Book Review: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is an author Ive always wanted to love, but despite his whimsical Twitter feed and array of delightfully off-kilter publications that I should, by all means, adore, Ive never felt quite that spark as a reader. Put it down to a bad experience with the much-hyped American Gods, or a few ordinary short stories, or the not-quite-right Mirrormask'film, but whatever it is, Ive given Gaimans books a bit of a wide berth.

But for the past few years hes been haunting me in audio format. There he is, on the radio, doing a delightful reading of Anansi Boys'that makes me want to go out and buy the book right then and there. And then over here, doing a recording of something else. And again, discussing pornography and graphic novels (and why one is not necessarily the other). And so and so on.

So, in short, Ill simply say that it was the voice of Neil Gaiman (and it is quite a mellifluous voice indeed) that compelled me to review The Graveyard Book.

In any book for the younger set, its essential to get the parents out of the way as quickly as possible so that the kids can get to work doing whatever it is the author has in mind for them. And what better way to do so than with a gruesome murder? Well, it worked for the brothers Grimm, and it works for Neil Gaiman. After the parents are horrifically slaughtered, were left with a wee lad who, sweetly toddling off unharmed, finds himself in a graveyard, upon which point the resident spooks decide to take him under their vapourous wings and keep him safe from the nasties of the outside world.

Bod, short for Nobody, as he becomes known, is given the freedom of the graveyard, and spends his days learning his alphabet by doing gravestone rubbings and enjoying his enviable access to primary historical sources. Fortunately Bods ghostly parents are just as criminally neglectful as are their living fictional counterparts, so Bod is able to test all sorts of boundaries and get up to various acts of mischief without really being compelled otherwise. In fact, his sole source of discipline is the vampire Silas, who pops by every now and then to share his worldly ways.

With each chapter of the novel, Bod ages, and his youthful inquisitiveness soon turns to angst as he longs to know what lies beyond the graveyards walls. But each step he takes towards acquainting himself with the world he has lost only ends in trouble: though a bright scholar he is far too much of an individualist ever to do well at school; and he is also fiendishly ignorant of just how dangerous adults truly are. Fortunately, the outside world begins to come to him, and he finds himself making friends with the young Scarlett. But over time, Bod learns that this relationship, though incredibly important to him, may indeed be an invitation for trouble and its not long before the man who killed Bods parents is back in Bods life.

The Graveyard Book'is the sort of book Ive always wanted from Gaiman. Its charming and lovely, yet very, very dark. Gaiman perfectly marries the supernatural world with our own, and the ways in which they intersect and overlap are beautifully done: Bods problems are all very real and familiar, even if the setting is something quite otherwise. (Although I dont suppose that many other children would have to wonder how ghosts can seemingly touch and interact with things, yet at other points simply slip through them). It is quite moving, however, to see Bod grow older while his dead friends remain unchanged, and to wonder at what point he will have to leave them behind entirely. (Is this novel, perhaps, an ode to childhood, the 21st centurys The Little Prince?)

The book is episodic in nature, with each chapter looking at Bod at a different age; by the end of the book hes grown from an infant into a young lad. Because the chapters each stand solidly on their own, there is a sense sometimes that some are perhaps superfluousa scene in which the ghosts and local villagers participate in a celebration, simultaneously together and entirely separately comes to mind. Although it helps link the two worlds and their similarities, it does little else to further the plot. Still, its largely the voice of The Graveyard Book'that carries the narrative, which at times is rather quiet and unassuming. Gaiman has a wonderful ear, and I would imagine that this book is best enjoyed read aloud or in audio format.

Rating: (excellent)

With thanks to Bloomsbury Australia for the review copy

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