The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Ratings1,024
Average rating4
This man can write an acknowledgements section that bring tears to my eyes. How does he do that!!
This book is written in such an amazing way. It really brings that sense of being a child and seeing the world through those eyes. The feeling of being in this massive world but only being able to understand it from your limited perspective. I still wonder whether all those things actually happened or they were just the boy's was of dealing with everything that happened to him.
It feels like a fairy tale but with very adult themes. It really goes a long way to display the casual cruelty of the adult world and the purity of childhood. All told through these fantastic and mystical events. I have no better way of saying it. But I loved it.
4.5 a grim fairy tale as neil gaiman loves to write. i've read his american gods and enjoyed it, but this book definitely brought back more feelings and memories of reading the graveyard book as a kid. it's really fascinating how good he is at making a tale that is definitely for grown ups sound so much like it is a tale for a child. or by a kid. or both? i love how subtly the theme of memories and what we want or should remember was woven into it. and i'll say - it wasn't until the epilogue that the book really got to me. i really enjoyed it before that, but the epilogue was when it really hit. Spoilerthe image of the main character returning to the hempstock farm throughout his life to remember and find solace and courage to return home, and to forget again was just really beautiful to me.and, VERY important to mention: the illustrated version is absolutely gorgeous. i know everyone is raving about the audiobook because it's read by gaiman himself (and i can't say i'm not curious) but to hold this book in your hands and see the images spread out before you is an Experience as well.
The ending parts, maybe the last 50 pages are basically the best thing ever. The rest is various degrees of good, a somewhat clunky novel but certainly a good one. Some elements feel out of place, or underdeveloped, too much time is spent on a certain plot point that feels weirdly unsignificant thematically. But that ending? Holy shit it really got me. The beginning is great but the ending is, again, sort of the best. Rating and deeper thoughts later maybe? great great book
If it weren't for some stuff in the middle this would absolutely be one of my favourite books. At this point, probably top 30 idk
To moje pierwsze spotkanie z twórczością Neila Gaimana. “Ocean na końcu drogi” to niemal baśniowa historia, w której trudno odgadnąć co jest prawdziwe, a co nie.
Sussex, Anglia. Mężczyzna w średnim wieku wraca do domu swojego dzieciństwa na pogrzeb. Chociaż dom, w którym mieszkał, dawno już nie istnieje, ciągnie go na farmę na końcu drogi, gdzie w wieku siedmiu lat spotkał niezwykłą dziewczynę, Lettie Hempstock, oraz jej matkę i babcię. Od dziesięcioleci nie myślał o Lettie, a jednak kiedy siedzi nad stawem (którym twierdziła, że jest oceanem) za zrujnowanym starym wiejskim domem, powraca niepamiętna przeszłość. A to przeszłość zbyt dziwna, zbyt przerażająca, zbyt niebezpieczna, by mogła się przytrafić komukolwiek, nie mówiąc już o małym chłopcu.
Czterdzieści lat wcześniej pewien mężczyzna popełnił samobójstwo w skradzionym samochodzie na tej farmie na końcu drogi. Jego śmierć rozpoczęła lawinę niesamowitych zdarzeń. Rozpętała się ciemność, coś przerażającego i zupełnie niezrozumiałego dla małego chłopca. A Lettie — magiczna, pocieszająca, mądra ponad swoje lata — obiecała go chronić, bez względu na wszystko.
Gaiman napisał książkę, która dogłębnie przemawia do naszego wewnętrznego dziecka – nigdy nie zapomnij marzyć, nigdy nie strać magii, w którą wierzysz, nigdy nie pozwól demonom wygrać, a jeśli ktoś potrzebuje pocieszenia, zawsze będzie Staw na końcu ścieżki. A może tym razem Ocean?
Książkę wysłuchałam na storytel.
Absolutnie fantastyczny audiobook. Miłogost Reczek to mój ulubiony lektor, który potrafi dać każdej historii jeszcze większą głębię.
“Gdy się starzejemy, zamieniamy się we własnych rodziców; wystarczy pożyć dość długo, by ujrzeć twarze powtarzające się w czasie.”
neil gaiman is honestly a literary genius and i cannot emphasize it enough. This book is hands down one of my favourite quick reads so far. The allegories are just chef's kiss.
4.5 stars. Loved it. Wanted more of this world. But loved the tightness of the narrative and the pacing.
So difficult to rate this story. It was beautiful. It was bizarre. It was eloquent. It was uncomfortable.
What a deeply melancholic book. It's funny because when you compare this to Pratchett's work with similar ingredients it's really interesting how deeply sad and occasionally terrifying Gaiman's work is compared to the latters wry humour and empowerment.
4.5/5. Wow. Just wow.
So many brilliant moments in this book. This was sometimes horror, sometimes fantasy, sometimes children's adventure, sometimes fairytale, sometimes magical realism, sometimes surrealism, sometimes allegory, but all times engaging and beautiful to read.
When he just turns seven, the unnamed narrator meets a strange girl who lives at the farmhouse at the end of the lane, Lettie Hempstock. She is slightly older than him at eleven years old, but already seems to know a lot more things than she should. A dead man turns up in a stolen and abandoned family car, and a magical adventure ensue.
Most of this book reads like a fairytale for adults. Like children's fairytales, it gives you a world want to escape to, where problems could be solved with magic, and where there is a vast unknown magical world and system that you cannot even begin to comprehend. But unlike children's fairytales, Gaiman doesn't shy away from showing you how rough the world can get even for children, so you can appreciate the nice, cosy spot you have in front of your fireplace. That nice, cosy spot, Gaiman seems to argue, is in adults retaining a child-like wonder and curiosity for the world.
“Grown-ups don't look like grown-ups on the inside either. Outside, they're big and thoughtless and they always know what they're doing. Inside, they look just like they always have. Like they did when they were your age. The truth is, there aren't any grown-ups. Not one, in the whole wide world.”
some
universe
"And did I pass?"The face of the old woman on my right as unreadable in the gathering dusk. On my left the younger woman said, "You don't pass or fail at being a person, dear."
As the Fall season begins so does my NEED for all things creepy, scary, mysterious and dark.
I don't usually read stories like this, and I think I found out why: I do not believe anything that happened in this book. I liked it, I loved how it was written, how it made me feel nostalgic for experiences I never even had, but I distanced myself from really getting into the story by not believing it.
All I kept thinking the entire time was that this entire story took place inside a boy's imagination, or at least everything that went inside supernatural territory. I feel like a lot of traumatic things happened to this kid in a relatively short time (Seeing a dead body, catching his father cheating, his father becoming abusive for a while after, his one friend either leaving or dying, and basically blaming himself for all of it) and that this was his way to cope with all of it. Maybe that was the point, and we are supposed to look for the meanings behind all of it, but it kept me from being really immersed in all of it.
The first half of the book I really loved. It had most of the nostalgia and it felt very atmospheric. Ideal for reading on a rainy day. The second half of the book really ramped up the “strange occurrences” and that's where it lost me a little bit.
A very unique read! This was the first time I had to change the book I read before bedtime because this one gave me some very strange dreams. Especially the first half feels very unnerving and so it didn't quite work as a relaxing read.
I think this type of magical realism is not my particular genre, but I still took enjoyment out of figuring out what had actually happened to this kid.
I loved this story I listed the audiobook narrated by Neil Gaiman and it was excellent. Like, many of Gaiman's stories it's a little scary and not something to read late at night. I found it very imaginative and full of adventure.
Lovely little mystical story set in rural England. I love the way the main characters point of view changes between childhood and adulthood.
A curious reflection on life and reality. What is as we think it is? Who has our back?
I enjoyed both the narrative and the characters. With many little subplots, this story can keep you hoping for more.
I was disappointed, I wanted to like it, I liked American gods and Anansi boys a lot, more like I wanted to enjoy it, even more that I saw many had it as their favorite all time book!
But no, I didn't, could not, barely hold on to finish it.
Maybe is me but I could not be happy about the fact that all the fantastic elements are totally ...
not explained, not logical and not coherent (probably my explanation here has same flaw :))
What I maybe do not explain it right is that I like fantasy and many things are just that, not real, but I do want some logical connection and here everything is lose and nothing makes sense and they do not connect; in previous books the characters I could imagine them but here they were just ...2 weak, no dimension.
I wanted to like it, I wanted to feel good reading it, I wanted to feel some nostalgia and Stranger Things similar feeling but what I get is like is written by some copy cat that lacked the skill :) to create some credible (maybe sounds weird talking about a fantasy book) world.
This is a short and warm novel. The story is delicate and imaginative. I wouldn't call it great, but certainly very good.
Devoured in less than 24 hours. Absolutely fell in love and I am heartbroken that I will never again be able to read it for the first time.
The writing. Gaimen's writing feels (sounds) effortless. Almost poetic. He is just such a joy to read. I wish I could write half as eloquently. Man, I wish I could read his first draft and compare.
Story. This may be my favorite his novels ) that I have read, of course). I have liked the others, but not loved. I loved this novel. It was such a great and thought provoking adventure packaged up as a childhood dream wrapped in an adult's nostalgic recollection. That just may have happened. We all have recollected stories of our youth that we are just barely clinging to... Gaimen really captured that phenomenon and then cranked up the story. Just wonderful. Recommend!
This is only the second Gaiman novel I've read. The first, American Gods, underwhelmed me, so I went in with trepidation. However, this mystical, magical, almost mythical coming-of-age story charmed and delighted me. I'll be back for more.
A good, quick read that left me wanting for more. I was left feeling poignant and aching. Perhaps that was the whole point of it.