Miranda Reads's Reviews > The Ocean at the End of the Lane
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
by
by
![71848701](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1620306186p2/71848701.jpg)
I really, really wanted to like this book...but like so many Gaiman novels, it fell flat. Like pancake-flat.
Maybe this one is a dud because we follow the least-interesting character in the entire book.
Honestly, I couldn't be the only one who would've preferred to get the perspectives of the witches. Or the worm-creature? Or even the spiteful cat.
Why Gaiman chose such a young, bland character to be his main, I will never know.
Sure...there's a hint of this, a dash of that but nothing really comes to fruition, only frustration.
This (in part) because our main character is so young and naive that he really can't do much. Sure he can duck away for a minor adventure but never anything longer than an afternoon.
While there's many hints given about the mystical world and it's otherworldly characteristics ... yet nothing concrete is explained. EVER.
Sometimes a little mystery is needed and sometimes, just explain it already.
Neil Gaiman always has the craziest, wildest, awesomest ideas...and 4/5 times they just absolutely fall flat to me.
It's like...I like the idea/concept better than actually reading the book.
That being said, I do enjoy how much his main character loved to read. Every time he talked about books, I was like preach!
Audiobook Comments
Despite all my whining and complaining, the one thing I cannot fault is this audiobook. Neil Gaiman read it himself and wow. Stunning audio. He could read a Walgreen receipt (heck, even a CVS/Pharmacy receipt) and I'd listen with rapt attention.
YouTube | Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Snapchat @miranda_reads
Maybe this one is a dud because we follow the least-interesting character in the entire book.
Honestly, I couldn't be the only one who would've preferred to get the perspectives of the witches. Or the worm-creature? Or even the spiteful cat.
Why Gaiman chose such a young, bland character to be his main, I will never know.
I was a normal child. Which is to say, I was selfish and I was not entirely convinced of the existence of things that were not me, and I was certain, rock-solid, unshakeably certain, that I was the most important thing in creation.Perhaps this one is a dud because while there were many parts that caught my attention, nothing was fleshed out enough to hold me to this book.
Sure...there's a hint of this, a dash of that but nothing really comes to fruition, only frustration.
This (in part) because our main character is so young and naive that he really can't do much. Sure he can duck away for a minor adventure but never anything longer than an afternoon.
“Oh, monsters are scared," said Lettie. "That's why they're monsters.”Possibly this one was a dud because after nearly 200 pages...nothing is explained.
While there's many hints given about the mystical world and it's otherworldly characteristics ... yet nothing concrete is explained. EVER.
Sometimes a little mystery is needed and sometimes, just explain it already.
Neil Gaiman always has the craziest, wildest, awesomest ideas...and 4/5 times they just absolutely fall flat to me.
It's like...I like the idea/concept better than actually reading the book.
That being said, I do enjoy how much his main character loved to read. Every time he talked about books, I was like preach!
“I lived in books more than I lived anywhere else.”
Audiobook Comments
Despite all my whining and complaining, the one thing I cannot fault is this audiobook. Neil Gaiman read it himself and wow. Stunning audio. He could read a Walgreen receipt (heck, even a CVS/Pharmacy receipt) and I'd listen with rapt attention.
YouTube | Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Snapchat @miranda_reads
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
The Ocean at the End of the Lane.
Sign In »
Quotes Miranda Liked
Reading Progress
Started Reading
October 18, 2017
–
Finished Reading
November 7, 2017
– Shelved
Comments Showing 1-50 of 95 (95 new)
message 1:
by
Angela's Booked
(new)
-
rated it 2 stars
Dec 22, 2017 03:36PM
![Angela's Booked](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1505440207p1/65681373.jpg)
reply
|
flag
![Miranda Reads](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1620306186p1/71848701.jpg)
Great review, Miranda! I felt the same way about this book ;)
![Miranda Reads](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1620306186p1/71848701.jpg)
Have you read any Gaiman novels that you did like?
![Rachel Aranda](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1719356718p1/43622386.jpg)
![Miranda Reads](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1620306186p1/71848701.jpg)
Exactly my thoughts. It has so much potential..but that ending was so meh.
![Avalon](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1681774703p1/30705954.jpg)
![Miranda Reads](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1620306186p1/71848701.jpg)
Ohmygosh. Preach.
![Olivia's Bookish Places & Spaces](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1650243836p1/11589340.jpg)
![Samantha](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1578270893p1/56181344.jpg)
![Carro](https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_25x33-d79c46f9428d2aea1444d67c091766a6.png)
![Tanya Allsopp](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1608509610p1/68319002.jpg)
![Mackey](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1635008931p1/28470777.jpg)
![Natasha Hinkson](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1589011300p1/25583279.jpg)
For me it was a book about a sensitive 7 year old boy who had a really difficult (even traumatic) year. His memory of that year was very very vivid and his emotional response to that year was captured in the mystical element of the book.
So for example the pond was just a pond but in his mind it was a vast ocean.
The girl drowned in the pond. But in reality she just moved to Australia.....her moving so far away was like a death of this special friend and very tragic to him.
The mother of the girl...very interesting! I don’t think there were actually two women living there. That mother represented two people to him. A living mom and a mystical healer because in ththe end that mystical healer is the one who made him feel better and killed all the dark stuff around him. I think she (the grandmother) died sacrificing herself to save him right? Well all that happened there in my mind is that once he was rescued from his darkness and deamons (depression) he no longer needed that magical grandmother and so all he saw was the living mom. The lady his dad had an affair with was no witch. But of course that’s how he saw her. The cause of the sadness that came upon him. The vomiting If coins. He didn’t really vomit coins. He just was acutely aware of the economic hardship around and the incessant talk about money and that worry about money disgusted him or make him ill.
For me it was very insightful about how simple “adult events” can impact a young child who does not understand what is going on. He cannot fully comprehend these events and no adult is really taking time to explain them to him. So he conjures his own interpretation of the events using his very 7 year old imaginative mind.
![Karma Eberhardt](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1517630409p1/75834511.jpg)
![Miranda Reads](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1620306186p1/71848701.jpg)
Thank you. I wish this one was better executed :(
![Miranda Reads](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1620306186p1/71848701.jpg)
Hmm, i like Coraline, Stardust and American Gods
![Miranda Reads](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1620306186p1/71848701.jpg)
Felt the same. The audiobook made it a bit easier to finish - Neil Gaiman is an excellent narrator
![Miranda Reads](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1620306186p1/71848701.jpg)
Ugh. The kitten scene. Totally forgot about that until now. I should knock off another star for that
![Miranda Reads](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1620306186p1/71848701.jpg)
El. Oh. El.
![Miranda Reads](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1620306186p1/71848701.jpg)
Perhaps i need to reread it when I'm kookier then :p
![Miranda Reads](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1620306186p1/71848701.jpg)
For me it was a book about a sensitive 7 year old boy who had..."
Whew. That is far more analysis than i put into this one. I almost want to reread to see how that all fits!
![Miranda Reads](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1620306186p1/71848701.jpg)
Yes. Totally agree!
![Jho Krisann](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1371672239p1/21468708.jpg)
![Miranda Reads](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1620306186p1/71848701.jpg)
Agreed. I just wanted to know what happened!!
![Daniel Saleh](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1546861085p1/77622121.jpg)
That being said, I did enjoy it, but I felt it could have been a lot better!
![Miranda Reads](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1620306186p1/71848701.jpg)
That being said, I did enjoy it, but I felt it could have been a lot better!"
Exactly! It had soooooo much potential
![Daniel Saleh](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1546861085p1/77622121.jpg)
![Miranda Reads](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1620306186p1/71848701.jpg)
But, that being said, Neil books are generally pretty good :)
![Vanessa B. ♡](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1630125412p1/19477186.jpg)
![Adam Barnett](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1551887842p1/92362745.jpg)
![Wilmar Luna](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1533068836p1/15562336.jpg)
However, I'm like you where sometimes I like the idea more than the actual novel. For instance, I did not like Neverwhere. It had a lot of great things going for it, including a decent pace, but the world itself was a complete turn off for me.
Well I think it's cool you tried to give this one a shot!
![Miranda Reads](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1620306186p1/71848701.jpg)
I agree with all you said. It definitely captures the feeling of childhood... but i feel like it could have been so much more
![Miranda Reads](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1620306186p1/71848701.jpg)
The writing was fabulous! My fave is probably Coraline - or American Gods.
What about you?
![Miranda Reads](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1620306186p1/71848701.jpg)
He always has amazing ideas... they just don't always pan out :(
![Miranda Reads](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1620306186p1/71848701.jpg)
It definitely worked in terms of atmosphere and creativity... but i just couldn't truly get into it. Glad you ended up liking it.
![Miranda Reads](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1620306186p1/71848701.jpg)
Are there any Gaiman novels that you like?