The Graveyard Book
Neil Gaiman is always a welcome guest on this blog. So far we’ve hung out with him through his classic “American Gods” and the incredibly fun “Norse Mythology.” But now we’re going to, for a change, dive into an unusually fairy-tale-like (and slightly twisted) world… whose plot mostly takes place in a cemetery near a small town. Welcome to the world of another interesting Gaiman work – “.”
The plot finds us at the moment when a Man called Jack (hereafter we’ll call him just Jack) murders a sleeping family… except for its youngest member, a toddler baby. Whether guided by some higher power or something else, the baby crawled out of its crib and toddled out of the house. Soon Jack rushed after the baby, but for some mysterious reason, the baby’s trail was lost at the local cemetery. The mysterious killer Jack didn’t complete his mission, and had to disappear into the shadows.
The baby’s trail was lost at the cemetery for a simple reason… the cemetery residents hid the baby from the killer – ghosts! However, what are the ghosts to do now with the baby, who has especially grown dear to the (late) married couple Owens. After a quite long (and hilarious) debate of the cemetery “residents,” it was finally decided, with the blessing of the Lady on the Grey (who, according to some interpretation, could symbolize the Angel of Death), that the baby would become a cemetery resident, and the ghosts would find a way to help him through growing up. And so the Owenses adopted the baby, and gave him the name Nobody. Nobody Owens.
And so our Nobody grows up in the cemetery, under the supervision of ghosts, with almost no contact with the (living) world. But is Nobody Owens destined for such a life? Will the paths of Bod and the mysterious killer Jack cross again? Why did Bod’s family have to perish at all? You’ll find out in this extremely praised book. 🙂
“The Graveyard Book” is divided into eight chapters and they have quite an “episodic character,” although they’re (logically) connected. Each chapter follows Bod’s life in the cemetery during his growing up (from when he was just a few months old, all the way to the moment he turned 15), his learning about the world around him, as well as quite unusual (and mystical) adventures that accompany him.
It will turn out that life in a cemetery isn’t as quiet and boring as we thought (I know, I know, this sounded strange to me too). Bod is kept company by quite hilarious residents (i.e., ghosts), who’ve been “old” (i.e., deceased) for several decades, up to several centuries (and some seem maybe even a millennium or two), each with their own life stories, positions and “quirks.” There’s also his mentor, the mysterious and taciturn Silas, who, for some reason, can freely leave the cemetery (which ghosts, i.e., the deceased cannot), as well as materialize if needed, and is quite reluctant to talk about his past (fans have different theories about Silas, from him being a former evil vampire, to maybe being one of Death’s incarnations), as well as Miss Lupescu (who is, in fact, a werewolf), who teach Bod both some life lessons and some mystical skills (like temporarily disappearing before people or influencing their dreams).
But although Bod is aware he mustn’t often leave the cemetery, that doesn’t mean he didn’t occasionally have interaction with the “living,” like the period when he briefly tried to attend school (Bod, by the way, loves to read very much), or made a friend Scarlett. But those moments didn’t pass without problems for Bod either.
And there’s the question of the mysterious Jack and the secret hidden behind Bod’s ill-fated family…
If you thought this is some boring, fairy-tale story, you’ll be badly mistaken. Although these are adventures of a child (and later a teenager), quite a few serious, dark motifs run through here, both related to cemetery residents and some residents of the nearby town.
As I mentioned, the book has quite an “episodic” character. Every day I read one chapter and enjoyed this leisurely reading pace. But these 250 pages can be read, of course, much faster, especially since the book is written so simply, yet “Gaiman-ly.” 😀
What is also one of, so to speak, the trademarks of Gaiman’s writing style, is the extensive (and sometimes just subtle) use of mythological details (and persons). So you can be assured those details will be found in this book too. For example, is Jack an “ordinary” professional killer… or maybe something more?
How excellent a literary work “The Graveyard Book” is, is evidenced by various awards it won (Hugo, Newbery, Carnegie and Locus). It’s interesting that this edition of the book (which includes illustrations) was worked on by award-winning illustrator Chris Riddell, who also won the Greenaway award for this edition of the book. And on top of that, “The Graveyard Book” also won the award for best audiobook. 🙂
And not only that, many famous fantasy writers have praised this work:
“With this book he confirmed what I thought – Neil Gaiman is a literary genius” – James Herbert
“I was sorry I couldn’t read and reread this book as a younger person, and now I regret I didn’t write it” – Garth Nix
“This is Gaiman’s best book” – Diana Wynne Jones
Not exactly classic (standard collegial) praises from literary colleagues, you’ll agree. 🙂
As far as this blog is concerned, Neil Gaiman has a 100% performance with praises, three out of three books (for now we’re not counting “Neverwhere,” it was read long ago ^^). For me, “The Graveyard Book” isn’t his best book, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t brilliant, quite the contrary! For me maybe “American Gods” and “Norse Mythology” have a slight edge. 🙂
Summa summarum, “The Graveyard Book” is an excellent title for all generations (but really for all), and it would really be a shame if you skipped it. And Neil Gaiman fans, if by chance you haven’t read it (if there are any of you like that :D), you know what you should do. 😉
And you dear reader, what do you think, what happened to Nobody Owens in the end? 🙂
Neil Gaiman’s website
Instagram | Facebook
Book price: Laguna | Delfi | Vulkan | Makart
Ratings (and purchase) on foreign sites: Goodreads | Amazon | Bookdepository | Audible | Waterstones | Penguin Random House
