The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman is about a boy named Bod, short for Nobody Owens, who's life occurs within a graveyard amongst ghosts who have vowed to take care and nuture of him. You see, Bod witnessed the murder of his family by the mysterious, and quite frankly freaky man known as Jack, Bod was a mere toddler when this occurred. Jack is still in pursuit of Bod, and the only way that he will remain safe is if he stays in the graveyard. What will happen?

This strengths of this book are quite apparent and vary a great deal. The tone in which the book is enveloped has created an environment that allows not only a graveyard to flourish in regard to its generally negative or dark perception, but allows death and evil to come to light. Each chapter within the book is a short story and a piece of Bod's life in the graveyard, contributing to the sense that the book is not merely a fraction, but instead a rather hefty chunk of it. And the book is a collective unit of adventure and scare, rather than a single journey, with correlation between every detail.

There are a few minute flaws within this literature that do not stick out like a sore thumb but do impact the book. The "danger" that Bod is in is vague to a point of question but minimal understanding. It lingers within the story throughout and is only recalled upon during certain points, this "danger" also ties in with the murder of his family. Another thing are the adventures that Bod encounters, at points they can be confusing and also leave you asking what do these contribute to the grand scheme of things, of course, this is only at points.

The type of person who would take a liking to this book is just about anyone. The suspense that builds up throughout the book stretches your capacity to handle it; you have to be willing to keep some things in the back of your mind. The relation between Bod and the reader is easily obtained. The book can be looked upon and viewed in many different ways, making it great for almost anyone.