So mom says if I want to continue to live in the basement for free then I have to be productive. Productivity is another book report in her mind. I read a book and now I'm going to report on it so I don't have to start paying rent to live in my mother's basement.
At least this book was enjoyable unlike the R.L. Stine book. The story I read was "The Ocean at the end of the Lane" by Neil Gaiman. The story, like many of Gaiman's books, has a fairy tale atmosphere around it. It's like when you open any Gaiman book a large soft blanket, fresh-out-of-the-dryer-warm wraps around you. So if you like that feeling Gaiman is your author.
I've read many of Neil Gaiman's books. I have an indescribable respect for him. "American Gods" and "Stardust" are books I've started and finished within days. He has a way with world building and characterization that makes you forget where you are. Even when your mom is yelling at you from the top of the basement steps to clean the bathroom his world can make you ignore her for hours and hours. When an author can do that you know they're good at what they do.
Now that I've said that I can say this. His short novel "The Ocean at the end of the Lane" is not his strongest work. I think the main reason this story struggles, for me, is because there isn't enough time for Gaiman to share. It reads rushed. Rushed like how my mom always rushes me to go outside and "get some sun." What the hell, mom? I don't need sun. I'm pale as a blank Word document and I like it that way. Love me for who I am.
One reason it reads rushed is there isn't much explaining or delving into characters background. Now I'm all for efficiency and bare bones story telling, but the magical nature of the characters in question begs for a little more explanation.
Another reason it seems rushed is that there are massive events that are just brushed over. Massive events such as the main character's father cheating on his mother with a shape shifting monster that looks like a hot lady. Now I'm all for stories like that, but we don't get any payoff from something like that. We don't get a father being caught or feeling remorse. There is nothing that comes back to say that a man cheating on his wife is dealt with like this or that. It just seemed to me that if you show something like that in your story it should come back to harm the family.
Neil Gaiman is a curious author to me. At times his writing is crisp, to the point, and enjoyable. But there are times where he lapses into cliche and just plain bad writing. This sentence on page 157 made me groan aloud. "I saw bursts of light that were not there." What? I'm all for making the reader work, but this is just trying to roll a seven with a six sided dice. This kind of obscurity is rampant throughout the novel. The narrator sees things then doesn't see them. It's hard to understand what is real. Which might be what Gaiman was going for, but without being able to see anything there is no tension. Here's an example: "It was two people talking in unison. Or a hundred people. I could not tell" (pg. 139). What is the reader supposed to do with this? Are there a hundred people? Sure we could get that the narrator is scared and confused, but by what? There isn't enough concrete images for me to feel tension at this point. When my mother wants me to be scared she throws all my stuff out on the street corner. I see my lamp and books and dresser sitting on the street corner and I fear that she's kicked me out. But most of the time it's just a scare tactic to keep me productive.
This story is really a fairy tale for adults. There is magic and sex. And there is deus ex machina. Dues ex machina all over the place. So once you accept it the story is much less frustrating to read. But the fact that this is a story for adults makes me believe that the deus ex machina is insulting our intelligence. Oh, you need someplace for your protagonist to be safe? Here is a fairy ring that's TOTALLY been in your yard the whole time. What do you know? None of the monsters can break the ring! At times it reads like Gaiman wrote himself into a corner and then just stood up and yelled MAGIC at the computer screen and typed some lame deus ex machina into the story. Maybe I should try that with mom. The next time she tells me to do something I'm going to stand up and yell MAGIC and wait for something to happen. And when it doesn't happen I'll know that I'm never going to Hogwarts and that deus ex machina is the absolute worst thing you can put into a story.
One last thing. Since Neil Gaiman is British I don't know if this is a British thing or what, but the narration reads as if a robot wrote it. Take this example on page 47: "I do not know why I did not ask an adult about it. I do not remember asking adults about anything, except as a last resort." If you read it out loud you sound like a robot. People don't speak like that and narrators shouldn't either. I assume the narrator isn't robot. This mechanical speak isn't natural and it makes the read tough at times. There's no life to it. People speak with contractions and I think narrators should as well.
I love the ideas in this novel. I just think it was rushed and could have used another edit or two. If you want Neil Gaiman at his best read "American Gods" or "Stardust." They have fantastical elements like this, but are much longer books so they have more room to breathe and grow, which in turn makes them more believable. Unlike my mom who doesn't allow me room to breath and grow by smothering me in book reports and chores to keep me productive. Well she can kiss my butt because I'm cutting this report short because deus ex machina arrived in the form of a timer letting me know my pizza rolls are done.
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