The Graveyard Book

i haven't had much opportunity to catch up on my reading for several months since i got back to work. one of the reasons was partly due to the fact that nothing seemed particularly exciting every time i visit the bookstores.

then dev lent me his copy of Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book last week. as usual, i finished reading it over the weekend, in 2 days.

and i must say it was...excellent.

although it's supposed to be a children's fantasy novel, i thought it was a tad too dark and chilling for kids.

the first 3 pages of the novel produced an almost immediate tear-jerking response from me - i was completely caught unawares by Gaiman's clinical and matter-of-fact narration of how the boy hero became orphaned. and Gaiman never once used the word "killed" or "murdered" when describing the circumstances that lead to the tragedy.

nevertheless, i was hooked on to the boy's highly unusual but fascinating journey through life in the graveyard and his relationships with the community of ghosts and other gothic creatures: his forster parents, teachers, caregivers and guardian. in the book, the living are viewed as evil and dangerous while the dead are, well, the good guys.

being a fan of gothic literature, i lapped up all the details eagerly. i'm not giving anything away, but both the events at beginning and ending of the novel left me terribly upset. no fault of Gaiman's though. he's a masterful storyteller and i think the reason i feel the way i do is because i totally understand why the tale had to end the way it did: in a typical gothic-fantasy fashion.

dev asked me what i'm going to pick up next now that i'm done with The Graveyard Book. i've researched a bit and i think i'll try Stephanie Myers' Twilight series. it looks like a series i might enjoy. ;P