Gaiman, N: Ocean at the End of the Lane Winner of Der Deutsche Phantastik-Preis 2015, Kategory Best international Roman and Winner of the Book of the Year in the National Book Awards 2013. Roman

In "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" von Neil Gaiman erzählt der erwachsene Protagonist von einer abstrusen Erfahrung, die er mit 7 Jahren gemacht hat. Es war magisch, ein wenig mysteriös und sehr spannend. Neil Gaiman schafft es einfach seinen Charakteren und Kreaturen einen interessanten und logischen Hintergrund zu geben, sie echt wirken zu lassen, in allem was sie antreibt und ausmacht. Dazu noch sein fantastischer, atmosphärischer und bildreicher Schreibstil, der einen auch in den etwas ruhigeren Momenten in die Geschichte reinzieht. Egal, was ich von diesem fabelhaften Autor lese, es begeistert mich immer wieder aufs Neue und ich freue mich schon darauf, noch mehr von ihm lesen zu dürfen. Wäre es nicht noch so nah am Jahresanfang, würde ich es sogar zu einem meiner Lieblingsbücher des Jahres zählen, doch dafür ist es noch zu früh. Ich kann diesen tollen Fantasyroman nur empfehlen!

First of all: What a beautiful book! Second of all: Hear me out, I get that this is a very good book! And somehow I feel like I should have enjoyed it more than I actually did. I’m not quite sure what it was but it just didn’t grab me. I loved Neil Gaiman’s depiction of a seven-year-old, though. The world was so small because he was only a child, yet it was so big because he was only a child (reading and endowed with a vivid imagination). The family dynamics came across really nicely too. Siblings that fight and begrudge one another of things. Parents that don’t understand their children and children that are overwhelmed with situations. And then there’s one of my most favourite quotes ever: "Nobody actually looks like what they really are on the inside. You don’t. I don’t. People are much more complicated than that. It’s true of everybody." Wisdom! However, his style of writing here wasn’t my thing, as the sentences were just too short and choppy for my taste. It seems to me that this was purposely written like that to support and enhance the mystery and suspense. Plus, the main part is from the POV of a seven-year-old, so really complicated sentences wouldn’t have fit either. But I just never actually got into it. I might also be too dense to get the actual meaning and what the author wanted to get across with this novel. I mean, I’m still not sure if Ursula Monkton represented greed or selfishness or something like that. Maybe she wasn’t there to represent any of those things. And last but not least, for me, there was just too much left for the reader’s imagination. I get that it adds to the wonder and the complexity of the world and the magic, but it just didn’t make my reading experience that great. Ultimately, I can see and appreciate that this is a very good book, but it just wasn’t for me. The illustrations, however, now those were breathtaking! Loved them! And I’m glad that I bought this edition

I´d love to live in his mind, but not in this particular book. the book was very outlandish which is what one expects from Gaiman. I actually expected it to be even more so, but it just didn´t do the trick for me. Not that it disappointed me; it wasn´t just as good as other books he´s written before. the last chapter got me though, so really, I think people ahve to try it on their own