This book was surprisingly good. Not that I didn’t expect a
Gaiman book to be good, but almost every book that I’ve read about childhood
never really “got” my childhood, and this one happened to come close in a kind
of strange way.
It’s just the way that memory and the supernatural play into
the story. Characters often have trouble remembering things or how when you’re
a child you’re so convinced that the supernatural is everywhere, but later on
find out that it’s something else. Or even how as a child you just accept
everything that happens without questioning it all.
Books also play a vital role, and I was always that kid with
a book not wanting to talk to anyone so that I could relate to.
One detail that I could probably relate to more than others
is how I also moved away from my childhood home, and it really makes a
difference (I would imagine) looking back on that time. It seems more distant
and unfamiliar rather than if you stayed and saw yourself changing instead of
the area around you. It’s also a device for the author to show how the
characters are growing up, but it stays true to real life.
You also never get to know the narrator’s name, which is a
nice touch of ambiguity, it let’s you put yourself in his position easily.
It’s a short book, but very powerful.
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