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Audiobook1 hour
Thalia Book Club: Neil Gaiman: The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Written by Neil Gaiman
Narrated by Erin Morgenstern
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
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About this audiobook
The superstar author makes a stop on his last official book tour to read from and discuss his first adult novel in eight years. In conversation with Erin Morgenstern (The Night Circus).
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Author
Neil Gaiman
NEIL GAIMAN was awarded the Newbery and Carnegie Medals for The Graveyard Book. His other books for younger readers include Coraline (which was made into an Academy-Award-nominated film) and The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish (which wasn’t). Born in England, he has won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards. You can learn more at www.mousecircus.com.
More audiobooks from Neil Gaiman
American Gods: The Tenth Anniversary Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Omens Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Omens: A Full Cast Production Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Gods [TV Tie-In]: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Coraline Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stardust Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Norse Mythology Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Graveyard Book: Full Cast Production Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Neverwhere Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stardust: The Gift Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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Reviews for Thalia Book Club
Rating: 4.082302534775888 out of 5 stars
4/5
5,176 ratings477 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Read for a book club - really glad I did, because I probably wouldn’t have picked it up on my own! It’s not the type of book I usually read, which makes me like it more. The old world magic/paranormal elements were easy to accept as I read, and I got sucked into the story so much I had to finish it the same day I started. I had previously read Coraline, before it was a graphic novel and movie, and enjoyed it, but never read any more Gaiman. Now I think I’ll be seeking out more of his books.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A little bit creepy. It was interesting as an audiobook.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I liked this one better than the last Gaiman I read (Stardust), but I am still not all too much into Gaiman. I can understand why people would like his style, but it is just not for me. I think I'll live and let live and just read another author instead of trying to find a Gaiman I really like (unless someone can recommend a specific Gaiman book that they think I would like).
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I read this book because someone in one of my bookclubs on Goodreads rated it the best book they read in 2014. I picked it up and was not quite sure about it at first. Once I got into it, I could not stop. A man in his forties goes home for a funeral. He is drawn to the house at the end of the lane where his friend Lettie Hempstock lived when he was 7 years old. Once there, her mother, who still lives in the house directs him to the pond out back. He sits on a bench and gazes into the pond where he remembers a peculiar incident that happened when he was 7 years old. First, no one attends his birthday party. His parents who are having financial problems rent out his room and he now has to share a room with his sister. An opal miner comes to live with them and runs over his kitten that his dad gave him for his birthday. A while later, the opal miner kills himself in their car at the end of the lane. When he and his father get taken to the car by the police, he meets 11 year old Hettie and his weird adventure begins. They come face to face with monsters, evil, lust and selfishness. While on the journey his life is endangered several times and he is saved by Hettie. One quote from the book that sticks with me is:
Lettie shrugged. “Nobody actually looks like what they really are on the inside. You don’t. I don’t. People are much more complicated than that. It’s true of everybody.”
It's a relatively short read, and engrossing, magical, charming, and endearing are all terms that come to mind. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I am not normally much of a fan of fantasy novels, and over the years, I've read very few of them. But I've been curious about the work of Neil Gaiman for a long time, and that curiosity finally got the best of me. Thank goodness."The Ocean at the End of the Lane" hooked me from the start, and I couldn't wait to find out what had happened to the story's lead character all those years ago - even though he wasn't entirely sure himself what drew him back to visit his old childhood neighbors after so many years. Eventually, all is revealed even though the young man leaves the "ocean" at the end of the lane perhaps not much wiser about his past than he was when he arrived. I really enjoyed this story of one little boy who managed to survive everything thrown at him by the monsters, fleas, and varmits that wished him harm. But my big discovery about Neil Gaiman is that he is one of the most entertaining audiobook readers that I've ever experienced. This man can tell a story like few others in the business, and I'm going to be listening to him read more of his work soon.(In fact, I just started listening to his short story collection titled "Trigger Warning." Can't wait.)
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Oh goodness, I loved my first experience with Neil Gaiman. This is a magical realism short story that somehow clocks in at novel length and had me staying up late at night and sneaking away for a few minutes here and there at work in order to start and finish it in under 24 hours. I will read more of Gaiman. Feels a lot like Haruki Murakami with more of a fantasy tale spin.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Who would think that a few days out of one's childhood could be this gripping and bizarre? Gaiman presents readers with a young boy as the center of this novella, but he is surrounded by powerful, enchanting, and devilish females.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Loved it - just like all the other Gaiman books. Seriously though - the whole concept of the story enchanted me.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5“I liked that. Books were safer than other people anyway.”“I lived in books more than I lived anywhere else.”Those two quotes very much represent me, most days! This was a decent read, with the beginning third holding my interest much more than the rest. Fantasy isn't always my cup of tea, but the warmth of the writing, plus the brevity of the story, kept me in the game. That, and the kindness and confidence of the Hempstock women. A nice, short read!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gaiman is a favorite listen, he has a lovely voice. His horror mixed with nostalgia style can be unsettling, but I assume it's meant to be. He draws upon his own childhood for a layered story of memory and perception of a seven year old boy with a creepy family and kindly neighbors.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Reminds me of Ray Bradbury very much.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5It's a beautifully written book with some very evocative text, but the ending rather spoilt it for me (though that may not be problem for many readers). The book is written in the first person, past tense throughout, but the last page makes a nonsense of that. How can a story be written in the first person, if the narrator has forgotten most of it?
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This was okay, but I did not particularly like the direction that the main plotline headed. I was expecting something different from Gaiman, having highly admired his other works. Nevertheless, I am still glad I read it.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This was my first time reading Gaiman, and this novella was really wonderful. I've added several more of his books to my To Read list. Recommended.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5FANTASTIC. Listen to it. Amazing storytelling.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This is my first Neil Gaiman book. I'm left not feeling the wow and awe others felt at this story. In a lot of ways it was mashed up and confusing until the end. The ending was beautiful in many ways. I enjoyed how the idea of memory was handled.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Story that takes the reader back to the early childhood, where a 7 year old has miraculous adventures intertwined with his daily life. A suicide, a bad nanny, a departure of a friend, all become the reflection of mysterious and magical forces in the common world. Dark at places, optimistic overall, a nice read to remind of childhood.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5It was OK, but didn't like it that much!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I read this in one sitting. As I predicted, Gaiman's words of imagination awed me.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is sort of a sequel to Stardust. The location and the "world" are the same and this is much later in time but the story and characters are new. I like Stardust much better. This one is charming, a little sad, and just not as interesting. Less action, a lot of reverie and thinking, a lot of sadness. I liked the Lettie character and her family but the seven year old seemed more mature at times for his age and less so at other times.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This was my first Neil Gaiman book and it was a bit bizarre. It kept my attention that's for sure but a bit off the wall for my taste. I would really love to be inside the brain of the authors of these kinds of books sometimes to see how they come up with this stuff.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5This book just didn't have the same charm as his other works. Forgettable.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I love when authors read their own books for the audio. Well done!
This is a fun story about the dark side of faerie. And a boy who loves cats. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This novel is going to stick with me like the best kinds of short stories, which I think comes from Gaiman's original short-story intentions. There are certain scenes, like in all the Gaiman books I've read, that are just REALLY weird, and they are going to pop into my thoughts at inopportune moments, so thanks for that, Neil Gaiman. The 4 instead of 5 stars is because this book left me somewhat uneasy during and after I read it. I didn't like the uncomfortableness, and I think it may have something to do with the uncomfortableness of the truths Gaiman was trying to tell. But there are also some great passages and lines and ideas about the nature of things, and particularly the nature of people, and childhood, that rang so true for me. (That was a run-on. Oh well.) What is the different between a child and an adult? Is an adult still the same person as the child they used to be? If something happened, but you don't remember it, does it affect who you are? If something didn't happen, but you remember it, does it still matter? What is a monster? Are monsters less monstrous if they get scared of something higher on the food chain? Who are we, really? These are questions fundamental to growing up and being a human. And they are answered, or at least raised, by the adventures of a 7-year-old who gets mixed up in some magical goings-on at the end of his lane.
The narrator is never named, but reading (and listening to) Neil Gaiman's words gave me the distinct impression that this boy IS Neil Gaiman, or at least an imagined, magical-adventure-going version of 7-year-old Neil Gaiman. Who knows, maybe everything in the book is a real-world fact, and that's why Gaiman writes the books he does. It felt very personal, and with lots of details that I'm sure are real-life about England and growing up on this particular lane.
I got this book at the signing in Portland, and I also picked up the audio book. I started and finished the book in paper, but listened to the middle on audio book - read by Gaiman himself. I have to say the audiobook experience was more enjoyable. Maybe because it was so clearly Neil Gaiman as a child, him reading it just made more sense then me trying to read a first-person narrative about a boy totally different from myself on the surface...but this book does dredge up the many ways humans are alike at the core. I wasn't trying to put myself into his shoes, as I feel many YA authors try to force in their first person narratives. But even still, I felt a connection with the narrator as a more complex person, and the human universals were made even more apparent when I wasn't trying to find them. And that is the trick of this book: it tells you things you didn't think you needed to hear, things you weren't expecting, and things that you're going to have to think about for many more years since Neil Gaiman has had 30 more years to think about things. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The day of his father's funeral, a man starts driving randomly between the end of the funeral and start of the post-funeral reception at his sister's house. He winds up in the neighborhood they lived in as kids, and specifically he winds up not where they house they lived in was, at the top of the lane, but at the end of the lane.
At the old farmhouse where Letty Hempstock lived.
And he starts remembering long-buried events of his childhood. That Letty always said that the quiet little pond near her house was in fact an ocean is the least surprising of those memories.
This is an utterly charming little story, terrifying in all the right places. The Hempstocks are a remarkable family, but the narrator, while young, naive, and lacking in sold knowledge of the fantastic, proves to have a strength of character unsuspected even by himself.
A very rewarding, quiet read. Recommended. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Had the details been less scary, this would make a better MG book. I did like the story and the suspense well enough, but was disappointed in the lack of explanation in the end.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wow. Deep and gentle and frightening and vicious and amazing. I will own this book, it needs to be a part of my life for the forever from now on.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beautifully written, but brief, adult fairy tale.Think this is one that will return to my thoughts from time to time.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Easily the best book I've read in years. Hauntingly beautiful.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I really loved this. It was very quirky and easy to read. In a way, it reminded me of "The Little Prince". I would for sure recommend this book.