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A review by storytold
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
3.5
3.5—to my absolute surprise—rounded up for enjoyment. I read this for a quick fill of the last square of a reading challenge, knowing this book wouldn’t really be my thing; I don’t usually enjoy magical realism. But I could see perfectly well throughout this is a good entry in the genre, and I surprised myself in the last 20 pages when I turned out to substantially like it.
This book’s foremost asset is that it knows what it is and does it well. It leans heavily on the wonder and whimsy of an English childhood and carries its emotional resonance in same. Nostalgia features heavily. Descriptions are rendered in primarily superlative terms and, along with some narration choices—action ends, but the child narrator concludes the chapter with two additional paragraphs reflecting on what happened, as is common in children’s literature—this lent a youngness to the prose.
None of this are what I like in books; and yet. The prose itself was quite good, and though I anticipated rounding down through most of the affair, the prose kept the book firmly in the 3.5 range throughout. Its structure and story beats are simple but effective. I found this book instructive of how familiar stories, structures, and tropes can win over even naysayers (me) with enough narrative skill and economy.
The book’s final pages carry a great deal more gravitas than did most of the rest of the book. I have been experimenting with going back when I hit the book’s final chapter to read the first chapter again, and then to finish the book with the first chapter fresh in mind, perhaps trying to gain insight into the writer’s way of thinking about their own story. The last chapter of this book hit very hard and very well with the first chapter in mind, and this tactic has probably affected my rating, but you can’t deny the book ends are well done.
I think teens would particularly enjoy the bulk of this book, but the open-endedness and unanswered questions felt resolved with a neat bit of emotional parcel-tying at the very end in a way reminiscent of adult fiction. I recommend this foremost to established likers of YA fantasy and/or magical realism (not me on either count), but I liked it as a solid example of how even party poopers (me) can like their usual anathema if it’s executed well enough.
This book’s foremost asset is that it knows what it is and does it well. It leans heavily on the wonder and whimsy of an English childhood and carries its emotional resonance in same. Nostalgia features heavily. Descriptions are rendered in primarily superlative terms and, along with some narration choices—action ends, but the child narrator concludes the chapter with two additional paragraphs reflecting on what happened, as is common in children’s literature—this lent a youngness to the prose.
None of this are what I like in books; and yet. The prose itself was quite good, and though I anticipated rounding down through most of the affair, the prose kept the book firmly in the 3.5 range throughout. Its structure and story beats are simple but effective. I found this book instructive of how familiar stories, structures, and tropes can win over even naysayers (me) with enough narrative skill and economy.
The book’s final pages carry a great deal more gravitas than did most of the rest of the book. I have been experimenting with going back when I hit the book’s final chapter to read the first chapter again, and then to finish the book with the first chapter fresh in mind, perhaps trying to gain insight into the writer’s way of thinking about their own story. The last chapter of this book hit very hard and very well with the first chapter in mind, and this tactic has probably affected my rating, but you can’t deny the book ends are well done.
I think teens would particularly enjoy the bulk of this book, but the open-endedness and unanswered questions felt resolved with a neat bit of emotional parcel-tying at the very end in a way reminiscent of adult fiction. I recommend this foremost to established likers of YA fantasy and/or magical realism (not me on either count), but I liked it as a solid example of how even party poopers (me) can like their usual anathema if it’s executed well enough.