レビュー要約

• 死者に囲まれた舞台の不気味さと、少年の成長を見守る温かさの均衡が評価されています。児童文学として読める一方、大人にも届く余韻を持つ作品です。

レビュー

• 大学の教材としての購入

  我が子の学校指定として購入しました。 授業のペースで読みを進めており、内容は少し難しい様です。

• Good read!

  Neil Gaiman is an excellent story teller!

• 読みやすい

  あまり難しくない英語なので、気負わず多読に使えると思いました。

• Great

  Terrific read, highly recommended. A hard to put down book. Neil Gaiman works his literary magic once more to great results.

• 最後はちょっとうるうるって感じでした。

  とても良かったです。最初にＣＤを買って、kindleがなかなか発売されないので、本を買ったけど、 またようやく来たkindleでダウンロードして・・ わかりやすい英語で、どんどん引き込まれました。 こんなことがあるなら、死んでみるのも悪くないです。（笑） 一生懸命育ててくれた 墓場の幽霊たちとの別れ、特にお母さんと別れて出ていくところで、 ちょっと、涙が・・・・続編が待たれます。

• 墓場を舞台にした少年の成長と自分探しのファンタジー

  墓場の近くにある家で夜中に一家がJackという男に惨殺されるが、よちよち歩きの男児だけが墓場に迷い込んで難を逃れる。墓場に住んでいる死者（The DeadであってGhostではない）のミセスOwenは幼児に惚れ込み自分が育てると言い張る。墓場の住人たちは彼女に折れて彼をNobody Owenと名付けて育てる。 Bod(Nobodyのニックネーム）は墓場の外の世界は危険だから一歩も出ないように 命じられるが、成長するにつれ外界、友達、冒険、教育を欲するようになる。死者の世界と生者の世界の中間でときおり孤独を感じるBodは墓場でScarletという少女と出会い友情を育む。けれども彼女の両親の引っ越しで別れ別れになる。約10年後に戻ってきたScarletと再会したことがきっかけで、Bodは自分の運命と両親の殺害の真相を知り、敵と対決することになる。 この世に属さない者や暗い地下の世界が通常の世界と隣り合わせに存在し、ホラーとユーモアが共存するところがGaimanの特長。Bodを守るSilasやBodが友情を強く求めるScarletなどの登場人物も彼らしく、少年の成長物語として楽しめ、ビタースイートなエンディングにも好感が持てる。 ニューベリー賞、ヒューゴ賞受賞作。2009年世界幻想文学大賞候補作

• 別れと希望は隣り合わせ

  とにかく、わくわくドキドキはらはらと面白くて、主人公Nobody（Bod）の行く末が気になって、あっという間に読んでしまいました。個人的には、これほど本に首を突っ込むほど没頭して読んだのは久しぶりでしたね。 殺し屋Jackに家族を殺された赤ちゃんが墓地に行き着いて、Nobody（Bod）と名づけられ死者たちに育てられるというのが、ユニーク。墓場だから、いろいろな年代に生きた死者がいて、彼に色々なことを教えてくれます。 グールに連れ去られて彼らの世界に引き込まれそうになったり、昔の宝物を守る謎の魔物と対峙したりなどなど、墓地でさまざまな冒険をして成長するうちに、自然な成り行きで外の世界すなわち、生きている人間の世界で自分も生きたくなってきます。幼馴染のScarletと再会したことがきっかけで、家族を殺した敵と対面して戦うことになりますが・・・。 伝説や想像上の魔物が出てきたり、現実と空想世界がない交ぜになっているところが、興味を引き立たせます。グロテスクな感じがあったり、どこかユーモアが感じられる所があったりなども、独特の世界観を醸し出していますね。そして、Bodの成長と死者たちとの交流にも、わくわくさせられたり、ほろりとさせられます。 これは極めてユニークな設定のお話ながら、誰にも共通する成長物語ととることができますね。子供の頃は自分を取り囲む狭い世界にいて、空想と現実の中で遊んでいるようにして成長していきますが、いつの間にか、それから脱して外の世界を見たいと思うのです。そして、人は色々過去から学びながら失敗しながら、別れと出会いを繰り返しながら、成長していくんだなぁと、改めてしみじみ思いました。 最後の章の別れの部分は、胸が締め付けられそうでしたが、と同時にどこか希望が感じられて、すごくよかったです。別れは悲しいけれどそれは同時に新しい旅立ち、切なさと希望とを両方感じながら生きていくのが人間なのでしょう・・・とこう書くと、くさくなってしまいますね。つまり、そういうことを正面きって言われるとどこか反発したくなるところを、作者の独特の世界観を通して感じさせているようで、好感がもてました。

• 墓場の少年

  というタイトルで翻訳されています。 ニューベリー賞・カーネギー賞ダブル受賞作品です。 結構難しい語彙を多く使っています。臨場感を出すために、文の流れをぶったぎらないように、 代名詞や挿入句を使った独特の言い回しで、つなげていくことが多い文体です。 一般の方の英語の勉強としては、やや難度が高いかもしれません。 何年も日常的に英語本や雑誌を読んでいる人には、児童書ですのでオースティンなどの純文学の本を読むよりはいくらか楽な程度でしょう。 なお、ダブル受賞している作品ですが、世界観的に日本人が読んで面白いかどうかは微妙です。 私は勉強のためにがんばって読みましたが、多読などで読む方には特におすすめはしません。 ヨーロピアンな世界観、わりと英語が難しい、しかし内容は児童書で主人公が赤ん坊、大人がすっとはいっていけるかどうかってところです。 余談ですが、私は紙本が好きですが、kindle版はimmersion reading にも対応しています。

• A Must Read!!

  The Graveyard Book is a deliciously dark tale about a little boy who grows up in a graveyard. Raised and accepted by the spooky residents, Bod, short for Nobody, is only truly safe within the confines of the graveyard on the hill, where the normal rules for the living hardly apply. This book made me ugly cry. Now, you may be wondering how a spooky book about a boy in a graveyard can accomplish such a feat, but it would be a great disservice to just tell you. You must read this book. For me, I think the part that hit closest to home was the little boy in the story and how he comes to terms with growing up. As a mom of four boys, thinking about them leaving the utter magic of childhood and then facing the realities of growing up always feels bittersweet. The Graveyard Book is bittersweet. Not only will you be entertained by Gaiman's storytelling, but you will also be charmed by the characters, intrigued by elements of the story that probably could be written as their own book entirely. For example, how did the Jacks of All Trades come to be, and who exactly are they? This, and the other questions that pop up, add depth and layers to the story which allow the reader to let go and fully embrace their own imagination. I really loved this book and I highly recommend you read it.

• Instantaneous Classic

  The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman Hey Hunters, So I started Neil Gaiman's Masterclass, wishing to improve my writing and to get a piece of mind from a professional. Now this post is a book review, so I will not be analyzing the class itself, but if you guys want me to, then leave a comment. Anyhow, in his class, he talks about his characters, how he designs them, how their needs and wants collide and how you build a character. Really what impressed me was the way he talks in his lectures, it is mesmerizing, and how he sees things when he writes about them. One of the books discussed in the lecture was The Graveyard Book. Previously I have only have read the Good Omens, and this was back when it came out and I was selected as an ARC reviewer. Since then I was overwhelmed by the number of books in existence and by staggering publishing amounts that grow yearly. Basically I knew Gaiman existed, but did not give much attention as to what was published by him. Warning minor spoilers! During his lecture, he pulls out his book, which obviously looks like a children's book, and I almost rolled my eyes at this. Then he started reading and explaining why did he write that, what he did there and so on. It was such an obvious thing on the "wants and needs" and one character getting something that they want, and how others don't. As a reader one simply glides over these things, they just seem more real when they are so well written, it feels organic, but as an author, one feels simply invigorated when all things click. When this realization comes. So I bought the book. The thing was blue, with a dust jacket. I carefully tucked the jacket away, keeping the fragile thing safe, and opened to a familiar first chapter that Gaiman analyzed in his lecture. The abundance of characters the world of the Graveyard is simply astounding, and one feels welcomed as one of the ghosts and allowed the reader to wander with little Bod and the rest. World: The setting of the book is The Graveyard. Gaiman takes us here and there on short trips to the world of humans, but Graveyard is our home. During each chapter, we read the names of people long gone, and I have a suspicion that Gaiman possibly used the real engraving from the gravestones to commemorate them in his book. Although a seemingly monotonous place, Graveyard is full of its surprises. All is always as it was at the graveyard, but one only needs to ask a question to find history and soul of this seeming teeming with life place. Characters: The man Jack The man Jack, or rather men Jack were the most startling and mysterious of the characters. They simply exist as a mystery and with an unknown purpose. We do know that they are villains, and one can draw parallel between them and maybe evil corporations, the spies, or whatnot. Still one never truly knows what they are. Dr Lupescu I loved this character. And beetroot is yummy! She is this stern lady, with a strong drive to help Bod. I liked her complexity through her small roles, they were important. One can never simply dismiss people in their life. Lupescu is one of those teachers that you ignored, but then one day realized that they have a life outside of your time and how they are actually using this small time to help you. The teacher that becomes a an alive human being not just a 45-minute mannequin. Nobody (Bod) Owens Although he is the main character, I placed him lower down the food chain, simply because other characters were much more fun for me than him. So Bod is an orphan who lives at the Graveyard of ours. We go through his life living there, the lessons he learns and mistakes that he makes. Possibly the most outstanding of his qualities was to do what was right when it was needed. His ability to learn through experience also resonated quite a bit with me. Silas One of the more mysterious characters, as we have all of him to ourselves, but never truly. He is there, but not fully. This is the best way I can describe the guardian of Bod. He is helpful, he protects, he provides, but always not fully there. Not dead, nor alive. The Ghouls Oh my goodness, THE GHOULS. I am a supernatural fan, so seeing the word ghouls gave me a little start! Of course, Gaiman described them as miniature people about the size of, I believe, a seven or eight-year-old. Things that do not remember, things that always hunger, they live in Ghoulheim, but they never create, they only scavenge. I really liked a chapter with them, as they were simply adorable! Plot: It is always difficult to find a plot and meaning in a very good book, there is always simply soo much to dig up. One can always find his meaning, but another person will simply find the one that fit them the most. I guess this is why literary critics exist. This book focused on everything: Growing Up Growing Old Dying Memory Friendship Good vs. Evil Being a hero Learning and life lessons This book was simply packed with themes and plots. And my list is in no way a complete one. If you were to read this book, I would want for you to find the lessons that simply were written for you and not look for mine. Final Thoughts: I wish that I would've read this book when I was younger, maybe 8 or 12. I see this book as I see The Hobbit, its a journey to adulthood. One must read this book when they are young to learn common themes and then once more as an adult to grasp the text in its entirety. It is a beautifully and thoughtfully written book, with so much backbone to it. In my house, it is an instant classic and if I ever have kids, it will be a must-read. Cheers, Regina Hunter

• Otra obra maestra de Neil Gaiman

  Una MARAVILLA. Excelente lectura para niños inteligentes, con un mensaje súper trascendente. Ideal para presentarle a los niños de entre 8 y 12 años el tema de la muerte de una forma nada morbosa. Tiene momentos oscuros y que asustan un poco, pero no excede en ese aspecto a algunos momentos de Harry Potter (por ejemplo). Es un libro que también pueden disfrutar los adultos de cualquier edad. Emotivo. Me imagino que es ideal para comentar en un club de lectura o en una clase.

• Wonderfully creepy

  Wonderfully creepy, mesmerizing melancholic, with prose to die for, this children’s book isn’t only for children, but for everyone with a child in its heart.

• Parfait

  Très bon bouquin de Neil Gaiman comme toujours

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