The Pond-Sized Ocean: "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" Review

I’ve been holding off on reading Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean At The End Of The Lane for a couple of years. Now that I have read it, I have fewer books by Gaiman to discover, and that makes me sad. Each new book I’ve picked up from him has enhanced my life and bookshelves in their own ways. This one is no different in that regard.

An unnamed man returns home to attend a funeral. He finds himself back at the pond at the end of the lane. His friend Lettie Hempstock called the pond an ocean. While sitting there, the man remembers the strange events that took place when he first met Lettie and the other Hempstock women. It's those strange events that take up the bulk of the story.

Gaiman writes the mind of a child with a surprising skill for a man of sixty. He does not make the children stupid or illogical, yet he doesn't ignore the naivety of it their nature either. He instead takes advantage of this attribute instead. At the same time, he brings lessons and new perspectives to the adults reading. In The Ocean...there are moments that the boy glosses over. He is unable to comprehend the full meaning of what he sees and thus doesn't mark it as important. But those are the scenes the adults understand, and, boy, it made me sad to witness those moments.

Gaiman encompasses the feelings of wonder and fear, magic both light and dark, well in this novel. He opens the story by exhibiting this skill. Introducing a tiny black kitten that made the man happy as a boy, Gaiman then kills it off within the first few pages. The emotion of the small boy delivers so well that I stopped reading to compose myself.

One of my favorite aspects of the novel was the version of the maiden, mother, and crone trio visualized. Each Hempstock was a force all on her own. Combined, the possibilities and histories between them are endless. I’d like more about them. Gaiman claims that other versions of them exist in his writing. But a short story about the actual Hempstock women would be welcomed by Gaiman fans like me.

Considering Gaiman is one of my top favorite authors, I’m not surprised that I read the book as quickly as I was able to. On my bookshelf is only one more unread Gaiman book, Anansi Boys, but I am lucky. Gaiman is both a prolific and continuous writer as well as one that’s still alive and working. The Ocean...only makes me more excited about everything else I have to read from him.

For anyone fond of childhood and magic, or anyone new to reading Neil Gaiman, I recommend The Ocean at the End of the Lane.