“Coraline” by Neil Gaiman

Well, it’s about time. I’m one of those people who won’t see the movie if I haven’t read the book so I totally missed the Coraline film when it was in theatres. Not to mention, I’ve recommended this book countless times to students and had never read it for myself (yes, librarians do that). Unlike the Bosch book, this one had definite advantages being read as an eBook. Like a DVD, there were “extras,” including an interview with Neil Gaiman and an essay on how/why he wrote the book. This is his favorite book, he says (of course that was before he wrote “The Graveyard Book,” which is my favorite). Long story short, I loved it. I love his bizzaro twists and perverse ways of looking at things. Coraline’s journey into another world/family is absolutely macabre. Gaiman mentioned that adults seem terrified of the book, while kids see it as an adventure. On this point, I agree. The tale was a visceral nightmare and while I could see the bolder child finding fun (not to mention understanding) in Coraline’s story, the button-eyes alone are enough to give me shivers. Gaiman also says it’s the quirkiest thing he has ever written. Here, I don’t know what to say. Between the graphic novels portraying midnight circuses with phantasmagoria to “Wolves in the Walls,” a nice horror-story picture book for little kids (!), he’s a pretty strange fellow. And I like strange. Is this short little book enough to give me nightmares? Maybe, but at least now I’ll be able to rent the DVD.