Rating: 3/5
I truly want to love a Neil Gaiman story; to feel for it as deeply as I know his fans do. I've heard it's a life-changing experience, but it's one that has eluded me thus far.
So to be absolutely frank, I still don't get the hype surrounding a Gaiman book. I've read about 2 or 3 I think, including one which he co-wrote with Terry Pratchett, who does happen to be one of my favourite authors.
They weren't bad, but I didn't exactly connect very well with them either. Perhaps I've just got very little patience for certain kinds of descriptive prose - I can't get past page 1 of a Robert Jordan book without wanting to hurl myself off a cliff.
The story at the core of The Graveyard Book is certainly original and fascinating; in Gaiman's masterful hands, the graveyard turns into a homely and perfectly cosy place to grow up in. That's no mean feat.
My grouse, as I mentioned, is with the prose which I felt to be ploddingly slow at times. And I remember having the same problem with Anansi Boys too. But Gaiman is a good author, I tell myself, a wordsmith; he strings words together so beautifully. That's something I've got to admit.
Oh Gaiman. I've come to a conclusion that maybe, like the infamous saying, it's not you but me.
No comments:
Post a Comment