Signed in as:
filler@godaddy.com
Signed in as:
filler@godaddy.com
May 2024
Which book has moved or engaged you? Please share it with other CCW members. We accept all genres. Tell us what the book is about (without giving away any spoilers), your reaction to it and why. Please send book reviews to Barbara.siebeneick@gmail.com. This month’s review is from Jennifer Schmidt.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman, 2013
A slim novel numbering a mere 171 pages, Ocean is a haunting and spot-on look at fears and childhood recollections. Neil Gaiman allows a middle-aged man, the narrator, to take us along a strange and engaging story of childhood fears that intersect with fantasy and fairytale-esque storytelling, monsters, and magic.
Our Narrator is revisiting where he grew up to attend a funeral. He ends up at a small pond behind a house down the road from where he lived. A girl he knew, Lettie Hempstock, once lived there with two other women from her family. Lettie used to call it the pond near an Ocean. Lettie has since gone, the narrator recalls as he speaks to one of the old Hempstock women at the pond. The Hempstock women were integral in his journey as a child, they were never what they seemed to be.
As a child the narrators life is filled with danger after two strangers come into his life. First an opal miner, he accidentally kills the narrator's kitten. After his death, he is replaced by a woman who lets the same room in the house. She is nothing like the man, she is monstrous and hides a secret. She hides old magic and things that adults don’t or can’t see or believe.
A clever story with one foot planted firmly in reality and the other in a dark fantasy
fairytale, it’s a good read for an afternoon. If you enjoy Neil Gaiman, dark fairy tales, or just a solid storytelling then this book is an easy recommendation.
Central Coast Writers
PO Box 997 - Pacific Grove, CA 93950
Copyright © 2024 Central Coast Writers - All Rights Reserved.
Powered by GoDaddy
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.