Book 60 of 2022

[vivdunstan]

Just finished The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, which was this month’s chosen book for a book club I’m in. This was a reread for me, and it’s my favourite book by my favourite living author.

It’s the tale of a young boy who survives a murder attempt as a baby and grows up in a graveyard, brought up by the ghosts. There are just 8 main chapters, spanning his childhood. Each one is slightly different in feel, but all a delight. The writing is strong throughout, but I’m especially struck by the tension of the opening and penultimate chapters. In the former the opening sentences are astonishingly effective in so few words.

The book deservedly won both the Carnegie and Newbery medals. Thoroughly recommended, and totally seasonally appropriate. An undoubted 5/5 stars from me.

Comments

[a_cubed]

One of my favourite C. J. Cherryh books is Cyteen (bear with me for the relevance). One of the impressive things about it is the portrayal of much of the plot from the viewpoint of the growing clone as she's guided into becoming a version of the original with most of the same (extraordinary) capabilities. That uses precious child-like viewpoint very well, including the use of language for her internal thought processes. I haven't actually read The Graveyard Book. It's on $DAUGHTER's shelf, alongside Coraline and Fortunately the Milk (we've seen the film of the first and I've read the second to her). Is the simplicity of the sentences here something of the same thing, perhaps?

[vivdunstan]

No, this isn’t written from the child’s perspective or in child language. The sentences aren’t simple, though they’re friendly for children to read. What astonished me was how much meaning is wrapped up frequently in so few words. It is a very deft example of a writer at their utmost skill. And so rarely done so well, even in “adult” books. So yup, not simple, but incredibly packed with meaning, while still friendly for children to read.