The Ocean at the End of the Lane

A Novel

By: Neil Gaiman

Narrated by: Neil Gaiman

Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Finalist, Narration by the Author or Authors, 2014

Audie Award Finalist, Fiction, 2014

Sussex, England: A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. He is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet sitting by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean), the unremembered past comes flooding back. Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie - magical, comforting, wise beyond her years - promised to protect him, no matter what.

A groundbreaking work from a master, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is told with a rare understanding of all that makes us human, and shows the power of stories to reveal and shelter us from the darkness inside and out. A stirring, terrifying, and elegiac fable as delicate as a butterfly's wing and as menacing as a knife in the dark.

©2013 Neil Gaiman (P)2013 HarperCollinsPublishers

I'm shaken

This book shook me to my core. It brought back memories and emotions from my childhood that I never expected to resurface from listening to a fantasy novel.

Gaiman's performances are amazing and help me stay focused despite my poor listening skills.

Enjoyable listen.

Modern fairy tale style story that was interesting, but also left me feeling melancholy. Neil Gaiman was wonderful as narrator.

great story by a master storyteller

I chose to buy this book as an audiobook, and considered it a bonus that it was read by the author. I will try to bring out my thoughts, without giving away any spoilers. I expect that you've alredy read the summary by the publisher.

Reading, or listening to this book, you will experience the horror and magic created by a series of events through the eyes and mind of the main character; a young boy. The point of view in the book, makes it impossible to say what part of the story that is real, and what is imagination, and this is what creates some of the magic. Those of you that has read earlier works by the author, will recognise his grasp of making everyday stuff magically as well as presenting a fantasy world you will recognise from the ordinary world around you. For those of you that hasn't read him, you will be in for a joyride, as he is not really comparable to many other authors.

I have read most of Neil Gaimans books, but this is the first I've experienced in audio format. All the other books I've read by the author, has been read quite fast, and I've always felt that the stories has contained a self driven plot. Not fast like a thriller, but still a page turner, where you always have to read one more page to find out what happens next. It came as a surprise to me, that he himself presented the story in a much calmer slower way. This doesn't make the plot seem slow, bit it creates a certain effect, as he describes some of the horrors in the story, in a very calming and soothing way. It's very much like a pedagogue explaining something very complicated. For me this added another dimension to the story, that I haven't experienced with Neil Gaiman

I give this book 5 stars, because I can't really find anything wrong with it. It gave me a great time, listening to it. The story is written and read by a litterary master beyond any genre.

My favorite read in years!

Where does The Ocean at the End of the Lane rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Within the top five.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Ocean at the End of the Lane?

Lettie's self-sacrifice to protect the narrator from the hunger birds.

What about Neil Gaiman’s performance did you like?

It's always a special treat when an author reads the book. There is no doubting that the inflection is exactly where it was intended. Plus, Gaiman has a lovely reading voice.

If you could take any character from The Ocean at the End of the Lane out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Lettie, of course.

Any additional comments?

This was simply a magical book that I will never forget.

Always a Pleasure

Neil Gaimon weaves together a tale that spurs your imagination while his velvety voice holds your rapt attention. When I read stories of a traveling bard captivating his audience at a large festivity, Neil's performance is exactly what I picture. Bravo. Through the hazy fog of an unusual little boy's remembrance of his past, we encounter a relationship forged with an eccentric girl, her family, and creatures of mythic proportion while traveling no farther tha the end of the lane.

So much better when read by the author

What did you love best about The Ocean at the End of the Lane?

Gaiman's storytelling has always been top notch, and this novel balances brilliantly the ephemeral nature of memory with the passage of time, and hearing the whole thing rendered by Gaiman's voice just added to the beauty of the whole piece. This is the first audio book I listened to more than once, and I can see myself playing this one again in a few years.

Like a peek back into the vulnerability childhood.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this book to anyone who remembers being afraid of things under the bed. It is a wonderful work of magical realism.

What did you like best about this story?

I like the way Gaiman exposes the powerlessness children feel and the hidden world children carry with them through the foreign confusing adult world. Reading this I was reminded of my younger self.

Well written but not my taste

Neil Gaiman is a skilled author and narrator, so The Ocean at the End of the Lane is both well written and well read. That said, I don't think Gaiman was quite up to his usual standard--the balances of real/unreal, scary/funny/poignant, etc were all off for me. The whole thing was one long nightmare, with very little in the way of humor or plot to balance it out. The big ideas and morals we were supposed to take away seemed heavy handed, and I found the ending disappointing. Clearly lots of people love this book, but if you're looking for something similar to American Gods or Coraline, this isn't it.

Strange but really good.

What made the experience of listening to The Ocean at the End of the Lane the most enjoyable?

The story was too short. But at the same time it was long enough. I wanted more from the story, but I am happy the author didn't start adding boring things to the story to make it longer. It was an odd story. Very wonderful, but I was not expecting it based on the description. I don't know. The one thing I have is that I couldn't really believe the age of the main character. The entire time, even though the narrator repeatedly mentioned that he was 7, I kept thinking of him as being 9 or 10 or maybe even 11. His character was just... not like any 7 year old I am familiar with. I don't know. I am happy to live with my delusion that he was 9-11 years old.

Any additional comments?

The one thing is that the story kept leaving questions in my mind. It was sometimes hard to follow. Like when characters switched and so forth. I don't know if it is the author's fault or the narrator (wait... the author is the narrator). Sometimes I wished I had had the book so I could read the written word to see what was being said.

Gaiman's narration is excellent

I enjoyed this book very much.
Appreciated the thoughtfulness of the writing and visual characters.

A pleasure!