Rebecca's Reviews > The Ocean At The End Of The Lane
The Ocean At The End Of The Lane
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![7566229](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1719827242p2/7566229.jpg)
“Monsters come in all shapes and sizes. Some of them are things people are scared of. Some of them are things that look like things people used to be scared of a long time ago. Sometimes monsters are things people should be scared of, but they aren't.”
A middle aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.
I adored this novel. Childhood is such a magical thing we're all bound to, and it is a wonder to look at it with adult eves. This is what the book is about: living, observing, creating memories that will inevitably become blurred bits. Being afraid, too. The narrative in the novel is beautiful and effortless. As I read, I felt a warm nostalgic feeling. This is a book you just open and dive in, straight into Lettie's ocean. Be prepared to discover the extraordinary.
There are fairytale vibes mixed with a little bit of uneasy horror. It reads like a weird fever dream that has you question the monsters you feared as a child.
This was my first Neil Gaiman. I am very excited to read more of his works.
Highly Recommend.
A middle aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.
I adored this novel. Childhood is such a magical thing we're all bound to, and it is a wonder to look at it with adult eves. This is what the book is about: living, observing, creating memories that will inevitably become blurred bits. Being afraid, too. The narrative in the novel is beautiful and effortless. As I read, I felt a warm nostalgic feeling. This is a book you just open and dive in, straight into Lettie's ocean. Be prepared to discover the extraordinary.
There are fairytale vibes mixed with a little bit of uneasy horror. It reads like a weird fever dream that has you question the monsters you feared as a child.
This was my first Neil Gaiman. I am very excited to read more of his works.
Highly Recommend.
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Quotes Rebecca Liked
![Neil Gaiman](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/authors/1234150163i/1221698._UX200_CR0,0,200,200_.jpg)
“Adults are content to walk the same way, hundreds of times, or thousands; perhaps it never occurs to adults to step off the paths, to creep beneath rhododendrons, to find the spaces between fences.”
― The Ocean at the End of the Lane
― The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Reading Progress
August 14, 2022
–
Started Reading
August 14, 2022
– Shelved
August 15, 2022
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-34 of 34 (34 new)
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![Wendelle](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1560655739p1/51581864.jpg)
![Rebecca](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1719827242p1/7566229.jpg)
Such a coincidence that you just said that. On my lunch break, not even an hour ago I was looking up Sandman and other works by Neil Gaiman lol I already have Norse Mythology, The Graveyard Book and Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances I’ve never read a graphic novel before. I’d have to see it in person I think before I decided 😄😄💖💖
![Rebecca](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1719827242p1/7566229.jpg)
Why thank you 🙏🏻💖 I will definitely be reading more of his works asap! 😘
![Rebecca](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1719827242p1/7566229.jpg)
Thank you so much Tracy! 🙏🏻💖💖
![Catherine (alternativelytitledbooks) - so very behind!](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1565295366p1/29919991.jpg)
![Rebecca](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1719827242p1/7566229.jpg)
I highly recommend this one Nancy. I’m certain you will love it too 💖💖
![Rebecca](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1719827242p1/7566229.jpg)
Thank you Catherine! I don’t know why I waited so long to read one of his books! 💖💖💖
![Rebecca](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1719827242p1/7566229.jpg)
Thank you Kevin! I will start with the ones I have and definitely pick up Neverwhere, American Gods, Coraline and the others. I love NF also and I did see the one you mention while I was browsing online! I heard Sandman are graphic novels. I’m not sure how I would go with those. A bookstore visit might be on the cards so I can see the book in person and then decide 😄😄thank you again, you have been very helpful! 💖🙏🏻
![Rebecca](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1719827242p1/7566229.jpg)
I'll definitely check them out the next time I'm in a bookstore. I did however, just jump online and grabbed a boxed set of Neil Gaiman. The only double up was this one.. The Ocean at the end of the lane! I couldn't help myself lol 😄💖
![Rebecca](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1719827242p1/7566229.jpg)
Ah yes, Coraline. I need to read that one. I have been told it's a different experience to the film 💖💖
![Luffy Sempai](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1706159080p1/7407364.jpg)
![Rebecca](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1719827242p1/7566229.jpg)
Oh really. Why is that? Which books have you read? I just ordered a ton of his books, American Gods included 😄💖
![Luffy Sempai](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1706159080p1/7407364.jpg)
Oh really. Why is that? Which boo..."
I have read Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fiction and Illusions and Coraline. Gaiman is so successful, but this is books we are talking about. So subjective.
![Kevin Ansbro](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1506848923p1/43579369.jpg)
![Rebecca](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1719827242p1/7566229.jpg)
Oh really. Why is..."
That’s very true. I have only read the one so I can’t comment on his others. Hopefully I end up enjoying them 🙏🏻💖💖
![Rebecca](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1719827242p1/7566229.jpg)
Thank you Kevin. I took this one to be more YA than for kids or adults. Would have scared me senseless when I was a little’n though! 😂💖💖
![Rebecca](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1719827242p1/7566229.jpg)
Thank you Kevin 💖💖
![Kristine](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1723350528p1/22536973.jpg)
![Rebecca](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1719827242p1/7566229.jpg)
Thank you Kristine. I highly recommend this one. A really sweet and magical story 💖💖
![Rebecca](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1719827242p1/7566229.jpg)
Haha neither had I until this one! 😄😄💖💖
Oh really! I can imagine this being a comfort book. What others do you recommend? I have The Graveyard Book and Norse Mythology already 💖💖