Book Review: The Pond at the End of the Lane

Title: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Author: Neil Gaiman

Everything Gaiman writes becomes a fable of truth and wonder. He is a master of storytelling. His prose is simple and elegant like a fancy silk to skin. This is once again demonstrated in his novel The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

The story follows a man as he remembers his childhood experience in his old residence and neighborhood. That includes a farmhouse at the end of the lane where he met a girl named Lettie Hempstock. She is the one who showed him the duck pond that she called an ocean. She insisted it was an ocean, not a pond. Not even a sea.

Extraordinary things started to happen. He remembers waking up from a nightmare, choking and tasting something metallic in his throat. His little seven-year old fingers tried to reach out farthest into his mouth and managed to pull out a coin. A coin from his throat. Then he later found out from an eleven-year old Lettie that other people were also experiencing “money issues”. Not necessarily choked by a penny but all started in dreams until manifested in reality. Lettie, her mother and grandmother seemed so knowledgeable about this phenomenon. What are they hiding?

That’s the start of their adventure. Lettie took him to a place, not ours, where the thing was; a creature that caused people the nightmares and fortune. They left the orange-sky place feeling hopeful. They thought they defeated the creature. It disguised as a beautiful lady and called herself Ursula. She became their new housekeeper. His parents were fooled. No one would believe him. He tried to sneak out and warn Lettie but to no avail. Ursula was always on his way.

Lettie and her mother and grandmother were always there to reassure the kid’s safety. They might be able to silence the flea in Ursula’s persona once and for all, as they succeeded in cutting off its tie with the boy. They just needed to banish her/it from their house.

Things got creepier after Lettie allowed the vultures of the void to finish Ursula (real name: Skarthach of the Keep) off. They wanted to clean everything up including the vessel Skarthach used to enter the world or mankind. And that’s the boy…

🍌🍌🍌🍌 bananas. Though it’s perfectly written, the unfamiliarity of storyline and its progression make it occasionally tiring to leaf through. You might see little experience that resonates with yours, in that case, some readers might rate it lower that 4. And some might rate it higher due to its intricacy and originality.

One certainty that’s always evident in the author’s works is how brilliant and satisfying he wraps up stories. Before finishing the last page, you’d feel privileged you got to read the book.