Book Review: The Graveyard Book
30 Dec 2014What would you do if a baby boy were to suddenly appear at your, doorstep so to speak, in the middle of the night? Especially if you were not quite... alive? The Graveyard Book. If I had the money to invest in a movie, it would be this. A spooky, animated, Tim Burton-esque movie.
- Author: Neil Gaiman
- Published: 2005
- Age Group: Children
Graveyard book is about Nobody (Bod) Owens, a child whose family was murdered. Bod, a toddle living a few minutes walk from a graveyard runs to the graveyard when he hears the killers. When the residents of the graveyard - ghosts mainly - are deciding what to do with this child, who is alive by the way, his mother's ghost pleads with them to keep Bod safe. Tell me that isn't the cutest sad little thing you've ever read. Okay, perhaps not, but the graveyard takes Bod in as one of its own and thus begins one of the most fascinating adventures I've read in a while.
Among the residents of the graveyard are workers and teachers. Wealthy and poor. Royals and commoners. Witches and ghouls. It's a host of misfits ready to raise a child. Jungle Book was an influence according to Gaiman and you can see it.
Most of the remaining book is about Bod growing up. Taking lessons from a host of ghosts, werewolves and his guardian Silas. His adventures in the graveyard. His longing for the world outside the graveyard. The man who killed his family...
The book shifts once Bod learns about the Man-Jack who killed his family. The momentum shifts and the book is more focused on hunting down the Man-Jack. He begins to understand why the graveyard took him in and what he needs to do to go out and get the revenge for his family.
The graveyard book is, quite lovely. It has all the ingredients usually found in a Gaiman novel. It's creepy, suspenseful, scary and funny. Even though it's meant to be a book for children, people from all ages should enjoy it.
Rating: 4.5/5