The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The story on this one is that it began as a short story and morphed into a full novel. Most of the reviews I read indicate a dissatisfaction with the length of the novel; that it was too short. I disagree; I think this would have made a near perfect short story. Which is not to say I didn’t enjoy the novel; I certainly did. But being a quick read is a goal, not a flaw, and lengthening this story could only have hurt it, not helped.
Gaiman is always an illustrative writer, and he may be at his best here as he stays close to home; his remembrances of childhood and the world of his past ground this otherwise supernatural tale. Best of all is the way he puts the focus of the story solely through the eyes of his seven year old protagonist. The story grows increasingly more adult, dark and serious, but the perspective remains with the boy and he retains his singularly child-like voice; everything is viewed consistently as a child, which really keeps the story fresh. Gaiman never lets the boy have adult insights or allows an omniscient view for narrative ease.
While I didn’t think it was up there with some of his best (and I appear to be in the minority on that), this is nevertheless one of his most personal novels and well recommended.