The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

*Review created for Texas Woman’s University graduate level class*

1.       BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gaiman, Neil. 2008. Ill. by Dave McKean. THE GRAVEYARD BOOK. New York. Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 978-0-06-053092-1

2.       SUMMARY

Nobody Owens, or Bod, is your average boy, other than living in a graveyard and learning the skills of a ghost, Fade, Slip, Fear, Terror, Dream walking, etc., all things one would learn as a ghost, or as a living child adopted by ghosts and given the Freedom of the Graveyard.  Bod comes to the graveyard as a toddler, after his family was murdered he managed to wander into the graveyard, away from the murderer, Jack.  After a kindly ghost woman sees the young boy, and speaks to the boys’ deceased mother, she and her husband decide to hide the boy away from Jack.  Bod grows up in the graveyard and learns about ghouls, Hounds of Hell, all about ghosts, and history, while his guardian tries to find answers.  Eventually Bod must face Jack, but will he survive the encounter or will he live on in the graveyard, as a permanent resident? 

3.       CRITICAL REVIEW

Gaiman provides an interesting take on a ghost story.  Boys will most likely identify with Nobody Owens, or Bod.  He is an intelligent young man, who has no living friends.  He flies under the radar, and is often ignored.  “No one even noticed that they hadn’t noticed him.”  Young adults often feel that they go unnoticed by their parents, teachers, and other adults.  The story does not move fast, however this gives us a chance to see Bod grow up and develop as a character from a young boy to a teenager.  While the story is slow at developing we see the different things that Bod must learn to face the man named Jack and to take his place among the living. 

The setting takes place in England, and we are given several clues to this location such as, “Josiah Worthington, local brewer, politician and later baronet, who had, almost three hundred years before, brought the old cemetery and the land around it, and given it to the city in perpetuity.”  Other comments mention London Town, as well as being close to Caledonia, or Scotland as we know it.  “This was a cold country at the edge of the world, and the only place colder was Caledonia to the North,” implies that Scotland lies to the north.  This fantasy novel has a common theme of good triumphing over evil.  Bod had escaped to the graveyard when we was a toddler, and managed to escape the notice of Jack, the man who had murdered his family.  This theme reaffirms the belief that good must be more powerful than evil.  In addition to this unique take on a ghost story, Gaimans’ use of language is impeccable.  Within the graveyard there are inhabitants who are from many different centuries, one of the oldest is a Roman named Caius Pompeius.  Other characters include the witch Liza Hempstock, the poet Nehemiah Trot, and more. 

Each of the characters has their own unique voices.  Master Trot’s voice is very different from Liza’s voice for instance.  “Of course, brave boy.  The advice of poets is the cordiality of kings!” the language he uses is educated, and is how a poet from the mid 1700’s would have sounded like.  Liza’s language sounds like she is uneducated, and from an earlier time.  “Drownded and burnded and buried here without as much as a stone to mark the spot.”  We can guess at the time period in which she lived because of her mention of the plague.  “But it turned out there was more in that carpet than strong wool and good weaving, for it carried the plague in its pattern, and by Monday five of them were coughing blood, and their skins were gone as black as mine when they hauled me from the fire. “  Other comments made by Liza mention how she was branded as a witch, and was drowned, burned and then buried in unconsecrated ground near the graveyard.  Overall, Gaiman provides a fresh new look at ghost stories and provides us with Bod, a boy many children and teens will identify with.  His choice of language provides each character their own voice.  The Graveyard Book is a true pleasure to read. 

4.       REVIEWS

Newbery Honor Book

Starred Kirkus review

“Wistful, witty, wise—and creepy.”…Kirkus Reviews

“When the chilling moments do come, they are as genuinely frightening as only Gaiman can make them”… Publishers Weekly

5.       CONNECTIONS

Read Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Research the different burial methods of different cultures and places-for instance the catacombs in Rome, and the above ground tombs in New Orleans

Create a model of a graveyard and include famous names from history with dates of birth and death

Works Cited

Kirkus Reviews. "The Graveyard Book." Accessed August 6, 2012. http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/neil-gaiman/the-graveyard-book/.

Publishers Weekly. "Children's Review: The Graveyard Book." Accessed August 6, 2012. http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-053092-1.