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Coraline
While Neil Gaiman's Sandman comics are, needless to say, works of genius, I've never particularly rated him as a novelist. I thought Stardust was a bit dull and obvious, and American Gods not only borrowed too heavily from its source material but covered ground he'd already dealt with in Sandman, where it was used much more effectively.
But Coraline is a certified masterpiece. I shouldn't have picked it up so late in the evening/early in the morning, because it was a 2 am couldn't-put-it-downer. Usually when you say that you mean it was pretty interesting, but entire herds of Kaimanawa horses couldn't have wrenched it out of my hands. It was utterly terrifying, too, and again not in a "gosh, that's a scary concept" way, but in a have-to-read-something-bland-afterwards-to-have-any-chance-of-getting-to-sleep way.
I hope it gets the classic status it deserves.
There've been some amazing books coming out aimed at younger audiences. Philip Pullman's Northern Lights Trilogy is another stunning literary classic that's sneaked in amongst the proper grown-up books and knocked 'em all for six. Despite this, children's authors get the same sneery treatment that's generally reserved for SF. Can't have anybody using their imagination, now can we?
But Coraline is a certified masterpiece. I shouldn't have picked it up so late in the evening/early in the morning, because it was a 2 am couldn't-put-it-downer. Usually when you say that you mean it was pretty interesting, but entire herds of Kaimanawa horses couldn't have wrenched it out of my hands. It was utterly terrifying, too, and again not in a "gosh, that's a scary concept" way, but in a have-to-read-something-bland-afterwards-to-have-any-chance-of-getting-to-sleep way.
I hope it gets the classic status it deserves.
There've been some amazing books coming out aimed at younger audiences. Philip Pullman's Northern Lights Trilogy is another stunning literary classic that's sneaked in amongst the proper grown-up books and knocked 'em all for six. Despite this, children's authors get the same sneery treatment that's generally reserved for SF. Can't have anybody using their imagination, now can we?
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