Neil Gaiman: Come Away oh Human Child, to the Waters and the Wild

Yes, Neil Gaiman makes me think of Yeats.  Specifically of those poems that Yeats crafted, filled with the soul of all that is mythic in Eire. Gaiman is a consummate myth-creator and an interpeter and tracker of the journey of the human soul, from origin to origin to origin and back again across the Veil.  Neil is the Travelling Storyteller.  Some days, I wonder if he is Taliesin Ben Beirdd, Chief of Bards, reincarnated.  He is, there is no doubt, of the Bardic Blood; a Druid in blue jeans.  You have only to read his wonderful piece of poetry The Instructions, to understand that Gaiman is the Guide to those of us on the Fool's Journey. Or better yet, listen to him provide those instructions here.  He knows the rules for surviving in the worlds of the elder gods.  

He navigates this world, and all the worlds in between, and he opens the doors for those of us who may not know, or who may have forgotten, how to cross-over, how to walk the in-between.  Gaiman is a virtuoso of the darkness that lurks beneath the fingernails of our civilized selves.  He gives voice to the shadow of the wolf on the wall behind us, as she throws her head back and howls to the moon when the chain-makers and cage-crafters threaten her path of freedom.
  
I could give you reviews of American Gods, or of Stardust, or of Coraline.  But others, much more versed in such things, have given reviews much better than I could write because, in all honesty, it's been a while since I have read them.  I have read everything he has written, with the exception of the Sandman graphic novels.  They are on my list of graphic novels, at the top of that list, to be clear.  I am just trying to clear the backlog on ye olde TBR pile before giving myself over to the visual delights of graphic novels.  

So instead, I'll give you the review I just wrote of the Neil himself's last book The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

I don't often write reveiws, but Neil Gaiman asked folks if they had read the book to review it; to boost the signal if they liked it.  And so, because this may be the book I have loved the most on reading it for the first time and the third time; a fall straight into love with it, a plummet straight over the edge of "I love this book so much I am buying it in hardcover" love, I am boosting the signal. 

I'm not sure that the Neil needs a signal boost, but the man did ask.  And he is a lovely man who loves libraries and who spins a yarn that will transport to you to all the best of the dark places of childhood. He writes a lovely tale of terror and redemption, of memory and forgetting, of truth and wonder, of belief and knowing, of adults and children, of living and death, of the old ones and the proper respect that must be paid. All these things. And many other things but those are the ones that remain with me lo these many weeks after reading.

If you want a better more literary review you could check out author A.S. Byatt's review in The Guardian here.

Or you could google Pat Rothfuss and the title Ocean at the End of the Lane - though I have to warn you - his review is also a song of praise and love ;) :p [Also, if you are too lazy to google, I did embed the link to Pat's review in the previous post on Pat's books]

For those of you who have children who like to read about the things that go bump in the night and how even when we are little, with the right help, at the right time, in the right way, we can come through the other side of the night, a little wiser, a little older, a little stronger - buy them this book. If this is true for you, even though mayhap you are not so young any more, this book is still for you :)

One other thing to note of interest about Neil.  He was recently involved in a creative project on the launch of Blackberry10 called the Keep Moving Project.  Here's the spiel from Neil's project page:

Neil Gaiman asked fans around the world to help him tell a new kind of story. A few weeks, thousands of Tweets, twelve stories and a galaxy of art later, A Calendar of Tales was born. 

It’s now ready for the world to see, in a beautiful digital book. Have a look, see who contributed, or watch Neil’s videos to find out more about the making of A Calendar of Tales. 

A huge thank you is due to everyone who took part in this project. Your energy and imagination inspired Neil, and now, can inspire the world.

You can check out Neil's website here.