Reading the Blues

Woah! Check me out! Two posts in a row! I must be reading like...nobody's business! A...lean, mean, reading machine! A...real read-naissance man! A...I don't have anything else.

And I'm going to use that anticlimactic note to delve right in, to book number three of my reading challenge:

Book #3: A book with a blue cover

I never meant to write another blog post so soon, but I ended up reading a book and it fit into this nifty little topic. What else could I do after realizing this? It practically begged me to fulfill my monthly quota of 3/4 books and I had to say yes! Well, no I didn't. I just recognized the longer I delay, the less likely it is to happen. I'm going to go ahead and give unsolicited advice: (Just think of me as your "favourite" relative, you know which one I'm talking about!) When you build up momentum, don't stop! It is better to ride it without breaks and crash, than lose it and go nowhere. So basically, I'm admitting this blog has no happy ending. Le sigh, such is life.

Back on track-I ended up reading a book with a blue cover. I never meant to read a book with a blue cover, I just wanted to read a book that has been on my list for awhile. Serendipity, you might ask? and I say no! I don't believe in that crap! The universe is mysterious, for sure...but that's only because we refuse to fund science properly and let it do its thing. Which is ridiculous, because I'm always more awed by what we discover than uncertainty. Uncertainty is easy, knowledge is the burden.
Wow, I've just noticed how easily I let myself get distracted. No wonder, I'm always surprised by how long my posts are...four paragraphs in and I haven't even gotten to the book. Lets rectify that: It's Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

Look at how blue this cover is! Who would have thought a book about an ocean would have a conveniently blue cover?

 

As I stated, this book has been on my list, mostly because I really enjoy Gaiman's works. I would suggest everyone read his Sandman graphic novels, and follow them up with his spin-off Death series. Death and Delirium are two of the coolest characters I have ever met. (Yes, you meet characters. You just meet them in pages, and in your head.) If you've never read his work, you may have seen it on film: Stardust, Coraline, Mirrormask. He's pretty well known in the fantasy world.

I read the book, and was immersed in it quickly. It's written as a memory our male protagonist is telling us, of an event that occurred when he was a boy. This framework works really well. For one, it adds an "adult" presence to keep the book for an older audience, but allows Gaiman to write the age he excels at: Childhood. The book discusses many mature themes; suicide, adultery, hopelessness...but it does so from a child's perspective.

There are three female characters who assist the protagonist. Lettie Hempstock, her mother Ginny, and her grandmother, who live on their family farm. It is implied that these women are more than mere human, but not necessarily supernatural. They know things, and they can do things. Our unnamed protagonist trusts them instantly and never questions how or why they "are." The most we get is an exchange where he asks Lettie how old she is. Lottie responds eleven. Our protagonist doesn't believe she can be so young, so he asks, "How long have you been eleven for?" to which he gets a smile of approval from his friend.
This is the brilliance of Neil Gaiman. He is so good at making you believe in the magical, the extraordinary, that he never needs to give you more information than what is presented. He never tries to justify why these three women have power, they simply do. His character never questions them, so neither do we. That being said, he also keeps to the cardinal rule of fantasy...stick to the laws you've created. He may not explain how the women happen to be, but there is implied rules that govern them, and he never breaks them. This is also a big reason we can accept the characters.

The antagonist is distinctly Gaiman as well; strange, terrifyingly threatening, and ultimately sad. She is from another world, but hitches a ride on our protagonist to ours, and names herself Ursula. She seduces his father, wins over his sister, and entraps him. There were moments where I felt desperate and severely anxious for the boy. I was relieved when he reached the Hempstock farm and found warmth and safety.

The ending is interesting, and flashes to the present where the unnamed man has just left a funeral. He finds his way to Hempstock farm and doesn't know how or why. Old Mrs. Hempstock tells him he came because Lettie wanted him to. I won't say more, because it will give to much away. This is a book I recommend to people who like fantasy and a little bit of a thrill. I don't know if it's the best thing he's ever written, but it's quick and pretty darn good.

This book also continues Gaiman's love of having random cats around. Seriously, what is up with that?