(Book) Getting Deep...a look at the Ocean at the End of the Lane

I read this book a while ago and while many books have come and gone post reading, this book stays fresh in my mind.

For those of you that have yet to read it, this is a love letter in the most subtle and brilliant sense of the phrase.

Story goes that an unnamed narrator has come back to town for a funeral and inadvertently ends up on the farm of her childhood friend, Lettie Hempstock.

Lettie once saved his life by binding a spirit that lodged a coin in his throat. He doesn't remember her, however. He thinks she's in Australia.

This story takes you by the hand and pulls you into a bucket as deep as the ocean. The tide pulls you into its dark and quiet depths, into the unknown.

Not only is it beautiful in its prose, its dialogue and its message (which is NOT FOR YOU!), but its visual imagery takes you on a subtle fantasy journey that is almost Lovecraftian in its execution.

It's one of those books that I've looked at since I've read it, yet have been unable to pick it up.

This isn't because I hated it or it's lost its re-readability, but as I mentioned in the brackets above, it's not for me. Although, if Mr. Gaiman wrote something like that for me, I'd be incredibly flattered. (Given that he's one of my biggest writing inspirations, incredibly is severe understatement.)

One of the things that I also found is that I related to the nameless narrator. The connection he has with Lettie and the strangeness of the universe that comes with discovering it as a kid was both nostalgic and left a weird hole in my chest.

I liken this book to watching a movie like Seven Pounds. I loved it, but I could only watch it once due to its intensity.

This is the only book of Mr. Gaiman's I will review.

That's because if I had my way, they'd all have the Ravensmark.

While this book is not my favourite, it is more than deserving of a Ravensmark (Picture still pending.)

This simply means that the quality of this book is above mere numbers and is reserved for the best of the best.

Thus ends this review.





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Feel free to recommend more books and movies! Every Wednesday!