Phantasmagorical is how I would describe Neil Gaiman’s novel The Ocean at the End of the Lane.
That is not to say this is a book of pure fantasy. Gaiman grounds his story in the ordinary, as told from the viewpoint of a seven-year old, unnamed boy. His father burns the toast each morning, his sister annoys him, and his great excitement is the weekly arrival of the new SMASH! comic.
This story feels real even as it veers off into the fantastic. The monsters are both human (his father, the opal miner) and supernatural (Ursula Monkton), and the shadows that lurk are predatory. There’s also a clever and creepy-crawly twist on the space-time theory of wormholes. All of this becomes plausible via Gaiman’s dark magical realism.
However, it is the emotional pull that gives this book its heft. Gaiman really taps into the fears of childhood, whether it’s the need for a hall light at bedtime or the helplessness of being in the grip of a menacing adult. The reader feels how important a kitten, or a new friend, can be to an awkward, bookish boy.
The whole story is permeated with a sense of loss—the loss of childhood, the loss of familiar things, the loss of loved ones. We first meet the narrator as a middle-aged adult, returning to his boyhood home for a funeral. The house is gone, replaced by tract housing, and most of the area is beyond recognition.
This particularly resonated with me, as I too went back to my childhood home to find that all the places once sacred to us kids were gone. The forest, where we believed a witch lived; the apple grove, where we climbed trees; and the tiny fish pond—all scraped and replaced by new houses with manicured gardens.
Though most of the novel takes place when the narrator is seven, this is not a children’s book. There are some very mature and disturbing themes. The bathtub scene, in particular, really rattled me, and my one complaint is that Gaiman never fully resolves this. I think best for parents to read first.
Early on, the young hero tells us that he “liked myths. They weren’t adult stories and they weren’t children’s stories.” This seems to be exactly what Gaiman is aiming for with The Ocean at the End of the Lane. It is a mythical, frightening, and mostly satisfying read.
This would be perfect pick for a gift for Neil Gaiman’s own #AllHallowsRead or as a scary read for the Halloween meme #Mx3 at Jenn’s Bookshelves.
Halloween Reads on Word Hits:
Join Us for a Readalong of 11/22/63 by Stephen King
Death in the City of Light by David King
The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton
I really enjoyed this book. I am intrigued how you pointed out ‘loss’ as an important theme. I honed in on remembering and mis-remembering but you are absolutely right about ‘loss.’ If it wasn’t for loss, the narrator wouldn’t have come back as an adult and the memories or mis-memories would never have been told.
I reviewed the book in July if you are interested (Like you, I also pointed out the line about myth):
http://acidfreepulp.com/2013/07/23/the-ocean-at-the-end-of-the-lane-by-neil-gaiman/
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I totally think it is about remembering also! Remembering and percetptions. In fact so much that I thought the adult narrator would reveal that Ursula Monkton who wasn’t really a monster but just a severe, rigid woman.
Thanks for the link to your review. I really enjoyed it. Going to comment there.
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I like your review 🙂 I wanted to read this one ever since it came out.
At the moment I’m waiting for the paperback and reading “American Gods” instead. I like it but it doesn’t compare.
Cheers, Katarina 🙂
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