The ocean at the end of the lane - Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is not just one of my favourite authors. I look up to him. I agree with almost every he says about life and about reading, about art, about writing. I haven’t always enjoyed everything he’s written, but I’ve always taken a sort of comforting pleasure knowing that he exists and he’s still writing, still being a wonderful human being. And yet, I always approach his new works (as I do any other work by a beloved author) with a certain degree of caution. I suppose it’s the fear of being disappointed, of having to admit that, even though you love the man, you didn’t love the book. Or that you did like it, but weren’t blown away by it like you wanted to. In Neil Gaiman's case, anything short of that, would be a slight disappointment  I’m so glad to say that this wasn’t the case.[ warning: slight spoilers ahead]
 It started out quite slow for me. Well, slow for the first 3 or 4 pages. But remember, expectations! Then it got interesting and gripping, but still not completely AMAZING, and so it stayed until almost half way through it. I was prepared to give it 4 stars on my Librarything, which is the rating I give to books I enjoyed quite a lot, but had just a tiny bit of awesome missing. Then I kept reading and Lettie Hempstock saves our young narrator’s ass one more time, but this time it’s a lot more impressive and I’m like OK this is definitely a 4.5 stars at least! And then all of a sudden the awesome button was switched on, and I was swept away by it. I’m not sure when it happened. It could have been when our little one is plunged into the ocean pond and is filled with the knowledge of the universe and of all things. Or when the Hempstocks work the snip and cut magic on the narrator’s father. Or basically everything that happens until the epic finale. OLD MRS HEMPSTOCK, people. Oh my crackers, I didn’t expect to love her that much. But she totally had a serious case of Kicking Ass, what with all the glowing and the silver hair and the commanding voice and the baddies going all scaredy cats in front of her and going fuck this shit we’re out of here. It reminded me of my favourite moment of an anime I used to watch when I was little, about this group of travellers who went around medieval Japan and encountering all sorts of shenanigans, and at first the baddies always went ha ha you can’t stop us, you’re only a bunch of misfits losers, but then at the end the old man in the group always took out his Shogun symbol, a talisman or something, the theme music played and all the baddies went “oh shit, it’s the Shogun” and bowed in front of him. Except Old Mrs Hempstock is even better then the Shogun as the power is within her. We don’t know exactly who she is or how she came to be. Just like we don’t know how old or exactly who is Lettie or Ginnie. Old Mrs Hempstock claims to have been there when the moon was being made, and I tend to believe it’s true. But I like that we’re not told exactly who this wonderful family is. They could be called goddesses, a triad of powerful beings, that are essentially one single being represented in three forms, the maiden, the mother and the crone. But even to think of defining their identities feels like diminishing their power as characters. Their farm is as bit like Rivendell, the last homely house in the Lord of the Rings. Nothing bad can happen in it. Everything and everyone feels welcoming and safe and comforting. Food is always ready and is the most delicious food you can think of, there is always a full moon shining on your bedroom, and you don’t need to worry about anything. Outside, they still exude power, but they’re not invincible. At least, Lettie isn’t, even though the seven-year-old narrator would have trusted her to bring him safely out of hell. Which she does essentially, but at what cost…
 I loved the epilogue. I did wish we could have had another encounter with Lettie. I want to know if she’s really OK. I wanted to see her. But it’s probably more perfect this way. Melancholic like the beginning, but a little bit more hopeful. I agree with Ana that it felt like home, like knowing to be in safe, known territory. This is what I love and I can’t get enough of it. It also felt a lot like reading another author I love and whom I should read more, Charles de Lint. He’s also fond of powerful women with strange powers, or scary beings and wonderful otherworldly atmospheres.
Now that it’s over, I wish this isn’t the end for the Hempstock family. I need more of them. I want to read a whole series about them. And read their adventures on comic books and any other form. And why isn’t there more fanart out there?
 To conclude, I’d like to point you out to this post about the female representation in the book. It’s really quite good.

The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova

I’m quite surprised at myself for being able to finish this whopper of a book (704 pages in tiny, tiny – and sometimes even tinier – print). Only until a couple of months ago I could hardly finish ANY book, let alone a mighty chunkster of these proportions. But then I got myself out of the slump by reading John Green (The Fault In Our Stars) and it all went smoothly thereon. The fact that I can’t look at a computer screen anymore without hurting my eyes for hours on end has helped my reading craving too (as well as  my ukulele-playing skills). And the fact that sometimes I can’t even read because my eyes hurt too much, makes me want to read even more. So yeah, even though it’s going to hurt, I really REALLY want to talk about this book. It’s such a perfect time for a book like this now. I look outside the window and it’s the mistiest weather I have even seen. It’s drizzly and eerie and mysterious and atmospheric exactly like how The Historian feels. On such a day, I’ve gone and read its last page. So, what is this book about? It’s about many things, but mostly it’s about Dracula. I didn’t even realise it was, when I started it. If I did, I might have put it aside, to be honest. The only way I like my vampires is when they’re slain by Buffy (or when she occasionally shags them). I wouldn’t want to read 700+ pages on them. I have never even read Dracula! So I started reading unaware of anything(I did have a vague notion that it was a horror/gothic story but nothing more than that) except that the beginning sounded promising. The first couple of pages were enough to draw me in. Then on chapter 2, the narrator’s father finds a Mysterious Book that doesn’t have anything written on except for the word DRAKULYA and the picture of a dragon in the middle and it’s old and smelly but he puts it away because he has more important things to do but the book doesn’t want to stay away and keeps reappearing MYSTERIOUSLY on his desk until he can’t ignore it no more. That’s what did it. I simply had to keep reading to find out what this book was and where it came from and why it wanted to be with our guy so bad. From then on it’s a roller-coaster of page-turning. But not in a fast-paced-thrilling-race-after-the-bad-guys kinda way. The book manages to take its time to build up tension and atmospheres but also – especially - characters and places. Its tone is quite gloomy and foreboding throughout, but there are many beautiful moments of tenderness and warmth and even happiness scattered around. I especially loved Paul and Helen’s developing relationship. I shipped them from the start, even though I didn’t need to work too hard on my shipping as it was quite obvious they were endgame. Still, I can’t resist my shipper heart, especially with two characters like them. Paul is gentle and kind caring and a great scholar to-be, but he’s also quite awkward around Helen, who is admittedly intimidating at first. But maybe that’s one of the reasons why I loved Helen the most, out of all the characters. She’s harsh and stern, but also extremely clever and resourceful, with a sharp sense of humour. In short, she’s irresistible. To me and to Paul, as well. Except, I had the persistent feeling that he was more in love with her father, Prof. Rossi, than with her. Or at least, equally as in love.Beside Helen, my other favourite characters are all secondary ones. I LOVED Mr and Mrs Bora. More as a couple than individually, still, they are both the absolute adorbz in their own right. Also, Mrs Bora made me salivate over all those magnificent dishes she kept serving. Now that I think of it, I salivated quite a lot over all the delicious things these people got to taste around the world. They might have been in danger of being turned into vampires any minute, but they sure kept themselves well fed. Another character who stole my heart and made it ache like nobody’s business is Helen’s mother. The tragedy of her story is almost unbearable. That she remained so kind and loving even after all that is a miracle and it makes me love her even more. Then there was Baba Yanka, with her mighty, ancestral singing voice. Such a striking character. I really enjoyed learning about those traditions and folklore but most of all, I loved meeting her and wished we had had more time with her. Except there was Dracula’s tomb to find, so there wasn’t much time to waste.

Of course, being called The Historian and all that, there was quite a lot of history talk. I learned a great deal about the Byzantines and the Ottoman Empire and its sultans, not to mention Wallachia, which I didn’t even know it was a place that existed, before. It certainly made me want to visit all those places, not to retrace their history as I’m no historian, but to experience even a little of all that beauty described in the story. Budapest, Bulgaria, Istanbul, the Romanian woods… they weren’t places I necessarily wanted to visit before, but now they have acquired a certain mythological resonance. I don’t believe I’ll be able to experience them the same as they are described in the book, but I’d be interested in going anyway, even if only to taste all that amazing food!

There are a few minor criticisms that don’t take away from my enjoyment of it, but do need to be mentioned briefly. One is the suspension of belief I had to force on me anytime I read Paul’s narrative, which supposedly was written as a letter to his daughter. Those letters were way too detailed and way too personal to feel authentic. Especially as they were recounting facts happened so many years before, and that he mentioned at the beginning how he was in an awful hurry. I am grateful that they were told this way, as I experienced them as a narrative and not real letters, but because of that I had to forget that they were supposed to be letters. Another small thing is how Helen refers to herself as “Helen” as opposed to “Elena” which is how she’d been called all her life, prior to going to America. Especially later, when she’s talking to her father, or to anyone else for that matter. One does not change name so easily just to suit an American audience. And lastly, and a little sadly, I never managed to grow fond of the first narrator, Paul’s daughter. It started out promisingly, I was ready to invest on her, but then as the story drifts away from her and focuses on past events, I found myself resenting the bits about her, as the past was a lot of more intriguing and I was impatient to go back to it. I was glad we got to spend more time with her parents, but at the same time, we lost the opportunity to care for another character, who initially promised to be worthy of being cared for.

Even though I mentioned earlier that it's a book mostly about Dracula, i've hardly mentioned him. That's because, even though the vampire story is the drive that brings the story forward and it was fascinating and morbid just enough to keep you interested, what made me love the book were the other "many things" the book is about. The love for knowledge, and the curiosity that fuels this love. The strong bond between the characters, may it be romantic feelings or deep, pure friendship or simple motherly love. They are so enduring and absolute, possibly to counteract all the hatred and cynicism and cruelty emanating from Dracula.  

So what I'm saying is, don't worry if you're not into vampires. And don't worry if you are into vampires. There's something for everyone. Now go read it.

The Whisper Jar - Carole Lanham

Spooky Halloween everyone!

Tonight is not just the time for witches and monsters to come out of their hiding holes and haunt us. It’s also the day The Whisper Jar is released. It’s no coincidence, as the whisper jar is the keeper of horrible, unmentionable secrets that should never be told. And yet, here they are, for everyone to read, all wrapped up in one deliciously creepy collection, beautifully crafted by author Carole Lanham. Read if you dare.

And you should dare, because they’re all great.

If you’re looking to extend the Halloween feel to the cold and windy nights of November, you should look no further and give this book a try. It’s the perfect choice. Here you’ll read tales of vampires, zombies, torture chambers, werewolves and mad creatures in the attic. They are tales of bitter jealousies and unhealthy desires, of sexual awakenings and dangerous games. Some of them deal with the supernatural, some others are simply human, but not less freaky because of that.

You’ll learn about the wonderful power of the jilly jally butter mints, and the terrible fate that has fallen upon those who dared to mess with them unsupervised. You’ll get acquainted with a flower fairy and how she came to be the bearer of a secret too painful for her to handle. There are all sorts, but ultimately they all share something: the power to make you want to read more, even if you know it’s not going to be pretty.

My personal favourite is the one called "The Blue Word". It’s a different setting than most of the other stories’ in the collection, which seem to have an early 1900s feel. "The Blue Word" is one of the exceptions. It’s set in a post-apocalyptic/dystopian world, during an unspecified future, where a virus has transformed half the population in flesh-eating zombies. The story is confined within the walls of the Salvation House, a school run by nuns, who are keeping their students from the dangers of the outside world. But of course nothing is what it seems in Carole Lanham’s world, and when the secret is revealed, it’s both chilling and heartbreaking. It would have been a fantastic idea for a novel, but I also see the appeal of keeping it short, it certainly heightens the final revelation’s effect.

I honestly can’t think of a better book to read this Halloween. OK, I haven’t read any other horror fiction books this time, but it doesn’t matter, ‘cause this was more than enough. It’s eerie, surprising, beautifully written, with dark humour and a strange, playful, inventive language. It was also very sensual, which is unusual seeing that it involves children and teenagers. So, yeah, it is about children, but it isn’t for children. I wouldn’t give it to them anyway, but I can imagine curious kids stealing it from their parents’ nightstand and reading it sneakily under their beds…and then scare the crap out of them for days to come.

One more thing. It seems like most of the stories have an underlining Christian theme. Nuns and priests are abounding, but definitely not in a comforting way. This brings me back to a line from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which is useful for the Whisper Jar too. “Note to self. Religion: creepy”.

This review is part of a blog tour.

To read what everyone else is saying about The Whisper Jar follow these links:

Kinder Trauma - Oct 28

http://www.kindertrauma.com/?p=25069

The Deepening World of Books - Oct 29

http://www.thedeepening.com/world-of-books/2011/10/29/the-whisper-jar-by-carole-lanham/

Author Cate Gardner - Oct 30

http://www.categardner.net/

Words words Words - Nov 2

http://ericanaone.com/

Storytellers Unplugged Nov 2

http://storytellersunplugged.com/

Littlebird Blue -Twitter Interview with Author Camille Alexa - Nov 3

http://littlebird-blue.blogspot.com/

To know more about the author visit her websites at the horror maker and carolelanham