Book Report: Ocean at the End of the Lane

The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman

This was the most recent of many Neil Gaiman books I recently raced through. Whenever I stumble upon a writer I dig, I binge on their past works, and Gaiman was my latest victim. I don't know why I always steered away from him - several of my friends would recommend him from time to time, namely American Gods, (which I also read, but that's another post), but for some reason I always shrugged off the recommendation. Too nerdy. Didn't he do comics? (Or something, I'm ignorant, I know). But I'll admit I was a sucker, because once I flipped through Neverwhere, (the first of many in said binge), I was hooked. And I still have some more to flip my way through. 

I haven't done any research on Gaiman, so I can't spout out any trivial facts about him as a person, or his inspirations, or anything like that. I know he married Amanda Palmer and they're having a kid. I have music from Palmer and The Dresden Dolls, and despite my lack of interest and annoyance/resentment/borderline hatred in her begging for freebies to support her art despite having money herself and being married to a well established author, I for the most part support and enjoy their eccentric styles and art. But other than that, I know Zilch about Gaiman. But I don't think any of that matters. Because the other thing I know about him, from first-hand experience, is that he can tell a story. Good stories. This, being one of them. If not my favorite (thus far). 

This particular tale is a short one. It's one of his easier reads, but personally, I enjoy his books so much that they're all pretty easy reads. I don't say easy read in this sense of 'anyone can get through this, avid reader or not,' but easy in the sense of once you're hooked you're baited, and you don't need to invest too many hours to be reeled into the end. 

The story is comparable to his other pieces of work in the sense that there is still magic and surrealism, although this selection is particularly likely (or at least way more obvious than others) to be interpreted as symbolic reality, with elements of surprise and imagination so often found in children. Mystery, magic, no boundaries on what is 'real' or not. If I read this in an educational/analytical sense, I'm sure I could spout out several examples of underlying themes. Or even in a book club. But that's not my case - I'm a mom to a one year old boy, and my free time to devour literature is sparse, so I chug and binge as fast as I can, sometimes turning off my brain and taking the literal meaning at its literal sense. Someday,however, I'd like to give this a re-read and try to read between the lines. It could be a lot of fun.

The story follows a man who is back home for a funeral. Of whom, it's never really disclosed, nor does it matter, but it insinuates a parent or other older relative. The man is led to an old farm, off a beaten road. And from that point, memories flash back of an experience in his childhood - one of magic and friendship of an old childhood friend. I won't give anything else away, but the story's definitely worth a read, and quite possibly is my favorite read of 2015. 

I will say this though, when reading this story, I was particularly susceptible to a bunch of insect bites. Centipedes, most likely. (GROSS, i know). And my flesh has always been super tasty to asshole bugs, and will usually swell up 10 fold the normal human being. My ankle had gotten bitten, and the bite wasn't quite infected, but definitely appeared to have some sort of large hole in its center. This story has a similar incident, which goes into some detail - and leads to a greater tale. This hit me close to home, and super grossed me out. This doesn't really have much to do with anything, but it really creeped me out, and made the story even more relatable. So if you do read this, and you get to this part, just be grateful you don't have a centipede hole in your ankle. Because, ew.

I definitely would recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun read. If you're not super into surrealism or fantasy, I still think it's worth a spin, but if you're def not into it, then Gaiman probably isn't for you, and you may just not 'get it.' But are you really supposed to? I think that's two thirds the fun in reading his shit. The 'how do I piece this together into sense' aspect of it all. I'd rate this a 9/10. Or a 10/10. But I'm thinking a 9 - because my only complaint is that it left me wanting more, and I was sad when it was over. But then again, I could argue a 10, because it's comparable to how I feel about any successful pop song - keep it 2 minutes or less, because that's how you keep the listener/readers hooked - always craving more. And I want more.