The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Paperback Edition

I read the paperback version of The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. This is my second experience with anything written by Neil Gaiman.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane is a short novel and I had high expectations of this novel when I first began reading it as it seems that more people than not seemed to really enjoy reading this book and/or are HUGE fans of Gaiman's work. 

However, after reading The Ocean at the End of the Lane, I have mixed feelings about it. I felt like the first 40 to 50 pages of this novel were pretty slow going for me and with that said, I'd set the novel aside and began reading other works. I was seriously wondering if I'd ever pick it up again and finish reading it...

I ended up reading The Ocean at the End of the Lane through to the end, as I really wanted to see what all the fuss was about regarding this novel. Thank goodness the storyline picks up for The Ocean at the End of the Lane in chapter five and becomes more entertaining. I'll admit I did like all the imagery presented in this novel, but which genre exactly does this novel fit into??? Is it fantasy?? Magical realism?? What exactly... I'm not sure.

I didn't like not knowing the narrator's name. I didn't like knowing whether what happened to him as a child was real or fantasy or a combination of both... It was all too weird. Good all around imagery was presented in The Ocean at the End of the Lane, but what did it all mean? Too much gray area for me. Overall I just didn't like this novel.

I'm giving The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman a rating of 4 stars out of 10 stars.