What I'm Reading: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

I’m going to attempt to write a semi-professional blog post on this book, and not lose myself in fangirl mode and simply gush over how awesome Neil Gaiman is…but it will be a struggle.

At the moment The Graveyard Book is the best Neil Gaiman novel I have read (I’ve only started on Neverwhere so will see if this changes!). In his usual style the book is a children’s book and yet it is not – it is simply a wonderful, well-told fantasy adventure about a boy who grows up in a graveyard.

The story begins with the murder of Bod’s family as a toddler – just after the events he wanders into the graveyard and is protected from the murderer by the mysterious Silas. Mrs. Owens and her husband (two of the many resident ghosts in the graveyard) decide to adopt Bod, and he is named Nobody Owens – or Bod, for short.  

I loved the mix of mystery and adventure woven through this fantasy tale, as Bod grows up and encounters the mysteries and secrets of the graveyard, learning life lessons along the way (and meeting an assortment of colourful ghostly characters!). All the while the mystery of who killed Bod’s family and why lurks in the shadows of the story, popping up into the light now and then to keep the tension tight and the reader eagerly reading to see what will happen next.

The rich setting is as much a part of this book as the plot, if not more. Gaiman brings the world of the dead to life, particularly in the spectacular chapter where the Macabray Dance occurs – the dance between the living and the dead, which the living forget once it is over.

One of my favourite few lines is the opening paragraph to that chapter:

Something was going on, Bod was certain of it. It was there in the crisp winter air, the stars, in the wind, in the darkness. It was there in the rhythms of the long nights and the fleeting days.

I found there’s something so alive in those words – and behind the story of the dead and the graveyard, this book is really about life, about making the most of the time when you are alive, and leaving ‘no path untaken’, as the song says that Mrs. Owens sings to Bod when he is leaving.

The last line sums up the feeling of the book perfectly:

But between now and then, there was Life; and Bod walked into it with his eyes and his heart wide open.

The edition of the book I borrowed from the library (I have since decided I must own a copy) features illustrations from Chris Riddell, whose style is so perfectly matched with Neil Gaiman’s, and makes reading it an extra-special pleasure.

Chris Riddell's illustrations in The Graveyard Book (Bloomsbury 2008 edition)

There is also an audio book narrated by Neil Gaiman himself, which I have yet to listen to, but have heard many great reviews of. And I’m sure anyone who has listened to Neil Gaiman speak would agree it would be something worth listening to.

So, to finish – if you have not yet read this book I suggest you get yourself a copy!

Happy reading :)