Jayson's Reviews > The Graveyard Book

(A-) 83% | Very Good
Notes: A murder-bungled, gothic jungle, weave of many threads, it's a cozy, perky, small-town quirky, life among the dead.

*Check out progress updates for detailed commentary: (view spoiler)[

Progress updates:

10/24/2024 - Preamble
(1) This is the last Neil Gaiman audiobook I have left to listen to.
- That's every one of his novels and novellas.
- I've not read his non-fiction and short story collections yet, though I do own all of them. So, I'll be reading those in prose first.
(2) I decided to go for the original audio version with Gaiman voicing narration over the full-cast production.
- I always prefer single narrators when possible.

10/26/2024 - Chapter One

(1) Quite lengthy string and mandolin music kick off each chapter.
- Reminds me of "Coraline," which featured songs composed for the audiobook.
(2)"'It is going to take more than just a couple of good-hearted souls to raise this child. It will,' said Silas, 'take a graveyard.'"
- I get the "it takes a village" allusion. Though graveyards seem more hamlet-sized to me.

11/04/2024 - Chapter Two

(1) "[Scarlett] was dressed in bright colors, yellow and pink and orange."
- Ironic how Scarlett never wears red.
(2) "Sebastian Reeder [d. 1583] had been to London Town and had seen the Queen, who had been a fat woman ... he did not think she had been queen for very long."
- This can only be Mary I. Elizabeth's reign was long and Jane Grey was only proclaimed Queen.

11/16/2024 - Chapter Three

(1) Miss Lupescu is marked as a werewolf from the moment she's introduced.
- "Lupus" being Latin for wolf and "-escu" being a Romanian surname suffix. I mean, once you get to "Romanian wolf," the implication is pretty obvious.
(2) Ghouls names are taken from the first corpse they eat.
- The ghoul the 33rd President of the United States apparently ate Harry S. Truman.

11/23/2024 - Chapter Four

(1) We're introduced to two graveyard characters, Mr. Pennyworth and Liza Hempstock.
- Pennyworth is likely after Batman's butler. Gaiman's a noted Batman fan.
- Hempstock women/witches feature in several Gaiman novels.
(2) Being buried in unconsecrated ground means you can leave the graveyard.
- Makes you wonder why sacred ground is preferable... afterlife, I guess.

11/28/2024 - Chapter Five and Interlude

(1) Silas: "You must be alive or you must be dead to dance [the Macabray]—and I am neither."
- Huh, I thought vampires counted as dead? I guess still being corporeal is some kind of alive.
(2) "Macabre" here is spelled "Macabray" when spoken and pronounced like "macca-bray."
- It's as if someone who didn't speak French sounded out the word and everyone followed suit.

12/02/2024 - Chapter Six

(1) "Bod thought, He's lying! and They're doing this on purpose, the friendly one and the tough one…"
- Ah, yes, the old "good cop bad cop" routine.
(2) It's interesting, but for Bod and Silas, there doesn't seem to be any established same-sex pairings/friendships.
- Bod and Scarlett, Bod and Liza, Silas and Miss Lupescu, Nick and Mo, Mr. and Ms. Owens.

12/06/2024 - Chapter Seven (1)

(1) One thing Gaiman does a lot, and with great skill, is imply things so clearly that they can remain unsaid yet you know exactly what they are.
- With Mr. J. Frost, his first name is obviously Jack, and therefore quite probably the murderer whose name we know is Jack.
- It's almost a running joke that Silas, "who had no problems with mirrors," is clearly a vampire.

12/07/2024 - Chapter Seven (2) and Eight

(1) "It was a jungle here, of fallen headstones and headless statues, of trees and holly bushes, of slippery piles of half-rotted fallen leaves, but it was a jungle that Bod had explored since he had been old enough to walk and to wander."
- I guess he had to throw in at least one jungle reference, given "The Graveyard Book" is directly inspired by "The Jungle Book." (hide spoiler)]