The Graveyard Book

Personal Response

The Graveyard Book definitely met the expectations that I had for a fantasy book. Gaiman created an alternate world, which paralleled the world we consider traditional. Initially, I found the book difficult to visualize and it took the first few chapters for me to be comfortable with the setting of the novel.

I was extremely disturbed by the introduction of this book. It immediately exposed its dark content. I felt that it was so matter of fact that “this man called Jack” had killed a family. I initially wanted to understand the nature of this violent crime that was not portrayed as violent. I also struggled with the fact that Bod had escaped by shear luck and ended up making his way to the graveyard.

As the book continued, I realized that Bod had lost his life. He wasn’t murdered with his family, but it was unfair that he couldn’t live life. When he attends school, it becomes so apparent that he has never been exposed to anything in the world. At the end of the book, when he was set free with the world at his fingertips, I couldn’t help but wonder how he would manage with such a lack of knowledge.

Additionally, I found myself wondering why Bod was not able to be in the graveyard with his parents. At one point in the story he visited another graveyard and had a conversation with a family. I was sure that they were going to be his parents. Considering he was able to see the dead, I was frustrated that he couldn’t have spent his childhood with his parents.

There were so many elaborate things happening in the book that at the end I felt that I couldn’t remember all the details. I think it is because they were all foreign to me and I struggled to comprehend the details. For example, Bod’s initial journeys with Scarlett into the grave with the Sleer or his trip through the ghoul gates to the city of Ghulheim were both difficult to visualize.

As the book progressed, I really enjoyed seeing how all the different pieces came together. The return of Scarlett and the introduction of Mr. Frost, who I was positive would be Jack Frost (the man called Jack). I had questioned the title of the chapter called “Every Man Jack,” and I thought it was perfect that the whole society consisted of several Jacks. It was a creative play on words.

Critical Response

The detail the Gaiman provides is definitely a strength in this book. He gives incredible explanations of the dark world of the graveyard providing the ability to visualize it clearly. For example, towards the end when Bod it trying to eliminate the Jacks, the narrator states that, “Bod was aware of the dead clustered around them, watching the scene…” Additionally, when Bod and Silas left the graveyard together to have pizza, the following is described:

“The surface of the tabletop was almost mirrored, and, had anyone cared to look, they might have observed that the tall man had no reflection.”

Gaiman needed these details to allow his readers to fully understand the differences he created between his fantasy and our reality.

Using third person narration was very effective in this book. It allowed the reader to understand what was happening in every characters life. This worked well to connect Bod’s life, with Scarlett and Mr. Frost, as well as Silo simultaneously on his mission to destroy the Jack-Of-All-Trades towards the end of the book.

Gaiman’s play on words is effective as well. When the character Mr. Frost is introduced, it is obvious that he will be Jack Frost. Additionally, the organization be called “Jack of all Trades” as well as other examples, provides a light side to an otherwise dark story.

This book followed many of the stereotypical criteria of a fantasy novel. For example, the gates to the graveyard provide the gate into the fantasy world. Additionally, the main themes that surrounded this book were the concepts of good and evil and the living and the dead. Bod was given the ability to walk between the living and the dead. Furthermore, he was in a quest to defeat the evil that lurked outside the graveyard.

I felt that this was a good book and it represented what I would consider fantasy. Even though I will need to reread this book in order to appreciate it fully, I feel that it was award winning due to the incredible details that were used to create the balance between the living and the dead in the graveyard.