Review of The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

As readers, we all know that a well written, entertaining, thought provoking book is a true treasure.  To find one that you can share with your kids is a gift.  I first heard Neil Gaiman’s name last summer, when an acquaintance of mine, a former librarian, recommended his books, including The Graveyard Book.  My List-Of-Books-To-Read has achieved record lengths recently… and this one was on The List, but it took a second encounter to push it to the top.  A member of my Sci-Fi Book club suggested we read it, because it won the Hugo award in 2009.  It is also the only book ever to win both the Newberry (US) and Carnegie (UK) medals.   So, in other words…lots of people think this book is amazing.

The story begins with a murder.  “The man Jack,” as he is called, murders a man, woman and child in their sleep, but their toddler escapes from his crib and out the front door.  He wanders down the street to the nearby graveyard.  The ghost residents hear the pleading cries of the recently murdered family, who beg them to help their baby.   Mrs. Owens, dead some 200+ years, and her husband promise to take care of the baby and become his parents.  The mysterious Silas, who is neither dead nor alive, but has the ability to leave the graveyard, unlike the ghosts, agrees to be his guardian and provide things like clothes and food that the ghosts cannot get for him.  They name the boy Nobody Owens, “Bod” for short. 

From this point, we watch Bod grow up and learn life lessons from ghosts and ghouls, werewolves, witches and the undead.  Some of the lessons are simple ones about learning to listen to the people who love and care about you, when they warn you about something dangerous---and others are more complex, like lessons about learning to do the right thing, about helping and caring for others.  It’s almost as if each chapter has a different coming of age story for each stage of Bod’s life.  I found it particularly charming that many of the views of morality, community, tolerance, justice and common sense decency are taught by these otherworldly creatures that in most stories are depicted as evil. 

Even though this is technically a kid’s book, I never felt as though the story or writing were dumbed down or cleaned up for children.  If anything, Gaiman offers splendid learning opportunities within the story---beautiful images that an adult can fully appreciate and enjoy, like “he walked up the side of the hill, to where a picnic some thirty years before had left its mark in the shape of a large apple tree.”  I grinned when I read that passage, but my kids didn’t get it right away.  This book is filled with places like this, where I could stop and ask my kids what they thought, how they felt, if they understood, etc. 

Ratings  (For an explanation of my rating factors, please visit the Rating System Key page.)

http://booksrmycrack.blogspot.com/p/rating-system-key.html

Crack Factor – 9.5.  I read this book twice.  It’s not the first book I’ve read twice, nor will it be the last, but it’s the only book that I have read twice within a two week time frame.  It was even better the second time.  A definite crack book. 

Tears Shed Factor – 9.5.  I also think this is in some ways a love story, not in the romantic sense, but in the filial and platonic sense, definitely.  As Bod grows and learns, he learns about love from his parents, guardian and friends and it tugged at my heartstrings in more than one place.  This book has it all—you’ll laugh, cry, triumph and tremble along with Bod and his friends.  Gaiman’s gift is to help the reader feel the story as he reads it. 

Enrichment Factor – 9.5.  Multiple pearls of wisdom adorn the pages of The Graveyard Book.  One of my favorites is when Bod is asking his guardian about the difference between the sacred ground of the graveyard and the unconsecrated ground beyond it.  Silas explains how different beliefs hold different things sacred.  He also makes it clear that most of the people buried outside the bounds of the sacred ground are most likely no worse than those within.  In this small passage, they touch on the idea of judgment and how it can be unfair and how rules and laws change from time to time.  Like this passage, there is so much discussion material throughout this book---not only topics I can bring up with my kids but also reminders for the grownup in me that sometimes forgets. 

PeopleFactor – 9.5. I’m a true character lover.  Gaiman’s characters don’t disappoint.  I felt invested in their lives and despite a perfect ending to the story, I had a hard time saying goodbye to them.

Story Telling Factor – 9.5.  One of the things I loved about this book is that each chapter is a separate adventure in Bod’s life—a complete story, set within the larger novel, and all along you get clues to the mystery of why bod’s family were killed.  It makes for a quick read—definite page turning action within each smaller story, and propulsion to keep going to know the whole picture.

Writing Skills Factor – 9.9.  This book is beautifully written.  I found our copy of the book dog eared with parts I found memorable, picturesque, and moving. 

Total Rating: 9.57

End Note:  I hate to write things like “If you like the Harry Potter books, you’ll love this book.” But I’m still going to write it.  While this one book is quite different from the world of Harry Potter, I put them in the same league for many reasons.  The writing quality of both is excellent, and while reading the graveyard book, I felt the same reactions as when I read the Harry Potter books—a kind of excitement, joy, fear, protectiveness.  They not only thrilled the kid in me, but they stirred the parent emotions in me, too.  The reader in me loved every minute in the graveyard, same as at Hogwarts, so I bet Potter fans will also like Bod. 

One More End Note---Neil Gaiman's website is cool.  He writes a journal on it--almost like a blog.  It's worth checking out. http://www.neilgaiman.com/

Review of the Witch in the Well by Sharan Newman

I haven’t read many mystery novels lately.  While I enjoy a good mystery, I’ve really moved away from the genre because they usually don’t have much character development.  I was pleasantly surprised with The Witch in the Well by Sharan Newman, however.  This is the tenth in the “Catherine LeVendeur” mystery series by Newman.  I have not read any of the previous books in the series, stumbling on this quite by accident at the library, just picking it off the shelf when I was browsing one day.  It was a fun, quick read, a nice little mystery and a most interesting setting.  Catherine LeVendeur is a twelfth century French woman, and Sharan Newman’s background as a medieval scholar shines in this venue. 

Here’s a quick synopsis:  Catherine is a former novitiate, smart and sassy, now married to a Scotsman named Edgar with only one hand.  Edgar’s business partner is Catherine’s Jewish cousin, Solomon (although the cousin part is a secret.)  Her brother, Guillaume, is a Lord with many responsibilities.  They receive a desperate plea from their grandfather, begging them to come to his castle for help.  The entire family must come as all descendants are needed.  Her sister, Agnes, married to a wealthy German, meets them at the Castle Boisvert, and so does Catherine’s mother, who has been in a convent for the past few years because of mental illness.   At Boisvert, they discover that not a single child has been born in the castle in almost 20 years, and that is just the beginning of the problems.  There’s a murder and an invading army on the way and it just gets better from there. 

I’m quite eager to read more of this series, because I loved these characters and all their complex relationships.  Catherine’s siblings and cousins and husband and in-laws and servants all play critical roles in the story and their interrelationships add to the complexity of each character. 

The plot itself is typical of most mystery novels—unbelievable and forgettable.  (It’s not been a month since I finished the book and I had to skim through it to remember what happened before I wrote the review!)    Add in that the mystery is about a cursed castle and a spirit woman living down in a well and… You get the idea.  But don’t let that deter you from reading, because I did find the setting, characters, story and writing style very entertaining. 

Ratings  (For an explanation of my rating factors, please visit the Rating System Key page.)

Crack Factor – 8.  A great, fun, quick read. 

Enrichment Factor – 9.  Newman gets a lot of critical praise for being well researched.  As a professor of medieval studies, she should know what she’s talking about.  Medieval French life is well described through the eyes of these characters, so it’s quite a unique and engaging time and place for a mystery or two… 

PeopleFactor – 9.75.  I HATE finishing a book when I love the characters.  I am so glad Newman has nine other books where I can find these characters again.

Story Telling Factor – 8. 

Writing Skills Factor – 8.5.  For a mystery writer, she’s pretty fab.

Bad Ass Babe Factor – 8.5.  The female characters in this book are strong and smart, especially when you consider they’re living in Medieval France.  Part of me finds this fact a little unbelievable, but I wouldn’t want to read it if they were passive and boring, so for literary purposes, it’s perfect. 

Hotter than Adam Factor – 8.5.  Not many books get HTAF ratings---but this one will.  Edgar, Catharine’s husband is pretty wow.  He gets an 8.5 at least.  The relationship between Edgar and Catherine is supportive, loving and passionate.  Edgar is a serious tough guy, despite having only one hand.  (Apparently I have to read one of the previous books to know the details on that story…)  Solomon, Catherine’s Jewish cousin and Edgar’s business partner, also gets an 8.5. 

Total Rating:  8.6

Review of the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson

I have never rebelled.  I didn’t smoke or drink as a teenager.  I’ve never used illegal substances.  (Seriously…I haven’t.)  And I never ever skipped class.  Ever.  I do occasionally wear white after Labor Day.  And I don’t believe in ironing, (I know—shocking) but aside from that…I’m not a rebel.  I’m pretty content with that.  I like my life the way it is.  But as I’m getting older, I’m starting to wonder if maybe I’ve got a wild streak buried somewhere deep down.  It might be purple…yeah, that’s it…a purple wild streak…

A woman who works in the warehouse at my company has Technicolor hair.  It’s usually black with some kind of colorful streak in it. It might be kelly green or candy apple red or intense purple, it seems to change with the phases of the moon.  I told her once that I loved her hair, which I really do; I said, “I’ve always wanted to do something crazy like that.”  Later I wondered if perhaps I’d said something offensive to her, but I’m hoping she took it as the compliment I meant it to be.  Since then, the desire for a purple steak in my own hair has been growing. This desire has a lot of legs, like an octopus, wrapping its tentacles around different parts of my brain.   I keep asking myself, “Why haven’t I ever done something crazy like that?”

For a while, I thought could do it for my 40^th birthday, like a rebellion against old age.  (Although the closer I get to 40, the less I think consider it a marker of “old age.”)   In one of my moments of indecision about this, I asked Adam what he thought about it.  (If my partner considered it to be a huge turn-off, there’s no way I’d sacrifice that part of my life for a stupid mid-life crisis about purple hair.  I assume most rebels aren’t that stupid.)  His reply was “Why wait till your 40^th birthday?  If you want to do it, why not do it now?” yes.

You’d think this assent would have sent me right to the salon, but then, I started freaking out about it.  I love my hair just the way it is. I’ve never dyed it or bleached it or added highlights.  So far I can get by with just plucking out the grey hairs; why mess with a good thing?  Then I started thinking I’m just too chicken-sh!t to do it; I’ll never be a rebel.  A few days later, I flip flop again and I’m sure that I will do it.  And then I think I’ll just wait until after the next tradeshow, or the next business meeting, or…or…chicken.

What is it that is so fascinating about a rebel, anyway?  Is it because a rebel does what most of us wouldn’t dare do?  I think back to those kids in high school that sat on the fringe of the classroom in their dark coats with their dyed black hair and studded whatever.  Most were pretty harmless.  The clothes and the hair were about the extent of their rebellion.  Some rebels are beyond that, well beyond harmless and into the scary realm…remember the “trench coat mafia” at Columbine High School?   Are these the people that get pushed too far beyond the fringe? 

I know you’re thinking…is there a book review in here somewhere? 

Yes.   I’m just getting to it.  Lisbeth Salander, the title character and rebel in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, is one of those fascinating people.  She’s more than a little off-balance.  Rub her the wrong way and you might end up tortured or tazered or dead.  Or she might just destroy your life without you even knowing who did it.  In other words, she’s an awesome fictional character.  Just the kind of person you want to read about, complex and layered and so not a normal person. 

The dialog about Stieg Larsson has been going on for a while now.  His trilogy of mysteries has been on the bestseller list for a couple of years.  All that while, I’VE BEEN MISSING IT!!!!  (I hate not being in the know.) But that has been remedied.  As of a few nights ago, I finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

  

As soon as something gets hyped up, my expectations raise considerably.  There’s no greater disappointment than wanting to love something that everyone else loves and then thinking, “Seriously?  This is it?”  I wanted to love this book; for the first 100 pages, however, I was thinking I’d be disappointed.  My whole book club was having a hard time getting into it.  But in the end I did love the book, so now I have a dilemma on my hands, because if I hype it up too much, you’ll all be expecting lightning bolts and rainbows and unicorns to burst out of the pages when you crack the binding.  

Well, there are no rainbows or unicorns that will leap out of the pages, but Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist, the two main protagonists will grab your attention.  It did take me a good 120 pages before this book really hooked me.  The characters were the only thing that kept me opening the book that long.  But once I got past that mark, the story took over and I was enraptured by the mystery unfolding.  This book has action, suspense and danger; and the character development is pretty good.  Larsson switches the 3^rd person perspective on you from time to time, so when you’re learning about one character, not only do you learn about her from a completely 3^rd person omniscience…you also get the views of her from the people around her…her employer, her partner, herself.  Not all authors do this; it adds dimension to the characters to see them from multiple perspectives. 

This character development is what takes this book beyond a simple mystery or suspense novel and gives it some meat to sink your teeth into (tofu for us veggies out there).  But at its core, this is a mystery novel.  In the opening pages, you learn about the disappearance of a 16 year old girl that happened 40 years prior, a disgraced journalist, and a twisted researcher/hacker.  As the story unfolds, disgrace becomes triumph, one mystery becomes the link to many crimes and the search for a villain intensifies as he threatens our protagonists.  And that’s all I’m going to tell you; hopefully it’s not too much hype.

Ratings  (For an explanation of my rating factors, please visit the Rating System Key page.)

Crack Factor – 8.75.  It took a while for me to get addicted to this book, but the middle-end held me in suspense. 

Distraction Factor – 9.  Through my research about Steig Larsson and his 3 novels, I learned that the Swedish title of this book translated as Men who Hate Women.   The violence against women theme is quite distracting in this book.  He keeps bringing you back to it, not only from the perspective of the mysteries uncovered and solved during the course of the novel, but also the violence and abuse that our protagonist faces in her own life.  Lisbeth’s reactions to her own misfortune and to her abusers intrigued me.  She accepts no victim mentality, just stays intent on punishment for those in the wrong, and she lets no abuser lean on the excuse of prior abuse. 

Enrichment Factor –?.  While I wouldn’t call this book educational by any means, I found the Swedish names and place to be particularly entertaining.  I have a lot of Swedish customers and it was fun to acknowledge the similarity of some character’s names to the people I email every day, and realize that part of the story is taking place in the towns where my customers live.  

PeopleFactor – 8.5.  I don’t need to repeat myself; almost this whole review is about characters.  The secondary characters are almost as interesting as the protagonists. 

Story Telling Factor – 9.5.  My favorite surprise with this book was the layering of story and character development.  Blomkvist and Lisbeth not only become partners in solving a crime, but their relationship evolves into something else as well, which not only thickens the plot, but gives Lisbeth’s character, especially, some additional development. 

Writing Skills Factor – ?.  I don’t know how to rate this one.  I’d tend to rate Larsson lower than most other authors I’ve reviewed, but it could be a translation thing.  I didn’t like his style as much as some other authors, but he’s not a bad or annoying writer.  His writing style doesn’t detract from the story or the characters, but I don’t think it enriches them either.

Bad Ass Babe Factor – 9.5  Lisbeth is more “bad ass” than most all characters to whom I’ve given high ratings.   She epitomizes the literal sense of this phrase.  Most of my BABs aren’t literal BABs, but Lisbeth is.  I’d have to admit, she’s more Bad Ass than Babe, though.  I love her sense of personal conviction and her sense of loyalty and her own acknowledgement of her uniqueness.  She knows she’s not the same as everyone else, but she doesn’t try to be different, it’s just that she knows it’s a part of her.  She accepts her “flaws” for the most part and only seems to lament them at the end of the story, when she realizes that they hold her back from a part of life she’s not even sure she wants. 

Total Rating: 9.05

As an end note, my husband, Adam, read this book along with me and my book club.  Most of the time Adam’s reading material is Hot Rod magazine or Cook’s Illustrated, so I was pleasantly surprised and excited that he was going to be another book discussion partner for me.  When I told him I was finishing my review and asked him if he had any comments.  His response was, “Blech.”  He didn’t get hooked in the first 100 pages either, and when I finished the book, he asked me for the bullet point synopsis and then he read the last 100 pages.  I guess you could call it the Jenny Cliff Notes abbreviated version.  Anyway, he was not impressed, and had nothing positive to say about the book.  Soooooo…..I just thought I’d pass this along.  It’s not for everyone.