The Graveyard Book - May 2020 Book Group discussion thread

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Diogenes Jun 2020 9:19pm, 12 Jun 2020 49,761 posts	0 Diogenes Eh, Dipps? If I’d had it the wrong way up all the words would’ve fallen out.
LindsD Jun 2020 9:24pm, 12 Jun 2020 37,834 posts	0 LindsD Sharkie lent me that. Must read that.
Little Nemo Jun 2020 8:54pm, 14 Jun 2020 10,667 posts	0 Little Nemo I read this book quite a few years ago and I remember that I enjoyed it but couldn't remember much of the story. This is normal for me which at least means it's not too repetitive Following Scribbler's suggestion I decided to listen to Neil Gaiman read the book. It took a while to get used to this, not helped by flaky internet for the first chapter. I mainly listened to it on my laptop while doing online jigsaws which was strangely relaxing. For me this is a mainly faultless read. I guess it's a YA book as probably a bit scary for small children but it's still engrossing as a grown-up read. I loved all the inhabitants of the graveyard with their inscriptions and old fashioned manners. I liked the episodic nature of the book with a self-contained story for each chapter as Bod grew up and slowly discovered that Silas was a vampire. It was a great mix of funny and touching bits with some genuinely scary and disturbing moments. It's unsentimental and doesn't deliver a happy ending in every situation. I love the ending of the book with Bod sent out to properly live his life while the inhabitants of the graveyard fade away from him. I may have had a tear in my eye... I gave this book a 9 and I have to give a big thank you to Scribbler for choosing it. Once I got going with listening to it, it turned out to be the perfect read in the strange times we're living through.
Little Nemo Jun 2020 9:15pm, 14 Jun 2020 10,668 posts	0 Little Nemo Lots of interesting comments! I didn't get the similarities with HP, it feels a very different sort of book to me. I suppose the starting point is similar but this feels more like the most important part was how everyone helped Bod grow up. The confrontation with the Jacks is just one small part of this not the driving point of the story. I can see now that the inspiration of The Jungle Book is much more important. If we're talking orphans in fiction I have to add Ged in The Wizard of Earthsea
Serendippily Jun 2020 9:56pm, 14 Jun 2020 18,072 posts	0 Serendippily I thought of Ged too