6th, focusing on the works -- for both adult and young readers -- of master modern fantasist, Neil Gaiman.

Her list of titles -- Everything Neil -- is now available on the BookGuide web site on the Booktalk Booklists page. Check it out for some good reading suggestions! You can also check out the master index to all past Staff Recommendations on the BookGuide site for some additional recommended reading titles (scroll down the list alphabetically by author).

The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book

by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman's latest -- a current Hugo Award nominee for best novel -- is ostensibly a "young adult" title, but can be appreciated by readers of most ages. As usual with Gaiman, this is a modern-fantasy work, set in our traditional world, but with elements of the fantastic woven throughout the fabric of the novel. The novel begins some time ago, as a mysterious killer attempts to assassinate the members of a small British family. Unbeknownst to the killer, a toddler has escape from his crib and wandered out of the house...into a graveyard down the street. The ghosts inhabiting the graveyard recognize the threat to the child and, knowing his parents are dead, adopt the lab -- naming him Nobody Owens, or "Bod" for short. Bod grows up in the graveyard, receiving his life lessons from the dead, and guarded by the mysterious Silas, a man who is neither living nor dead. As Bod grows up, the threats to him from the outside world continue, and the wonders he experiences in his odd world continue to amaze the reader...with both elements culminating in a dark confrontation before the book concludes. Overall, I found this Newbery Award winning book to be an interesting read, though not quite as enjoyable as Gaiman's previous youth book -- Coraline. But, still definitely worth reading to keep up with one of today's master fantasists. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ official Graveyard Book web site ] [ official Neil Gaiman web site ]

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Ten (or more) new reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog over the course of the entire month.