The Ocean at the End of the Lane

The Ocean at the End of the Lane
author: Neil Gaiman
published: June 18th 2013
pages: 178
my rating: 4 out of 5 stars


Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.

Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what.

"I'm going to tell you something important. Grown-ups don't look like grown-ups on the inside either. Outside, they're big and thoughtless and they always know what they're doing. Inside, they look just like they always have. Like they did when they were your age. The truth is, there aren't any grown-ups. Not one in the whole wide world."

I picked this book up with no idea what it is about and luckily I really enjoyed it.
Apparently, it's an adult book, since it was in the adult section of my library but it's really written like a children's book and the plot also kind of felt like the plot of a children's book. Don't get me wrong, a very good and thoughtful children's book but still. But even though this might sound like it, I definitely wouldn't recommend this for a child.

The number one thing that intrigued me about this book was the uncertainty if it was real or not. Were there really magic and monsters involved or was the whole story just the way the seven year old boy (who is never named) dealt with the things he encountered and couldn't explain? Or maybe his young self knew and saw things that he now can't understand/ believe in anymore? Either way this book was magical in a very unique way I haven't seen before.

Another thing I really liked was the narrative of the boy. He had the naïve perspective that children have, was really courageous and trusted Lettie – the girl he meets and becomes friends with – more than anyone else. But his perspective also made this book really dark somehow. He see's and experience things that would normally terrify a person but he reacted almost indifferent. Of course, he was also really scared in some parts but even then he was an extraordinary character.
I didn't like his family (especially his father) at all. His mother seemed fine and his sister was mostly just annoying but his father just bothered me a lot (if you read the book you'll know what I mean).

Overall this is the kind of book that I'll probably think about randomly every once in a while and try to figure out some deeper meaning or something like that. It was really thought-provoking, intriguing and magical. I can see how it probably isn't for everyone but if you're interested definitely read it.