Customer Rating: 
Summary: Pleasant read, but reliant on cleverness and short on substance
Comment: I can't imagine anyone saying they're not a Neil Gaiman fan. He is an exceptional storyteller, and a master at infusing the novel, the unique, and the off-skew into his stories.
The Graveyard Book has all of the elements of Gaiman's unique abilities embedded within the story. I marvel at the breadth of his originality and imagination. I found The Graveyard Book to be a great literary snack, no matter that it is essentially a children's fantasy novel. It is also, however, devoid of weight.
As the story of the novel's genesis goes, the idea that inspired Gaiman to write the book was one long in incubation. The actual writing, however, began in Chapter 4, according to the author, and the book reads exactly so - like it was begun in the middle, with numerous clever novelties sewn together by a master storyteller, but at the end of the day lacking in the sort of coherent gravity that makes a book great - and in my case, that garners a 5 star rating.
I would encourage anyone to read the book. It is, as I said, a great snack. Gaiman's imagination and imagery are worth a look every time, but this book is a sitcom. It's a neatly packaged riff. But even children's books can have gravity, and in fact one might argue that they, more than any other, should.
The Jacks of All Trades, as they are described in the book, have no apparent reason for being. They're a serviceable boogeyman, but no more. The convenience of a certain ritualistic trio of artifacts at the end of the book goes unexplained. The whim of the Sleer at the end is a bit like having a Mack truck take out the bad-guy at the end of a story rather than the creativity, ingenuity, effort, or sacrifice of the hero. The artifice of the Sleer is too apparent, its convenience too great to create a compelling conclusion.
Short of the novelty of a vampire, werewolf, and mummy, what is the nature of this Order counter to the Jack of All Trades? What is its purpose?
The relationships between all the moving parts are just a little too tenuous to build the suspense, drama or caring that could take a novel idea, and a great character in Bod, to the next level.
By the end of the book, most everything that Bod needed to do was done for him by others. What are his great lessons? What is he carrying into the next phase of his life except a novel childhood? "The girl" will have no memories of him. He no longer seems to have any of the attributes his "Run of the Graveyard" gave him. His enemies were defeated for him so he no longer has that purpose. It doesn't seem like much. Thus, it doesn't leave the reader with much either.
I liked the book. It was fun. The imagery, dialogue, and characters amused. I might even read it again. But even this novel has the potential to be so much more - to mean¬ so much more. For those books that do, I offer 5 stores. Neil just wasn't trying that hard this time. Due to the opportunity missed, I grant 3. Still, heartily recommend the read.
Customer Rating:
Summary: An enchanting read
Comment: This book takes the reader to the world of Bod Owens, a young boy who is orphaned and taken under the protective wing of the inhabitants of a graveyard. The ghosts and creatures who raise and protect him demonstrate the kindness, love, warmth, and wisdom that we all hope to receive from a family.
I purchased the book after hearing Mr. Gaiman give a talk in which he described the original inspiration for the story and read an excerpt. After hearing his reading I could not wait to read the book and was not disappointed.
The story offers so many gifts - it is funny, poignant, thrilling, scary,
and mysterious. I was sorry that the story had to end, and that is something that I wish I could say about every book I have read.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Left a little underwhelmed.
Comment: This is the second book of Gaiman's that I've read, Coraline being the first. While this was far better than Coraline, I was still left a little underwhelmed.
Don't get me wrong, I liked the book. But there were times when I just didn't enjoy reading it. It was slow at times, and I found myself silently begging for something more exciting to happen. I finally got my wish towards the end.
Bod is a different type of character, but he's very likable. You find yourself wanting the very best for him.
If you're a fan of Gaiman's work, you'll most likely love this book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Another great work by Gaiman
Comment: While I am a huge fan of Neil Gaiman's writing, I started this book with no little trepidation. The Jungle Book means a lot to me, in more ways than I can explain here, so I didn't want to see it disparaged or overshadowed. I need not have worried. Gaiman created a wonderful and completely unique story that is simply excellent in all the ways that The Jungle Book is excellent.
This book is accessible enough for preteens, but anyone would enjoy it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent story - more please!!
Comment: The Graveyard Book Neil Gaiman included a chapter of this story in "M for Magic" and I loved it, so I was delighted to discover that Gaiman would be doing a whole novel centred around Bod. This is a entertaining, gripping and thoroughly enjoyable story that left me wanting more (and luckily it's open-ended enough for a sequel). Gaiman displays his usual magic in weaving the narrative together and creating memorable and interesting characters.
Summary: Pleasant read, but reliant on cleverness and short on substance
Comment: I can't imagine anyone saying they're not a Neil Gaiman fan. He is an exceptional storyteller, and a master at infusing the novel, the unique, and the off-skew into his stories.
The Graveyard Book has all of the elements of Gaiman's unique abilities embedded within the story. I marvel at the breadth of his originality and imagination. I found The Graveyard Book to be a great literary snack, no matter that it is essentially a children's fantasy novel. It is also, however, devoid of weight.
As the story of the novel's genesis goes, the idea that inspired Gaiman to write the book was one long in incubation. The actual writing, however, began in Chapter 4, according to the author, and the book reads exactly so - like it was begun in the middle, with numerous clever novelties sewn together by a master storyteller, but at the end of the day lacking in the sort of coherent gravity that makes a book great - and in my case, that garners a 5 star rating.
I would encourage anyone to read the book. It is, as I said, a great snack. Gaiman's imagination and imagery are worth a look every time, but this book is a sitcom. It's a neatly packaged riff. But even children's books can have gravity, and in fact one might argue that they, more than any other, should.
The Jacks of All Trades, as they are described in the book, have no apparent reason for being. They're a serviceable boogeyman, but no more. The convenience of a certain ritualistic trio of artifacts at the end of the book goes unexplained. The whim of the Sleer at the end is a bit like having a Mack truck take out the bad-guy at the end of a story rather than the creativity, ingenuity, effort, or sacrifice of the hero. The artifice of the Sleer is too apparent, its convenience too great to create a compelling conclusion.
Short of the novelty of a vampire, werewolf, and mummy, what is the nature of this Order counter to the Jack of All Trades? What is its purpose?
The relationships between all the moving parts are just a little too tenuous to build the suspense, drama or caring that could take a novel idea, and a great character in Bod, to the next level.
By the end of the book, most everything that Bod needed to do was done for him by others. What are his great lessons? What is he carrying into the next phase of his life except a novel childhood? "The girl" will have no memories of him. He no longer seems to have any of the attributes his "Run of the Graveyard" gave him. His enemies were defeated for him so he no longer has that purpose. It doesn't seem like much. Thus, it doesn't leave the reader with much either.
I liked the book. It was fun. The imagery, dialogue, and characters amused. I might even read it again. But even this novel has the potential to be so much more - to mean¬ so much more. For those books that do, I offer 5 stores. Neil just wasn't trying that hard this time. Due to the opportunity missed, I grant 3. Still, heartily recommend the read.
Customer Rating:
Summary: An enchanting read
Comment: This book takes the reader to the world of Bod Owens, a young boy who is orphaned and taken under the protective wing of the inhabitants of a graveyard. The ghosts and creatures who raise and protect him demonstrate the kindness, love, warmth, and wisdom that we all hope to receive from a family.
I purchased the book after hearing Mr. Gaiman give a talk in which he described the original inspiration for the story and read an excerpt. After hearing his reading I could not wait to read the book and was not disappointed.
The story offers so many gifts - it is funny, poignant, thrilling, scary,
and mysterious. I was sorry that the story had to end, and that is something that I wish I could say about every book I have read.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Left a little underwhelmed.
Comment: This is the second book of Gaiman's that I've read, Coraline being the first. While this was far better than Coraline, I was still left a little underwhelmed.
Don't get me wrong, I liked the book. But there were times when I just didn't enjoy reading it. It was slow at times, and I found myself silently begging for something more exciting to happen. I finally got my wish towards the end.
Bod is a different type of character, but he's very likable. You find yourself wanting the very best for him.
If you're a fan of Gaiman's work, you'll most likely love this book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Another great work by Gaiman
Comment: While I am a huge fan of Neil Gaiman's writing, I started this book with no little trepidation. The Jungle Book means a lot to me, in more ways than I can explain here, so I didn't want to see it disparaged or overshadowed. I need not have worried. Gaiman created a wonderful and completely unique story that is simply excellent in all the ways that The Jungle Book is excellent.
This book is accessible enough for preteens, but anyone would enjoy it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent story - more please!!
Comment: The Graveyard Book Neil Gaiman included a chapter of this story in "M for Magic" and I loved it, so I was delighted to discover that Gaiman would be doing a whole novel centred around Bod. This is a entertaining, gripping and thoroughly enjoyable story that left me wanting more (and luckily it's open-ended enough for a sequel). Gaiman displays his usual magic in weaving the narrative together and creating memorable and interesting characters.