OneMetal.com REVIEW:
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

As galling as it may sound to some people, I do tend to use book awards as a purchasing barometer to ensure that I’m not going to be spending my hard earned moolah on some old dross. Upon hearing that Neil Gaiman had picked up the 2009 Hugo Award for Best Novel with ‘The Graveyard Book’, a gothic twist on the Rudyard Kipling’s ‘The Jungle Book’, I didn’t hesitate picking it up having recently devoured another of his other Hugo Award winners from 2002, American Gods.

But much to my chagrin (and to be honest, lack of foresight) upon hearing that the book was actually a children’s book, my enthusiasm was dampened and it wasn’t until last week that I finally started reading it and to be quite frank, I was pleasantly impressed with the dark, humorous and bittersweet story of Nobody Owens.

The story starts with Nobody Owens family being murdered and during this gruesome event Nobody, as a toddler, somehow leaves the scene unnoticed travelling a short distance to the nearby graveyard. Here the kindly Owens’es (deceased) adopt the toddler naming him ‘Nobody’. Nobody is then brought up by the ghostly inhabitants of the cemetery who include teachers, poets, wealthy landowners, Romans and witches, as well as the enigmatic Silas who acts as Nobody’s guardian as he can walk among the dead and the living.

From here we follow the exploits of Nobody as he is raised in the macabre twilight world of the graveyard, his interactions with the living and dead, his mixed up and charming education (where he is taught history by the ghosts, who lived through the times, only for it to be contradicted at school) and the delightful twist of perceived normal life of living in a graveyard (such as finding a crypt cosy and comfortable place to sleep). But in the background there continues to lurk the threat of the man Jack who murdered Nobody’s original family and understands that he hasn’t finished the job…

The Graveyard Book is a wonderfully tender book that appeals as an easy read for adult readers, a fantastic book for reading to the young’uns and a potentially interesting entry level book for reluctant younger readers. The story is very forgiving, its dark gothic style doesn’t exclude the younger audience and the easy going prose easily allows the reader to feel a warm empathy for Bod (short for Nobody) as he grows up in the strangest of circumstances.

The bearing in mind the intended audience, the only disappointment is within the last two chapters where Nobody confronts his past, here you feel that so much more could have been done. Yes, it was a climatic ending but the opportunity to expound and to add some background to the antagonists seemed wasted. On the plus side, the book sets out its stall remarkably well and unusually there’s no creative agenda (such as becoming a series and leaving the reader with a cliffhanger at the end); instead it is a wonderfully encapsulated package that will have the reader tantalised at the very least.

Note: if you haven’t got time to read the book, check out this website that has Mr Gaiman reading the entire book (albeit different chapters at different sessions) through the audio visual medium of YouTube.

Bottom Line

The Graveyard Book is a wonderfully well-written, witty and enticingly dark novel aimed primarily for a younger audience, but don't worry it is still a delightful and easy flowing read if you're a bigger kid as well.