The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Ratings1,023
Average rating4
Neil Gaiman delivers another magical tale of childhood, mixing together bits of his own youth with delightfully wicked fantasy elements to create an emotionally engaging, mature piece of fiction. This is a shorter novel, but it is precisely focused, as Neil has trimmed all the excess packaging off the story, leaving only the sweetest bites intact. The central characters were all fleshed out fully, without many side characters entering or exiting the story, and the arc was beautifully executed with a tumultuous ending. Love.
Neil could read me his grocery list and I would be satisfied.
This book was an absolute pleasure to read. It was fascinating, intoxicating, and enthralling. As with all of his books, it perfectly blended fantasy with reality to create a wonderful story. It's hard to believe that this book is so short- the story felt so fulfilling and it certainly did not feel as though anything was missing.
I loved it.
My second Gaiman book. A story I liked, filled with fantasy, mystery and nostalgia; made me think about my childhood years; in a similar way such as the protagonist reflected on half remembered adventures and things that were true back then but aren't anymore. With wonders and fears, amazement and disappointments. I think most of us can relate to some of that.
I enjoyed the narration by Gaiman, personally getting a longing feeling from it that just adds to the mystery of the story.
A children's fable, suitable for adults as well. I would imagine this feels the same as Coraline.
I can't really say Neil Gaiman's books are bad, or that I don't like them. For one his prose is at the very least a bit compelling regardless of the story he is telling. Then his voice, he is the perfect narrator for his own stories.
That said, his stories are not usually my kind of stories. Like this one. It was just entertaining enough. I'm not into fables.
Very interesting read. I'd probably “get” more if I re-listen, but I didn't really enjoy it enough to listen again. It was good. It was creative. It felt like a child's nightmare which made stretches of it less enjoyable, but more interesting.
How had I never read this before? It came across the desk at library while I was working and I thought maybe I should read it, because everyone I know has, and they seemed to like it, and it's by Neil Gaiman so it's going to be good...but I had no idea how good it was going to be. It was wonderful. And I'm so glad I've finally read it.
This felt, more than anything, like a walk through Gaiman's greatest hits. You have the fantasting coming of age story (Stardust), the analysis of childhood innocence through adult eyes (Mr. Punch), the terrifying childhood monster (Coraline), and the balance between myth and reality (Sandman, Neverwhere). That is by no means a knock against the story - it's a fun read - but rather an acknowledgement that he's treading familiar ground. If you're a fan of his other stuff this is definitely a worthwhile read.
Beautiful writing. This man is truly a poet. Great to dip into magical realism again, this makes me want into an Isabel Allende rabbit hole.
However, I like plot. I like some kind of growth in a novel and this was very very ambiguous. I don't typically read novels just for the beauty of the writing/words which is why this book is 3 stars. Writing style? 5/5. But the plot, although also possessing its own beauty, just didn't have enough of a true resolution for me.
Started a little slow for me as I didn't really care for any of the characters. The narrator (never given a name) wasn't interesting until Lettie was a part of the story. Lettie's family was undefined but seemed to be witches and then just otherworld beings but were really the stars of the story. The boy was really just there to move the story along but was mostly unnecessary. Once the action started picking up, I really enjoyed the story and the whole world Gaiman managed to create in so few pages. I would like to see a sequel or prequel of this focusing on the Hempstock's family and their farm.
My uncle raved about this book when I was visiting him last weekend and he bought it for me at Pegasus in Oakland. I know pretty little about Gaiman's work other than I always thought it wasn't my thing, as fantasy isn't a genre I have been able to (or have desired to) get into. But, this writing is great and the fantastical elements of the story gave my mind a different kind of workout than the books I typically read do. I loved the swift pace, vivid imagery, and the emotional/mental complexities and depth he reached very concisely and masterfully.
I read this as a little palate cleanser after a string of nonfiction/biography. I often find myself frustrated by Neil Gaiman. I love the ideas he plays with and returns to, but his execution and endings usually leave me wanting more.
I was so blown away by how good this little book is.
It shares DNA with David Mitchell's Black Swan Green and even a little more with Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time series. The protagonist of the book is seven years old, and I was shocked and moved by his ability to draw me back into that time when I was so small and had so little power and so little control and anything and anyone could become dangerous. I highly recommend.
I can't quarrel with Neil Gaiman's writing ability. He is a master. My problem was with the story. When I first started reading it, it seemed as if it would be based in reality. I didn't expect it to have so much fantasy. So, the error is mine.
I felt he captured well the plight of a young person who is misunderstood by his own family and has a difficult relationship with his father. And I liked how the boy's relationship developed with the girl and her mother down the lane. I think for me it went off the rails with the nanny. It seemed too far fetched for me.
But for those seeking a otherworldly experience, they might give this story five stars, because the author's imagination takes the reader for quite the ride.
This is my first Neil Gaiman book and this shouldn't have. What an amazing write up. Really glad to have read some of the chapters to Kashmir.
Ah, yes. Another Neil Gaiman book that fucks me up in an entirely welcome way by the end of it. I am left with a strange sort of pleasant emptiness that is the signature Neil Gaiman post-epilogue feeling.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane is a wonderful stand-alone, genre-defying novel. I would call it an adult book and a children's book; literary fiction and genre fiction; horror and fantasy and slice-of-life. It is a book about a seven-year-old boy who gets mixed up in a bunch of otherwordly things, including a housekeeper from hell, the most terrifying soul-sucking vultures I've ever read about, and an odd but heartwarming magical family, but it is full of shatteringly astute insights on childhood, adulthood, and magic and meaning in our lives. Mr. Gaiman continues to baffle me with how it is possible for a person to write so simply and so compellingly at the same time, and continues to be one of my greatest writing role models.
The only reason that this book doesn't get five stars is because there is a lot of ambiguity surrounding aforementioned magical family. I still have no idea what the heck is going on with them. I know that this is intentional, but as someone who likes to get mentally involved with the smallest details of speculative fiction, that was as frustrating to me as it seemed to be to the book's narrator.
If you're looking for a book that will break your heart and stick with you and remind you to stop worrying so much about being a grown-up, The Ocean at the End of the Lane does not disappoint. Even if you're not looking for any of those things, pick it up.
Simply magical. I've loved many of Gaiman's books. Up until now, it was a toss up between NEVERWHERE, THE ANANSI BOYS, or THE GRAVEYARD BOOK for the top favorite. But I might just have to say that The Ocean at the End of The Lane has solidified itself on my top tier for Gaiman.
Why? It's perhaps as difficult to explain as the nature of the Hempstock women themselves. There was just something very profound...something that tapped deep into the heart of my inner seven year old boy. It was, as Gaiman said, just as children are different from adults: adults always follow an established path, whereas children explore and seek out hidden ways to things unknown. That's precisely the way this book made me feel. I was branching away from the safe, properly constructed roads of modern fiction, and moving in and out of mulberry bushes and shadows and upgrown vegetation to discover a world–within our very own–that is magical and full of wonder.
I loved the main character. I felt so much for that poor boy. That good boy, who only wanted to be happy, but never seemed to get what he wanted until his nose was in a book or if he was holding the hand of the 11-year-old Hempstock girl/woman/entity/ancient one. I was saddened by the fact that he had forgotten and had forgotten once again (if you've read it, you'll know what I mean). But also happy that he had forgotten for the trials he'd endured by the dark creatures.
I loved the mystery of the Hempstock women. Of where all the men had gone? Of the untold Hempstock men's adventures. Of the very nature of what the Hempstock women were. Were they the Fates? Were they some re-arranged version of the Morrigan? Or something else entirely. Thankfully, Gaiman believes in letting the imaginations of his readers get carried away with these things long after the book is finished.
Which brings me to my last point. It's not very rare for me to finish a book, offer a sigh of satisfaction, and then go on to prepare dinner and live my life as normal. It's much rarer when I finish with a sigh, and sit for untold clicks of the clock, absorbing what I'd just read. Marveling in it. Exploring the possibilities of it in mind. Wondering what became of the characters after the book is closed. This book was most definitely one of those.
It's simply a magical tale that will stay with you for a long time afterwards...that is, if you enjoy stories of whimsy and magic.
A short, but well written and interesting story, reliving childhood memories. Hints of hidden darkness below our perception of reality
There is something incredibly bewitching about Neil Gaiman's writing and it's only emphasized when you listen to the audiobook read by him.
The Ocean At The End Of The Lane is creepy, haunting, terrifying, sad and magical. A different kind of coming-of-age tale with the most wonderful of characters. Lettie and her mother and grandmother were so rich and delicious. I wanted to be friends with them. I was desperate for them to come and save the boy from Ursula Monkton.
I loved how the character's names sounded coming from Gaiman. Ursula Monkton, Lettie Hempstock....and how the narrator, the boy, had no name.
I kept thinking how freaking terrifying the entire experience would be. How helpless he felt, how strong Lettie was and was heartbroken at the end. I wanted him to remember.
All in all, a fantastic read (or listen)!
This book was beautiful, horrifying, comforting, and insightful. Beautiful: the style flowed like an Irish folk song, each page felt lyrical. Horrifying: it wasn't scary in the way most horror is. Nothing was particularly scary in its on right. It was the fact that the novel reaches into deep childhood fears and the psyche of a kid to make you scared of things in the same helpless way a child would be. Seriously creeped out on multiple occasions. Comforting: the family on the farm was the definition of a safe haven. I felt comforted by its presence. Insightful: it had deep commentary on the lust of money and on the nature of adulthood and childhood. Adults afterall, are children in adult costumes. So well said.
I loved this novel. Beautiful short read.
Terrifying, brilliant, and moving, this is the author's autobiography in truth, if not in reality. If you aren't already a fan, well, whatever, but for the rest of us, I cannot recommend The Ocean enough.