You can never go wrong with a Gaiman.
And The Graveyard Book is one proof that possessing any Gaiman book is a surefire way to escape the mundane realities of this world – and plunge yourself into another realm; one where magic and wonder are real, and that it is never wrong to believe in the impossible. In The Graveyard Book, the living, the dead, and those in between take centerstage and you won’t be disappointed.
The Graveyard Book is a story of Nobody Owens, born to mortal parents who suffered a tragic fate in the hands of a cold-blooded murderer. Little Bod was raised in the most unlikely place, a cemetery; and nurtured by the most unlikely creatures, ghosts. The boy learned the tricks and trades of the dead and with a guardian named Silas, who is as mysterious as his name, he found himself learning the different struggles of the human world and how it is connected to his very own person.
What makes The Graveyard Book a pleasurable adventure is the manner by which Gaiman paced the story in a way that the reader gets to smell and shake hands with every character of the book as if they really are there with you, standing infront of you, grinning, smirking, laughing, taunting. I read and reread this book and I always do it at night time because it is that kind of book you should read at night. I promise you, you won’t get sleepy or light-headed on this one. You would want to stay up all night to finish it.
Feel free to open the floodgates of your imagination the moment you open the first page of this book because from there on, you are will be immersed in a world where a witch named Liza Hempstock indirectly leads us to her story of life, death, and after life. ( A interesting note I learned from the last pages of the book: Chapter 4 where Liza was introduced was the first chapter of this book that Gaiman wrote.)
Don’t even let me describe the villain because if you’re a solid lover of children’s novels, this one will raise the hairs at the back of your neck. He, and his team of same-named cult, are vicious and will not even bat an eyelash to cut the life out of any living creature who stands in the way of his evil plans.
If Coraline pleased you, this book will delight you.
Ghouls, witches, ghosts, the living, the killers all in one book? Tell me that’s not a treat.
Gaiman is a master storyteller; the kind of person you want to spend the entire night with talking about nothing but then you go home with something. I have never been disappointed with any Gaiman book – and this one has catapulted itself in my list of books to read again and again and again with a note to recommend this to any person who may or may not be interested in this genre.
I made a mental note that if in this lifetime, I become a librarian or a literature teacher (in the list of so many things I want to be when I grow up), I will have my students read The Graveyard Book and I’ll organize a book talk session with them just to hear their thoughts on this masterpiece.
This is a story of young boy raised by a village. In the real world, the story of Bod is the story of every single young man and woman, who struggles to find their respective identities as they encounter one life experience after another.
This book, if executed well, will make a good movie far better than Coraline and Stardust.
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