Caragh Reviews - The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Published - 18th June 2013
Publisher - Headline Review
Format - Hardback
Synopsis - It began for our narrator forty years ago when the family lodger stole their car and committed suicide in it, stirring up ancient powers best left undisturbed. Dark creatures from beyond the world are on the loose, and it will take everything our narrator has just to stay alive: there is primal horror here, and menace unleashed - within his family and from the forces that have gathered to destroy it. His only defense is three women, on a farm at the end of the lane. The youngest of them claims that her duckpond is ocean. The oldest can remember the Big Bang.

Neil Gaiman is an incredible writer and an inspiration to millions. Previous to The Ocean at the End of the Lane, the only book I had read of Gaiman's was Coraline which was everything I imagined it would be; wonderfully written, exciting, imaginative and just a little bit creepy. The Ocean at the End of the Lane is both greatly different and quite similar. 

The book feels like Gaiman. His writing style is remarkable and memorable. He has the ability to capture the imagination, take it to the extreme and still leave you feeling like the story he is telling is totally believable and realistic. That's where the creepy comes in. Not only did I feel like I was taking part in this wonderfully screwed adventure, it felt like I was learning something. Not in the preachy way, but in the "oh my god that line is beautiful i'll never forget this moment of inspiration" almost fangirling way. The copy I read came from the library and after sticking a LOT of post-its all over the pages, it took me 30 minutes to painstakingly take them all out and write down their corresponding page numbers before I could take it back. There really were some beautiful lines. This is one of my absolute favourites:

“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. Truth is, there aren't any grown-ups. Not one, in the whole wide world.”

So much awesome in just a short piece of writing. I feel that no matter what I say about this book, i'll never fully do it justice or express how much I enjoyed and actually, yes, truly loved this book. I'll stop the review here because no matter how cheesy it sounds, this book needs to be experienced and not just talked about on a page in words that would never match up. Please do read it and let me know if you loved it too!