I know what he's capable of. I've read the Sandman series.

I've read Neverwhere and Stardust and American Gods and Smoke and Mirrors, too. Neverwhere is unbelievably brilliant and creative. Stardust is cute, and clever, but not extraordinary. American Gods is clever, but undeveloped in its execution.

I also have Gaiman's other works with illustrator Dave McKean -- The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch: A Romance...the Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish...Dustcovers: The Selected Sandman Covers and others.

So I'm no stranger to Neil Gaiman.

Neither am I devoid of ability to recognize talent, creativity and passion.

That said, I must admit Coraline left me cold. Not much went on in the book. The characters were flat. And it seemed very dark for supposedly being a children's book.

Frankly, the same problem that plagued American Gods seems to run rampant through Coraline: a good idea left undeveloped.

Coraline starts out promisingly enough. A big old house. A curious little girl. A bunch of odd neighbors. And a locked door with a brick wall on the other side. Great premise. Lots of things could happen in such a setting.

Things do happen, but too quickly without any character development. The stories goes from zero to 60 in a couple of pages and then wraps up -- before any explanation is giving as to why this other world existed, who or what those "other parents" are, who the strange neighbors are, and why the little girls seems wise beyond her years, able to face terror with hardly a blink of her eye.

I think Neil Gaiman needs a hard-nosed editor, one who'll tell him, "Great idea, Neil. But it needs to be developed more." Or, "Good draft. Could be published as-is. But I think it needs a bit more fleshing out in these areas..."

I said it in my review of American Gods, and I'll say it in my review of Coraline: Neil Gaiman is extremely talented and creative, but his best work is still ahead of him.

I can't recommend Coraline.


deliciously creepy   July 3, 2002
 66 out of 69 found this review helpful

Neil Gaiman is a master storyteller. His diction is perfect. He does not waste words, but is not miserly with them either. His descriptions never fail to rouse a knowing nod and smile from the reader. Even when writing a quick throwaway piece in his journal...his style is impeccable.

For this novel, Neil sets his eyes on another audience: young adults. He gives children (or, as he has said, 'strange little girls of all ages and genders' - a nod to his friend Tori Amos and her 2001 "Strange Little Girls" album) a deliciously creepy novel about a girl, a new flat, and her other mother.

Coraline (not Caroline, even though all of the adults who live in the other flats keep on saying it that way and ignoring her corrections) and her parents move into a new home. One day, she pesters her father one too many times, so he sends her off on an expedition: find the water heater, count everything blue, count all the doors and windows. She does so, and is shocked to find that there are 13 doors that open and one that doesn't. She asks her mother what is behind the 14th door, and is told that it was bricked over when the house was broken up into flats. Her mother unlocks the door to show her this, but doesn't lock it again.

Later, Coraline creeps back, and finds that the door opens into another flat. It is just like her own, but not quite. In her room (green and pink, not boring like her own), she finds the sorts of clothing that she thinks she would have if she could pick out her own wardrobe -- not a grey school skirt, but costumes. In the kitchen, she finds her other parents -- not her real parents who work and don't play with her, but other parents who cook real food (not something from a "recipe" involving tarragon and butter beans) and dote upon her. Coraline knows that this is not right, and returns to her own flat.

Thus begins Coraline's adventure. The other mother steals Coraline's parents. Coraline returns to the other flat to get them back. Along the way, she makes friends with the most sarcastic of cats and finds the ghosts of other children who were stolen away by the other mother.

Gaiman's mastery of timing has never been shown so well than in this novel. Just when things are getting really scary, he breaks in with a droll and dry line that makes the reader laugh. This is a novel that is just begging to be read aloud -- as Neil Gaiman himself did on 02 July 2002 in Berkeley, California. His audience, around 500 people, hung on his every word. The adults in the audience were just as delighted as the children to have someone read such a delicious story to them. If you dislike reading aloud, you can always buy the audio CD (complete, unabridged) version of this story.


An Indomitable Young Lady   August 21, 2002
 64 out of 66 found this review helpful

Neil Gaiman has shown as admirable knack for fiction for young adults and children as he has shown in adult fiction. I am tempted to attribute this to his experience writing graphic stories, but it is really something more than that. It is an ability to touch the sources of wonder and fear without the necessity of excessive gore and grimness. Not that bad things don't happen in Gaiman's tales, but they tend to go right to the heart, instead of the stomach.

This tale is about a remarkable young woman named Coraline (who remains polite, even when you call her Caroline). Recently she and her parents have moved into one of those wondrous old houses that are sometimes converted into flats. Both Coraline's parents work at home, and sometimes she feels a bit ignored and bored. Nevertheless, she is encouraged to explore and so she does. First her neighbors. The Misses Spink and Forcible are two retired thespians who live together in the bottom flat, and up above is Mr. Bobo, who is an avid trainer of mice. Having run out of people, Coraline investigates the premises. Her flat is most unusual; it has 21 windows and 14 doors. Only one door is locked, and that only leads to a brick wall.

Well, most of the time it does. On some occasions, it opens up on a world just like this one, where Coraline finds her other mother, other father, and even other neighbors. At first it seems quite nice, people pay more attention to one there, the toys are better, and, of all things, the cat talks. Soon Coraline finds all is not quite as it seems. Everyone has buttons for eyes, her other mother has strange hands that seem to have a life of their own, and there are a remarkable number of rats. In fact, if you dig deep enough, things are really most horrible. Coraline has much to do to make things come around right.

With young people's fiction, adults are often driven to worry about what the stories teach and if they will have ill effects on their child. Coraline's plight, being stranded away from her parents amidst a world full of thinly veiled threats may be uncomfortable for a sensitive child. Yet things work out well in the end, and Coraline is an excellent role model, who understands what courage truly is and is in touch with what is really important to her. Equally, this is a work of art and it is never too early to encourage children to develop a sense of what good writing really is.

Fortunately, this really is a book that an adult can enjoy as well. And I can't help but think that it might stimulate some interesting family discussions. I would recommend it to anyone who believes that children can benefit from new and unusual reading experiences. I also should mention the delightful illustrations from the pen of Dave McKean, a long time designer and illustrator for Neil Gaiman's graphic work.


Delightful and Engaging!   June 18, 2002
 24 out of 24 found this review helpful

I received the audio CD of Coraline in the mail yesterday in the early afternoon. I'd read the book, and heard parts of it read by the author here and there, so I put it on for background, while I did other things. The "other things" didn't even get started for roughly three hours.

The recording begins with a verse from a quirky Gothic Archies tune in which Stephin Merritt sing-songs, "You are not my mother, and I want to go home," over layers of atmospheric dings and bonga-bongas. The song echoes the story's cohesion of humor and spookiness, and is split into three parts, playing a bit before each of the three CDs.

The story itself is a delight. Coraline is a typical child-explorer, examining the house and grounds to which she recently moved, uncovering the strange personalities that inhabit her world, and discovering that a door in her home which was previously bricked-up actually leads to a misty echo-world where old, hungry, button-eyed creatures masquerade as her other parents, having parent-napped her real parents, while trying to convince her to stay there forever so that they can keep her soul . . . Well. Perhaps her story is not so typical. Not typical, also, are the fantastic characters who pop in and out of the story, such as the Slavic mustached man who lives in the upper flat and is training a mouse circus, and his other-self, or the pair of dotty, but kind, retired theater mavens who read tea leaves and worry about their dogs' tummies, and their less-benevolent, other-world counterparts. Like any true exploration story, Coraline has an assistant for the more dangerous times, in the form of a condescending, snarkily witty black cat. And like every true exploration story, there are acts of great courage and startling discoveries made along the way.

Neil Gaiman is an engaging and expressive reader, as well as writer. He infuses the characters with a spark all their own, changing cadences and even accents, always to the benefit of the story. The pacing is smooth and quick, with minute dips and well-placed pauses that give the shivers a chance to manifest before the story is once again plunging on to the good stuff.

Coraline is a story that begs -- no, demands -- to be read aloud. Usually the problem is that someone has to be the reader, while the listeners get to experience the full effect and thrill of the story. Let the author be the reader, and indulge yourself in the sheer delight of hearing a wonderful story told well.


A Book of Nightmare   August 19, 2002
 18 out of 23 found this review helpful

This book starts off very interesting from the very first page, but I kind of wish I didnt read all the other pages! There are things from it I dont want to have in my head. I read it in the day but at night I kept remembering things from it I didnt want to, like how the rat gets blood on its fur but how the Other Mother has something like black tar insted of blood coming out of her. And the hand that scratches around the floor by itself. Its not like Lemony Snicket, where maybe something is scary and then you have a lot of something funny or cozy. Its a lot of scary darkness. Maybe this one is more for teenagers. I wish I didnt feel that way but remembering this book gives me nerves.