The Graveyard Book
By: Neil Gaiman / Narrated By: Full Cast
Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
A different kind of home. A different kind of family.
Cuz, see, Nobody “Bod” Owens is growing up with a graveyard as home and with ghosts as family raising him.
His own family was murdered when he was but a mite of a lad, and he was taken in by Owens and Mistress Owens to care for him as his dad and mom. They’ve been dead eons, but they always wanted a child of their own, and here comes Bod.
I have to admit that, tho’ I ADORE Neil Gaiman, I felt a bit detached from the story for quite some time. ‘Twould appear that it was inspired by The Jungle Book, and it has that sort of feel to it, with escapades and episodes but no real coherent plot or storyline to follow. I kept wondering when something was going to happen.
And that’s when I realized: Holy cow! Just listen: EVERYthing is happening. Because Bod gets into one scrape after another and good faces evil many a time over.
I loved each and every ghost, and I loved how Bod would stomp off, all childlike and seek The Victorians, children who all died early due to illness; their ghosts were his playmates. The story is dotted with clever allusions to history like that.
Also clever is the ghost of the persecuted witch, Elizabeth. It turns out her family will later turn up in The Ocean at the End of the Lane (My personal Gaiman favorite… thus far…!).
Certainly Neil Gaiman coulda (and earlier has) narrated this himself. I don’t have the version he narrates in my Library, so I can’t tell you how the two Graveyards size up against each other. But I can tell you that sometimes I find Full-Cast productions to be unnerving (Listen: the production of Emma already reviewed here on Audiobook Accomplice). The delivery of lines by several narrators can sometimes come at ya, all rapid fire like, and it can make for a confusing time, especially since there are no visual cues to follow in an audiobook.
That certainly wasn’t a problem here. I found it easy, and entertaining like crazy, to follow the many, MANY characters. Each individual is voiced by an ultra-competent actor who is also obviously having the time of their lives as they he or she narrates. Truly a top notch crew; a sublime reading.
While I can’t say this is my favorite Gaiman, I CAN say that I was tickled to death to be listening to this on the very same week we listened to Stardust for our audiobook club. Two Gaimans at virtually the same time?!?
Why, I do believe I’m in heaven…!
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