Title: The Graveyard Book

Author: Neil Gaiman

First Published: 2008

First Sentence: There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife.

This is the second time I’ve read The Graveyard Book, the first being in 2015, and my love for it has only multiplied. You see, reading this book makes me feel very, very nostalgic. Especially upon reaching the final chapter.

There’s something about following Bod’s journey from an inquisitive boy to an actual teenager that makes it hard to let go…

The Graveyard Book follows Nobody ‘Bod’ Owens, who was taken in by a dead couple after barely escaping the cold hands of his family’s murderer. Bod is given the Freedom of the Graveyard, and much like The Jungle Book, this is the story of how a boy is raised by unlike folks -the dead.

Each chapter can somewhat be a short story in its own right, following Bod’s adventures with ghouls, befriending a witch, meeting a living person for the first time, even going to school.

This graveyard is his home and the dead protect him, teach him, nurture him. Bod can vanish into thin air, slip through the gates, enter graves, see in the dark and do things that no living boy should be able to

This book explores the tricky border between the dead and the living; what it truly means to be alive.

“You’re alive, Bod. That means you have infinite potential. You can do anything, make anything, dream anything. If you can change the world, the world will change. Potential. Once you’re dead, it’s gone. Over. You’ve made what you’ve made, dreamed your dream, written your name. You may be buried here, you may even walk. But that potential is finished.”

I’ve grown to love all the characters and I hate that Gaiman reveals so little, while making me care so much, about them. Scarlett, Miss Lupescu, Liza Hempstock, Mr. and Mrs. Owens, even the Jacks… And Silas.

Oh, Silas, Bod’s guardian who’s neither alive nor dead, whom we know so little about, except that he really loves Bod. The following quote just says everything about Silas:

There were people you could hug, and then there was Silas.

Reading this book is seeing the process of growing up; of finding one’s self; of the fleeting comforts of childhood. It appeals to children and adults alike, and I believe that anyone can each get something out of it. Gaiman adopts a melancholic undertone which entertains children and makes older readers reflect.

“All the people [in the graveyard] have had their lives, Bod, even if they were short ones. Now it’s your turn. You need to live.”

The book drips with wise words and advice which is fairly appropriate for a children’s book.

“Face your life, its pain, its pleasure, leave no path untaken.”

From the simplistic writing style and the third-person narration, to the plot and the daring exploration, I appreciate it all. There are so many more wonderful things that I can say about this book, but still I won’t do it justice. You have to read it yourself to truly experience this magical world of what-ifs and hypothetical situations that Gaiman has so masterfully crafted.

I enclose with my favorite line from the book, as told by Nehemiah Trot, the poet, himself:

“If you dare nothing, then when the day is over, nothing is all you will have gained.”