Paperback, 176 pages
English language
Published April 9, 2002 by HarperCollins.
Looking for excitement, Coraline ventures through a mysterious door into a world that is similar, yet disturbingly different from her own, where she must challenge a gruesome entity in order to save herself, her parents, and the souls of three others.
A girl is trapped in a mirror world inhabited by doppelgangers with black buttons for eyes. Can she escape becoming a meal for its architect? Creepy! But excellent. Too much tension for a sleep story.
This collection of Neil Gaiman short stories is sort-of aimed at children, teenagers, and young adults. Not all the stories involve mortal danger, and some are just mood pieces riffing on the themes of fantasy. Listen to the ghosts! Do go through the door! Do not go through the door!
As Gaiman quotes GK Chesterton, fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.
These tales have all appeared else where before, some in other Gaiman collections like Fragile Things. Locations from Gaiman's own childhood repeat - big houses, the Sussex countryside, etc.
The particular edition I read came from the Wrenbury Heath book swap depository in an old red telephone box, and I shall return it to circulation in other.
Coraline is a children's book good enough to be organically read by adults. As it's fairly similar to the movie, I'll cover some not-so-obvious interpretations I had:
Throughout the read I couldn't help but feel like Coraline's other mother was a perfect embodiment of a BPD parent. Aside from the obvious BPD characteristics exhibited by the other mother, I felt the following quote summed everything up beautifully: "It was true: the other mother loved her. But she loved Coraline as a miser loves money, or a dragon love its gold. Int the other mother's button eyes, Coraline knew that she was a possession, nothing more. A tolerated pet, whose behavior was no longer amusing."
After reading the book, I found a great blog analysis that touched on the many thoughts I had throughout the read: pensievely.wordpress.com/2020/12/17/seduced-by-borderline-an-analysis-of-coraline/
BPD-aside, very fun book. Made me laugh a few times, a bit creepy, and β¦
Coraline is a children's book good enough to be organically read by adults. As it's fairly similar to the movie, I'll cover some not-so-obvious interpretations I had:
Throughout the read I couldn't help but feel like Coraline's other mother was a perfect embodiment of a BPD parent. Aside from the obvious BPD characteristics exhibited by the other mother, I felt the following quote summed everything up beautifully: "It was true: the other mother loved her. But she loved Coraline as a miser loves money, or a dragon love its gold. Int the other mother's button eyes, Coraline knew that she was a possession, nothing more. A tolerated pet, whose behavior was no longer amusing."
After reading the book, I found a great blog analysis that touched on the many thoughts I had throughout the read: pensievely.wordpress.com/2020/12/17/seduced-by-borderline-an-analysis-of-coraline/
BPD-aside, very fun book. Made me laugh a few times, a bit creepy, and was nice to finally read the book. I adore the movie.
Coraline slips into some kind of parallel version of the new house she has moved into with her parents, where there are copies of everything and everyone that she knows of in the real world, even of her mother and father, who are called 'her other mother' and 'her other father'. But there is one big difference: each copy is some sort of distorted mirage with black button eyes of the real version, and everything there is much more exciting, but also much more scary. And one of these things has kidnapped her parents.
She has to go through several creepy encounters with those monsters to save her parents. While doing this she is far from being fearless, she is actually terribly scared. But Coraline summons her bravery out of love for her parents and out of her desire to save them and that is what makes this book so β¦
Coraline slips into some kind of parallel version of the new house she has moved into with her parents, where there are copies of everything and everyone that she knows of in the real world, even of her mother and father, who are called 'her other mother' and 'her other father'. But there is one big difference: each copy is some sort of distorted mirage with black button eyes of the real version, and everything there is much more exciting, but also much more scary. And one of these things has kidnapped her parents.
She has to go through several creepy encounters with those monsters to save her parents. While doing this she is far from being fearless, she is actually terribly scared. But Coraline summons her bravery out of love for her parents and out of her desire to save them and that is what makes this book so creepy and beautiful at the same time.
And it also gives us the important message, that being brave doesn't mean you aren't scared. It means you are scared and do the right thing anyway. Something that author Neil Gaiman wanted to tell his daughters, for whom he has written the book.
Coraline will always hold a special place in my heart. I love the film, book, and audiobook, and I will always come back for the pure creativity, nostalgia, and wonder that Coraline brings me every time I revisit it.
Scary and Hypnotising, it delivers a great message about bravery; a beautiful and unique story for kids or adults alike!
Coraline is one of those books that you can keep reading.
It's a fun, dark story, but it goes so deep and has inspired so many kids.
It's a must read. Read it for yourself, or read it with your kids. Or do both. Just read it :)
Wonderful read, even perfect after having watched the movie first. Amazing how Gaiman's children's books work just as well for grown-ups.
What a creepy and satisfying story. As a child I wouldn't have found this half so scary, just wonderful in creepy sort of way. But as an adult it seems we learn to fear so much more, and there were moments when I cringed far more than a child's story should ever have made me. But, that's Gaiman for you. Brilliant.
EstΓ‘ mucho mejor que las versiones que se han hecho.
This book was pretty odd, but I liked it. I'd totally read more of Gaiman's work. Especially if he reads the novel himself.
Coraline does complain a lot about being bored at the beginning of the book, but when the book gets going, there's no stopping her. :)
P. Craig Russell is one of my favorite working artists, and I'll sing his praises until I'm hoarse. He has a particular skill with prose adaptations. This book, while markedly different from the film adaptation, is no less successful, and in some arenas moreso.
A good and creepy story, just not quite my kind of story. I like a little more color I think. Other than that I did not enjoy reading it so much it was very good.
Very short. Very enjoyable. Read it before you see the movie. I've seen the movie a few times (it's great!) and it detracted from the reading experience a little bit.
The book is filled with things that signal "creepy": a big old mysterious house, a secret passageway that comes and goes, a door that should stay locked, eccentric neighbors who give cryptic advice, a black cat. And then, signals in place, we enter the realm of the truly sinister: a mirror world that's just a little off, where the eccentric neighbors and Coraline's father have buttons sewn over their eyes, and the black cat can talk but isn't terribly informative. The skittering heart of the mirror world is the "other mother", a mysterious creature who just wants to love Coraline like she deserves. But, like everything else in mirror world, she's not a perfect copy of Coraline's real mother: her β¦
Very short. Very enjoyable. Read it before you see the movie. I've seen the movie a few times (it's great!) and it detracted from the reading experience a little bit.
The book is filled with things that signal "creepy": a big old mysterious house, a secret passageway that comes and goes, a door that should stay locked, eccentric neighbors who give cryptic advice, a black cat. And then, signals in place, we enter the realm of the truly sinister: a mirror world that's just a little off, where the eccentric neighbors and Coraline's father have buttons sewn over their eyes, and the black cat can talk but isn't terribly informative. The skittering heart of the mirror world is the "other mother", a mysterious creature who just wants to love Coraline like she deserves. But, like everything else in mirror world, she's not a perfect copy of Coraline's real mother: her fingers are too long, her hair moves too independently, and the skeletons in her closet are literal. She is Not Nice.
It's a fun story and all the creepy set pieces are there, but I wasn't particularly creeped out, and that's why I think seeing the movie first is a mistake, especially in this case. The book is so short (which is fine, it's a kids book after all) that the cast is necessarily small, there's no subplot, and the main plot is paced quickly without a lot of steps between page 1 and the end. There's not a lot to work with from a film perspective, so the film grew it a little bit--made the mirror world occupy a bigger physical space, added a character, gave the eccentric neighbors more to do, and in so doing created a more complex world with subplots. There's almost nothing in the book that isn't in the movie (one short scene and a blink-and-you'll-miss-it detail about one of the stolen children), which meant no surprises as I read, which in turn ruined the creep factor for me.
But it's a good enough book that it would have been deliciously creepy under different circumstances. Just don't watch the movie first.
Coraline. It's a children's book written for adults. It's an adult book written for children. Somehow it's both, and it's scary, and delightful. Just read it. Gaiman is a pro at creating scary worlds that suck you in until you can't bear to put the book down. Good stuff.
