Friday, January 29, 2016

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Publication Date:  August 29, 2006
Publisher:  HarperCollins 
Pages:  162
Series:  Stand Alone

Genre:  Fantasy
Synopsis:  In Coraline's family's new flat are twenty-one windows and fourteen doors. Thirteen of the doors open and close. The fourteenth is locked, and on the other side is only a brick wall, until the day Coraline unlocks the door to find a passage to another flat in another house just like her own.  Only it's different...  At first, things seem marvelous in the other flat. The food is better. The toy box is filled with wind-up angels that flutter around the bedroom, books whose pictures writhe and crawl and shimmer, little dinosaur skulls that chatter their teeth. But there's another mother, and another father, and they want Coraline to stay with them and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go.  Other children are trapped there as well, lost souls behind the mirrors. Coraline is their only hope of rescue. She will have to fight with all her wits and all the tools she can find if she is to save the lost children, her ordinary life, and herself.

Review:  Coraline, not Caroline.  The name is as peculiar as the story itself.  That's what I have learned to expect from Neil Gaiman:  altogether peculiar and otherwise macabre.

Neil Gaiman captures childhood and horror into one twisted, gothic novel that plays on whims and fears.  It is, without a doubt, surreal and dreamlike, in which the dream turns out to be a nightmare.  


I don't want whatever I want. Nobody does. Not really. What kind of fun would it be if I just got everything I ever wanted just like that, and it didn't mean anything? What then?

But, being a children's book, and a fantastic one at that, I did find it a bit stripped down to its bones, a bit hungry for detail and depth.  

The otherworld was created by the nefarious Other Mother and her cast of "others." She, and her world, are delightfully disturbing, fit with buttons for eyes and adventure games that end in death. There is a quote in the end from the author himself in which he mentions that to children, Coraline is viewed as a grand adventure, while to adults, it is a horror show. Being at the precarious in-between stage of that measure, I could see it as both.  To kids, it is Coraline fighting monsters, yet adults may see it as her despairing, in the negative ways adults tend to do.


The names are the first things to go, after the breath has gone, and the beating of the heart. We keep our memories longer than our names.

Coraline is clever, and bold, and bored (as children, stuck in the world of adults so often are).  She's quirky and tough, and has a curious mind.  It's true:  curiosity almost did kill the cat.  Speaking of, the cat was portrayed flawlessly.  If my cat began to speak and spy, I have no doubt he would sound exactly like the cat (for cats need no names).

The neighbors, as eclectic a bunch of characters I have come about, serve their purposes, well, purposefully.  There were no unnecessary people to muddle the plot, and they never intruded upon the main story-line, only furthered it.


The sky had never seemed so sky; the world had never seemed so world.

I've been on a Neil Gaiman kick as of late, and I fear for what I will do when I get to the end of his works.  Is it possible to experience book withdrawal?  Let's hope he writes quickly.  If any of his upcoming novels are in any shape or form similar to Coraline, I have no doubt I will enjoy them.




10 comments:

  1. I still haven't read anything by Neil Gaiman. But this cover and that name plus your review may make me change that. Great review!

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    1. You totally should, Grace! He is a wonderful author and I am happy to have inspired you to check him out. Thanks so much for commenting! ♥

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  2. I never read the novel, but I own the copy of the graphic novel of this book! The Illustration is pretty scary. It's such a perfect book for Halloween. The movie isn't that good though. Great review!

    Tasya // The Literary Huntress

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    1. I actually read the graphic novel AGES ago as a kid. The original actually has some drawings in it, too, and they are definitely creepy. I actually liked the movie, though. Thanks for commenting! ♥

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  3. The plot and the idea of Coraline is just so cool. I fell in love with the graphic novel and the movie. I've been wanting to read Coraline forever. Fabulous review, Erin! Thanks for sharing.

    anna

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    1. It really is. I think you would really like it. The movie is a good adaptation (from what I remember), but the book is always better. Thanks so much for commenting, Anna! ♥

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  4. I've only seen the movie...xD Have you seen the movie? If so, do you reckon the book is better than the movie? And should I read the book regardless of having seen the movie? xD

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    1. I saw the movie and read the graphic novel as a kid and really enjoyed both! The movie is good, but the book is definitely better, so you should read it for sure. Thanks for commenting, Geraldine! ♥

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  5. AHHH I LOVE THIS ONE. Like it's been several years since I read it??? And I've forgotten a lot of it?? But I still definitely remember I loved it. xD I did find it really bare of details too, but I liked that?! Because flowery writing usually bores me when I just want to read the actual meaty story. hehe. BUT ANYWAY. ;D Loved your review of this, Erin!

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    1. ME TOO, CAIT, ME TOO! I love pretty much anything by Neil Gaiman, so it's not a surprise, but STILL. And I definitely think it matters more to remember how a book affected you than what happened in it, exactly. Thanks so much for commenting! ♥

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