The Graveyard Book...

I swallowed The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman whole, in one gulp, on the weekend. I have a writer crush. I loved Coraline, and The Boy Who Swapped his Father for (some number I can't remember) Goldfish was genius. Yes I did put Stardust down after one chapter cos I guessed what was going to happen and the movie (which I adored) proved me right. But the Graveyard Book was a different kettle of fish altogether. The resolution to the whole man Jack thing irked me a little but despite this I loved the book. It was full of all these fabu sentences which made me smile or nod my head in wonder. I loved Bod (even though he didn't talk anything like a five year old or a seven year old when he was 5 and 7 although I guess his growing up in a Graveyard gave Mr Gaiman some licence (not poetic, or artistic or drivers, okay maybe artistic) to get away with this. (I'm only annoyed about the age thing because i sometimes get comments from editors about how characters aren't talking their age in my stories and other writers get away with it ALL THE TIME). And setting the book in a graveyard seemed to add a whole new depth of clarity to the whole living, dying and death thing that Lovely Bones had a go at but didn't achieve nearly so well as this one did. This one just seemed so much more believable to me. And Silas, well I have all sorts of theories about what he really is and I won't spoil it by outing them here but Mr Gaiman should you ever read this, was that bit of information that we only find out toward the end a big clue to his true nature?

Sadly I finished the book way too quickly and even more sadly now have another university assignment staring at me very rudely and persistently. Finishing the current WIP has developed a visit to the dentist like quality that is a little off putting and I am on tenter-hooks over a number of things which I am trying to avoid thinking about but they will insist on hopping up and down at the back of my brain saying look at me. I thought reading a book would distract me...