The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman

I was walking past rows and rows of books at the Unity bookstall when this tiny illustrated book almost called out to me. Thinking, the lack of sleep was starting to have it's effects, I walked on. But this time the "Tssss. I am here", was loud and clear. For someone who is a book romantic, being accosted by one was a sure sign that The Graveyard Book should make it to my bookshelf.

With a name like 'The Graveyard Book', it would have been tossed aside by most readers as too 'grave' a book, but not so when the author is Neil Gaiman. Give Neil Gaiman a graveyard, a kid called Nobody Owens, the Jack(s)-of-all-trade(s), and right before your very eyes, he has concocted a delicious masterpiece of children's literature fit for consumption by all ages.

The Graveyard Book follows the course of Nobody Owens' life as he lives among the dead in a graveyard in Scotland. Having lost his family to some vicious elements, Nobody, Bod for short is left at the mercy of the dead at the nearby graveyard, who take him into their fold. The story twists and turns with beautiful illustrations in between, and as the reader nears the end, the element of suspense and drama makes one impatient to get to the last page.

The best part about The Graveyard Book is that it is written from a child's perspective, a child with a curiosity so typical of a five year old, one who is not afraid of asking questions, a little kid who does not fully comprehend the world around him and yet, instinctively knows right from wrong. Neil Gaiman's vivid imagination is at play as he describes Bod's fading acts and his rare encounters with the world at large. The character of Silas would tend to be an instant hit with most of the readers. The book has a touch of that dark insidious British humour that makes your stomach churn and yet, funnily enough, at other times, makes you laugh away your fears. Gaiman has made his readers notice the paradigm shift when you live the story through the dead, becoming curiously ironical when your night-to-night affairs are conducted in a graveyard. 

The friendship between Scarlet and Bod has been brought to life in a rather interesting manner although I would have liked for Gaiman to devote more pages to it. The reader is not aware of the setting of the graveyard till he/she is halfway through the book and it would have added to the interest element of the story to give a more detailed description of the graveyard in the beginning. But other than these minor points, The Graveyard Book is the perfect book to indulge in with your ten year old. I think the audio book, with Gaiman's lucid reading of the book, might also be worth giving a shot at.

Book Rating - 4/5

Delightful quotes from the book:

"A graveyard is not normally a democracy and yet death is a great democracy,..."
"You are obvious boy. You are difficult to miss. If you came to me in company with a purple lion, a green elephant, and a scarlet unicorn astride which was the King of England in his Royal Robes, I do believe that it is you and you alone that people would stare at, dismissing the others as minor irrelavancies."
"When glances naturally slip from you, you become very aware of eyes upon you, of glances in your direction, of attention."

If you like this book, you might also like:-

The Book Theif - Marcus Zusak

After that delightful read of The Graveyard Book at Scotland, I want to give my readers a taste for the art and culture of Vienna. Join me on the travails of The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek coming up next.