A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.
Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly …
A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.
Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what.
A groundbreaking work from a master, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is told with a rare understanding of all that makes us human, and shows the power of stories to reveal and shelter us from the darkness inside and out. It is a stirring, terrifying, and elegiac fable as delicate as a butterfly's wing and as menacing as a knife in the dark.
Review of 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
I love Neil Gaiman's modern-day fairy tales. The Ocean at the End of the Lane tells the story of a middle-aged man who comes back to his old neighborhood and remembers a pretty unbelievable part of his childhood.
Gaiman's story is a pretty good story about the troubles of growing up and losing the things that were precious to us as kids.
This was a great read, I had trouble putting it down from the second I picked it up.
Review of 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane' on 'Storygraph'
3 stars
The narrator visits the house at the end of the lane on which he grew up. The same family still lives there. He recalls some particular events of his childhood involving the family at the end if the lane.
The story has the vague sort of quality that is shared by both half-forgotten childhood memories and half-remembered dreams. The narrator as a child may not fully understand what he sees but, unlike an adult, he doesn't question it.
I enjoyed this book and would rate it closer to a 3.5 because it was very interesting and almost nostalgic and I wouldn't mind reading it again.
Review of 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I like Gaiman in general but I especially liked this book. Its a story, a reality fantasy, and an allegory. I read it in one day, canceling an important thing to finish. Its an especially good traveling companion.
Review of 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Lots of wonderful imagery, and he captures nostalgia quite well. There are some very uncomfortable scenes in the middle, which was surprising. I thought this book would be another child's tale like Coraline, but it really is a tale about middle age and memory. I thought it spent too much time in the nethers. The best parts I thought, were in the present, not the past. Even preferred the epilogue to the middle part of the book. Harsh?
Review of 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I can't read Neil Gaiman's books. But I can listen to him read his books all day long. It's like having Paddington Bear read you a bedtime story while you're tucked safely in your childhood bed on a cold winter's night. I didn't like this book as much as The Graveyard Book, but I still enjoyed it. I felt the ending was very appropriate and would have been upset if everything had been tied-up neatly with a nice little bow.
Review of 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
The Ocean At The End of the Lane is a gem of a book, mostly because it seems to be such a clear window into the experience of being a child. Gaiman's novel is very adult, and yet, it's told very convincingly in the voice of a seven year old boy. This tale has a distinctive, magical atmosphere.
One of my favorite quotes:
Adults follow paths. Children explore. Adults are content to walk the same way, hundreds of times, or thousands; perhaps it never occurs to adults to step off the paths, to creep beneath rhododendrons, to find the spaces between fences. I was a child, which meant that I knew a dozen different ways of getting out of our property and into the lane, ways that would not involve walking down our drive.”
The storyline flows so nicely that it's hard to put down after beginning. And it's not …
The Ocean At The End of the Lane is a gem of a book, mostly because it seems to be such a clear window into the experience of being a child. Gaiman's novel is very adult, and yet, it's told very convincingly in the voice of a seven year old boy. This tale has a distinctive, magical atmosphere.
One of my favorite quotes:
Adults follow paths. Children explore. Adults are content to walk the same way, hundreds of times, or thousands; perhaps it never occurs to adults to step off the paths, to creep beneath rhododendrons, to find the spaces between fences. I was a child, which meant that I knew a dozen different ways of getting out of our property and into the lane, ways that would not involve walking down our drive.”
The storyline flows so nicely that it's hard to put down after beginning. And it's not long, so--go ahead, sit down and enjoy this one!
Review of 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
So, my very first taste of Neil Gaiman's writing. I found it weird, a bit strange and very odd. Gaiman pulls you in with his descriptive language and I was really curious where this book was going to end up. For me, it felt like reading a Salvador Dali painting. Very melty. That said, I may read Gaiman books again, but they're not at the top of my reading list. :)
Review of 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane' on 'Goodreads'
1 star
"I wish you'd explain properly," I said. "You talk in mysteries all the time."
"Ocean at the End of the Lane" was selected the 2013 winner for Fantasy and that only made it more frustrating as it left me expecting more. The book did belong in the fantasy genre, but it was more children's literature than adult fantasy. The story was moved along in riddles and incoherent dialogue from most of the characters and the silver lining in all of this is that it was a quick read so I didn't have to invest too much in to completing it.
