I’ve never tried to write in the voice of a 7-year-old boy, but
I can’t imagine it's easy. And Neil Gaiman naaaailed it.
I was a normal child. Which is to say, I was selfish and I was not entirely convinced of the existence of things that were not me, and I was certain, rock-solid unshakably certain, that I was the most important thing in creation. There was nothing that was more important to me than I was. (p. 156)
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| He might BE a 7-year-old boy, currently. |
This book captures in fewer than 200 pages the essence of
childhood—how scary it is to be a tiny human in a world governed by full-sized
humans (“When adults fight children, adults always win,” p. 87), and the
poignancy of that moment in every child’s life when he or she learns that
adults aren’t immune to human frailty (“Adults should not weep, I knew. They
did not have mothers who would comfort them,” p. 123).
But there’s also magic. And it’s the kind of magic that only children can experience—the pee-your-Underoos, utterly terrifying kind . . . the kind that even parents (especially parents) can’t understand or protect you from.
This is the most darkly whimsical of his books that I’ve
read up until now, and it probably fits best alongside the likes of Coraline. There is no Other Father with buttons for eyes. There is, however, a plain-old human father who lies about
things that no one should ever lie
about.
At home, my father ate all the most burnt pieces of toast. "Yum!" he’d say, and "Charcoal! Good for you!" and "Burnt toast! My favorite!" and he’d eat it all up. When I was much older he confessed to me that he had not ever liked burnt toast, had only eaten it to prevent it from going to waste, and, for a fraction of a moment, my entire childhood felt like a lie: it was as if one of the pillars of belief that my world had been built upon had crumbled into dry sand. (p. 18)
It’s beautiful and compact—and 100% worth the possibility of
developing a fear of white sheets flapping in a summer breeze.
Those quotes! OK, very well, I will read this. Even if American Gods eh
ReplyDeleteNOOOOOO do not let American Gods be your thermometer for Gaiman (even if it is the bees knees according to lots of other people)! Read Neverwhere and Coraline and Graveyard Book and THEN this one. Or just jump in and read this one. But American Gods is definitely eh, and I've read it at LEAST 3 times trying to figure out what makes it so great to other people.
ReplyDeleteI drove 5 hours to Dallas to hear him read that pull quote. It was worth it. Also, he signed my Sandman. :D
ReplyDeleteI can't make up my mind about Neil Gaiman. I think he's a really fantastic and interesting person, and some of his stuff is AMAZING but I've never felt that "gotta read them all" pull that I've had with other authors. I will give this one a go though, mostly because size and thanks to IT (the film - I got 2 pages into the novel and threw it across the room) I already have a fear of white sheets flapping on a clothes line.
ReplyDeleteI really want to read this one, but as an audio book. Many folks tell me the book is great, and many folks tell me that he's a great reader of his own books, so how can I possibly lose?
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, I'm not giving up on Gaiman yet. He seems like EXACTLY the kind of author I'd love, even if American Gods fell down for me. (What do people see in it??)
ReplyDeleteI'm reading Good Omens now figuring some Gaiman/Pratchett will be a good way to approach this. (Also I had to re-write that sentence 3 times to make it non-sexual. Easing into Gaiman..wait no, that's bad...)
Ahhh! That baby's face! The faaaaace!
ReplyDeleteI guess I'll read this. 'Cause. Y'know. You wrote a good review of it and all.
GOOD OMENS IS THE GREATEST
ReplyDeleteAlso I only like Gaiman's books for kids. And I like those a LOT. His adult books are pretty not good.
Listen to the Tika! I started out with American Gods, and I was soooo disappointed. Because of course I wanted to love it. Neverwhere saved my Gaiman love. And this one just sealed it.
ReplyDeleteThis is KIND of a book for kids. At least it's ABOUT kids.
ReplyDelete*swoon*
ReplyDeleteI think he's a dabbler. None of his stuff is quite like anything else he's done, so he ends up appealing to a wider range of fans. It seems pretty common to find people who like this and this and that of his, but not that other thing. Y'know?
ReplyDeleteIT has flapping sheets?! Lord help us all.
I think that's a FANTASTIC idea. I've listened to him read so many of his short stories that I'm able to hear his voice really clearly in my head now when I read anything of his. Instant audio book.
ReplyDeleteIs that so? Then I'll be sure to write a glowing review for Game of Thrones. *runs away cackling*
ReplyDeleteWHAT SORT OF MONSTER LIES ABOUT TOAST?!
ReplyDeleteSo, this sounds good! My understanding about Gaiman is that his books that are for (or, I guess, about) children are better than the adult ones, so I should start with one of those? Yes. Probably. One day...
Wait, DOES It have flapping white sheets? Because mostly it made me scared of drains. And clowns. And THE WORLD.
ReplyDeleteActually, I just reread that and the FILM (which I will never be able to watch) has the sheets. GAH.
Yeah it's in the first 10 minutes or so of the film. I couldn't take clothes of our line for MONTHS after watching that film. My mum was so mad.
ReplyDelete"Listen to the Tika!"
ReplyDeleteThis is something I've been trying to convince people of for YEARS. For the love of all that's holy, when is everyone going to figure out I'm just RIGHT?!? GAH.
I guess? I don't know...I loved Neverwhere, and that's not for OR about children. I think when it comes to Gaiman, you just have to jump in and see what happens.
ReplyDelete