Coraline: A Truly ‘All-Ages’ Story

I may be the last blogger in the world to finish it, but I recently finished Neil Gaiman’s Coraline. I was, as expected, quite suitably blown away…and more than a little disappointed that such books did not exist way back when I was a wee laddie. But anyway…let’s jump to the gist of this entry since I’m at work and could be needed to work on something at any moment.

Firstly, I don’t really like Neil Gaiman’s prose work all that much. I think its well and good in its own place. It’s definitely not boring. But American Gods, and Good Omens (the two books of his I’d previously read) did nothing for me. They were well-written, sure, and definitely had their moments, but they didn’t leave me wanting to re-read them ever again…in my opinion the mark of a truly great book. So, it is with some hesitation that I bought this book. I figured, if I don’t like his ‘adult’ prose work, what were the chances I would like the ‘kid’ stuff? I was quite well and truly wrong.

Coraline is the type of book that every kid loves to have read to them, or to read themselves. It had a kid who’s bored with her life and begins to think that her parents don’t care much about her because they are involved in their personal lives. So, when she discovers another world…one in which her ‘other’ mother lives…she obviously clings to it and in the begining embraces it for its ‘newness’ and for the fact that her ‘other’ parents lives seem to revolve around her…not the other way around. Of course, with all such things, she discovers that not everything is what she wished for when her real parents disappear and she has to battle against her ‘other’ mother to save them.

The book was awesome. I was completely engrossed and finished it in one sitting (not a hard thing to do btw…pretty short book…it is for kids after all.) The illustrations by Dave McKean were also beautifully rendered. I had forgotten how simple and expressive his line-work truly is. Having his artwork without the benefits of the painted backgrounds and objects he inserts really showed something that was truly terrifyingly beautiful which I had otherwise been missing for some time.

Overall, I think the book is definitely worth buying it as soon as possible. The kid in you will be happy…and the kid you know will be happy. Trust me, you’ll enjoy it. Hell, reading this book almost made me forgive the crap that was Eternals. Almost.

Oh…and I found excellent (some of them were actually needed!!) butt-shots in the latest Teen Titans. So…there will be a butt-shots #4 this week. Let’s see how any weeks I can find at least one book with good images.