The Graveyard Book

It's raining nonstop today. There's nothing much to do except siting in front of my pc and surfing the net. And now I'm running out of web page to surf...so, why don't I update my blog? I've been planning to update with a review of this novel I've finished reading recently. It's just that I got sidetracked a lot. Heh.

Anyway, this is the book and its title is The Graveyard Book.


It was, I think 3 weeks or more ago when I visited Borders Book Store. I actually had other book in mind to purchase (ahemspider-manahem), but the novel caught my attention, somehow. It was cheaper (35.90) and the title plus synopsis attracted to me. Also, the novel is written by a guy called Neil Gaiman, whom I know is a fantastic writer and happened to write Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader, one of my favorite Batman stories.

So I picked the book to the counter.

The official synopsis goes something like this...
Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod's family . . .

Sounds interesting right?

I finished reading the novel in 2 weeks time (could have been shorter if I want). The story is broken into 8 parts, each a stand alone story and linked to create a bigger one. The characters are fascinating. The main boy Bod (short for Nobody) is one interesting fellow. The whole book is on his growth into a young man and you can see his change from a adventurous rebellious boy into a thoughtful young man who finally able to stand on his own.

There's a range of nice support characters too. There's Silas the caretaker, who is a badass vampire. A pair of kind ghosts acting as his parents. A werewolf. Ghost of a Witch. Death itself. That's a lot right? Each is unique and drives the story in own way....

I think there's some metaphor for life and death somewhere in the story, or so I heard from the reviews. I think it's a nice coming of age story, with the main character growing from a toodle into a young man. The ending is particularly bittersweet....yeap, so read it and find out.

Oh...the rain has stopped but the night still feels cold. So I think I better call it a night. Sweet dreams!