The Graveyard Book by Neil GaimanMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
After hearing many a soul wax lyrical on the fabulous imagination of Neil Gaiman, I found myself drawn towards The Graveyard Book, figuring it would be an easy way to acquaint myself with his particular form of “brilliance”.
I was sadly mistaken.
The Graveyard Book is kind of like trying to stop a dog from eating crap - basically a good idea, but ultimately useless.
It follows Bod, a young boy who, after witnessing the murder of his parents in the first chapter (the highlight of the book), ends up living in a graveyard and being raised by it’s inhabitants.
The book, although clumsily tied together as a single narrative, is really a collection of short stories, the likes of which wouldn’t have been half bad if left that way - but the flimsy plot linking them together, which I’m sure was an afterthought, really detracts from what could have been some good writing.
The characters are kind of like faded water paintings, lacking any kind of substance or real colour, which is a shame given the potential for character growth and complexity that setting the story in a graveyard brings.
Although the book is aimed at a youthful audience, any 10 year old could have seen where the story was going, and no one would have been surprised by the turn of events leading to the book’s climax. Then finally, as if to punctuate the story’s generally lackluster meandering, the ending goes on for too long.
If I had to describe The Graveyard Book in one word, it would be “Meh”.
View all my reviews
1 comments:
Meh, indeed :-) You have greater determination than me - I took it as an audio book for a drive up to Kalabarri but completely lost interest and gave it up. Never once regretted that decision :-)
Post a Comment