Book of the Month - July: The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman

I disagree...I think the meandering, often aimless way the novel unfolds really detracts from the better aspects of the novels...I feel like I would have enjoyed the characters even more if they were developing as they were working towards something, rather than just developing because time is passing, as it seems like they do in the novel. I think as a collection of short stories, it works well because of the quality of his writing and characterisation, but as a novel I don't think it offers the kind of catharsis offered by a more typical narrative structure, and that, in my opinion, is its greatest weakness.

On a tangent, this is a similar problem I had with American Gods, one of Gaiman's "adult" fantasy books...he had some great ideas, and his prose is quite solid, readable and more or less entertaining, but it seems like he just enjoys meandering through his ideas and letting them unfold slowly rather than helping them along with more fluid plotting. I guess that comes down to taste though - I'm not a fantasy fan at all, so those aspects of his writing were the ones that interested me the least, yet they were the ones he spent most of the novel meditating on.

I guess with The Graveyard Book, it feels like the whole novel is just him playing with the idea that "it takes a graveyard to raise a child" - it's an interesting concept, but the way he explores it makes it drag in areas.

 

I thought it unfolded at quite a nice pace until my favorite part, where the boy ventures out of the graveyard finally. After that it slipped a bit. I don't know, I found it fun and all, I wasn't too critical of it. I am no fantasy fan either, but I found the charm in this book to be quite endearing, if not entirely gripping.

 

I'm skeptical of picking up a Neil Gaiman book again, I read American Gods so that I could analyse it for an essay, but I found it difficult to get into, which is a shame because I thought he had some great ideas and the story was interesting, but I didn't like the writing style - perhaps it was because I went in looking for things to analyse, but there were descriptions that I couldn't get by, thus I found myself not enjoying it.

Would I feel the same if I picked this one up?

 

If you went into this one expecting to be able to analyse it deeply, you might come out disappointed (I felt like you with American Gods). Based on the two Gaiman books I've now read, I've come to the conclusion that his writing is very shallow, by which I mean, he has some great ideas, and can create amazing characters, but he never digs too deep into them. He's content to leave things flat or under-developed and move along to his next little idea. He writes like he has ADD. Its like he gets one idea down on a page, and then plays with it for a little bit, then moves on to something else entirely, and (particularly in The Graveyard Book) he doesn't seem to care about answering questions or tying up loose ends. I can understand why he has won so many fans, but I suspect those fans are reading primarily for entertainment and escapism, rather than the pursuit of literary treasure.

 

That's the kind pf person he is. He loves to play with ideas and live in the world of let's pretend. He isn't concerned with being literary, which is what I like about him. I don't know why people talk about these things as being negative.

 

I find it less interesting that way, a book doesn't need to be a great literary piece of work, but you expect they style of writing to interest you, for the descriptions to get you and for the characters to be interesting and 3 dimensional. Plot I don't think works on its own, or at least it doesn't grab me by itself as there's always something more in a good book than just plot.

The ideas are really good in American Gods and I have a soft spot for mythology, especially when it's Norse/Viking, so when I think of the plot and the ideas, I think to myself, "I should have liked it". It's disappointing, but if it keeps him successful and if his numerous fans like it, then I'm not going to hold his writing against him.

 

I finally got my copy in the mail yesterday. I've only read a little bit so far, but it hooked me pretty quickly. I can't wait to find out what happens next.

 

I had read this book last week, and I have always been a fan of Neil Gaiman. His works such as American Gods, Anansi Boys, Neverwhere, and Stardust have been a few of my favorite for quite some time.

The Graveyard Book was a very interesting plot, and his writing style makes it for an easy read that is very enjoyable. There were a few words and expressions that I didn't know and had to look them up, but that's a good thing in my opinion. It is definitely going to be on my bookshelf for quite some time.

 

Morning consistent readers!
Now that this discussion seems to be drawing to a close (you still have 9 days to read the relatively short book and post post post!), it might be a good idea to head back to the other thread and make some suggestions for next month's book?
Merci!

 

I finally found a copy. I'll try and read through and post some thoughts on it before the month is over.

 

I'm very impatient to find out

Spoiler

what the deal is with the man Jack.

I just finished reading chapter 5, and all I want to do right now is read and read until I finish the book so I can know why everything is happening. That's the kind of book I like. The ones that make me feel like this.

 

Ok, I just got to the part where

Spoiler

Mr. Frost tells Bod to come upstairs with him so he can show him what he found and then, if Bod agrees, he'll show Scarlett. As I'm reading it, I was thinking "oh my god, Frost is Jack. No...he can't be Jack. He totally is, he's Jack! No..."

I love books that do that to you. Convince you that something is going to happen, while at the same time making you hesitate.

I'm on the last chapter now. Can't wait to finish!

 

I know. I should have seen the connection with the sames. I sort of suspected it. But it still didn't fall flat the way this sort of thing usually does.