REVIEW | The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
“The second thing I thought was that I knew everything. Lettie Hempstock’s ocean flowed inside me, and it filled the entire universe, from Egg to Rose. I knew that. I knew what Egg was—where the universe began, to the sound of uncreated voices singing in the void—and I knew where Rose was—the peculiar crinkling of space on space into dimensions that fold like origami and blossom like strange orchids, and which would mark the last good time before the eventual end of everything and the next Big Bang, which would be, I knew now, nothing of the kind.”
Themes:
- Unreliable memory and the fluidity of time
- The idea that good and evil work on a scale
- The individuality of wisdom and knowledge
Seriously, I am blown away. I bought this several years ago at Miami Book Fair. It’s a signed copy Books & Books (the primary independent bookstore in South Florida) had in its back stock. It has been sitting on my tbr since then. It has come along with me all four of the times I’ve moved house since purchasing it. All because it was Gaiman, so I knew it was good. I just had to, at some point, be in the right mood and pick it up. That happened recently, and it’s now on my list of all-time favorites.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane is a charming story that takes place in the English countryside. It reads in a way that reminds me of At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald (another favorite of mine) and some of its contemporaries. It has that somewhat dreamy fairy-tale feel, but is grounded by the real world and its practicalities. Magical realism at its finest.
It featured a few elements that I have begun to discover I really love: unreliable narrative, relying on the reader’s own imagination and letting them take what they will from the story, and children encountering fantastical things that don’t seem all that strange to them, because they are children.
Enchanting and enlightening in its own sagacious little way, this is a novel that makes you feel as if you understand something new about life. There’s no doubt that I recommend this one!
