Book Review: Ocean at the End of the Lane

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Neil Gaiman

2013

178 pages

all ages

(thanks the Jen Neidich Turner for putting this in my hands)

You might want to read this book twice. Though it is a rather short novel, its ideas are big enough for two volumes. How much imagination can you fit into one story? Not as much as lives in the minds of children, as this book details to great effect.

Gaiman is at the top of the food chain when it comes to upmarket Sci-fiction and fantasy, and he shows why with this impressive, yet intimate look at childhood. No stranger to accolades, Gaiman won the Newberry Prize in 2008 for The Graveyard Book, and works like Coraline and American Gods have won him legions of loyal fans. His recent spate of books turned TV/movies has seen him reaping just rewards for his long career in image-based storytelling. The epic Sandman comic series set a new standard for the artform and showcased Gaimen’s love for language and myth. He does it again here with Ocean at the End of the Lane as he weaves the past, present, and future together for a swift, nostalgia laden adventure.

Set in Sussex, England, the story centers on a 7-year-old boy (who is really a 47-year-old man looking back at his ordeal with childhood). I'm not good at knowing what books are about. I get feelings from books; build them?) and I do my best to explain how the inference came about. The ocean in reference to the title is a pond on the Hempstock Farm, which is owned and operated by the three Hempstock women. The boy is befriended by Ginny Hempstock, her mother, old Mrs. Hempstock, and Ginny’s daughter Lettie Hempstock, a strong 11-year-old girl who the protagonist finds out has been 11 for a long time.

I won't say much about the plot, but it revolves around the boy being helped and protected by the women of the ancient farm. He is being hunted by something like a monster-step-mother and is without protection until the Hempstocks step in. The land and the women who run it are imbued with magic of raw and natural elements. Please, do not think them mere witches; these gals eat witches for breakfast and use their broomsticks for toothpicks. Despite their immense power, the women command themselves with grace and wit

There is a beguiling, natural magic infused to the story. Most of the action takes place in the man's memory, so there are wispy areas just out of reach. Expansive as a child’s heart, there is a wistful pacing along with such natural swells of love, one cannot stop reading. A few things happen in this book that I was very taken with. Monsters and mayhem so subtle as I have never seen (or read). All of that combined with a setting so comfy, a hearty farm kitchen ablaze with great food and smart women, it made me feel I was home again.

At 178 pages you can read this over a few quick sittings. I am curious to know how the under 14 crowd take this book. I see it to be steeped in childhood nostalgia and am curious to know if that rings true to those currently living through childhood. This story is a display of the lengths we go to as kids, and the stories we tell ourselves to keep safe. What does the world want? How big is it? How are we to contend with forces beyond control? Does anyone have the know-how to put right what time cannot mend? You’ll have to read the book to find the answers.