Week 08: Contemporary Urban Fatasy - The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

      The Graveyard Book is not your usual young adult book which features edgy characters and talks about some sort of teenage rebellion. The story actually feels like a more complicated children’s book. What I mean by this is how the Graveyard Book feels like a series of short stories that teaches you different perspectives and idea just like a children’s book. I feel like Gaiman really wanted us to get back into the mindset of a child and see the world through that lens. By doing so the reader is able to see how the different experiences that happen in each chapter shape our young protagonist and how certain things we mortals care about mean nothing in the end of the day. Reading this book felt like I was a child again as I was being raised by the Graveyard with Bod.

Bod I believe is one of the reasons this book was such a delight to read as well as a learning lesson. Most of the times in books I feel like the protagonist is just there to be used by the reader but is not seen as a very dynamic character that one would start a fan account for. There are only a few novels that I can name where the protagonist is so memorable that when I read it, it did not feel like the protagonist entire purpose is to let the reader feel like they are the main character. Some successful writings that have done this is the Harry Potter series and the Hobbit. But now I can proudly add the Graveyard Book into this list since Nobody or better known as Bod is a character that has been on mind ever since I have started reading. The reason is that Bod is a child that is being raised in unconventional ways but is still. Very much a child like any other in the town. The only difference is that Bod has the knowledge of not only his adoptive ghost parents but of an entire graveyard who are from different eras and let’s not forget Silas who is his guide throughout his childhood. Bod is a boy who does not view death as something scary or to be afraid of but just a continuation. Since he is so used to the paranormal he can see the other creatures and beings in the graveyard as people rather than monster of some sort. By reading through Bod’s eye we are reaching a new understanding on different teaching method and difference that we see from character to character. For example, the way Bod is taught by Silas and the other people he is used to in the graveyard is different from the way Miss Lupescu teaches him. The big message I feel like we learn as a reader being taught with Bod is that “different” does not mean it’s wrong and there is more to death than the end of life. 

In the end I have to say how much I enjoy this book and how I have gained a new perspective about the afterlife and the difference between other people after having the journey of being raised with Bod by the graveyard. The book fulfilled its purpose to rewire my brain to revisit these topics with a new perspective or a clean slate just like one of a child. I could talk about this book all day and re-read it and I would still find ways that it has warped by brain. I really had a fun time reading and it may be my favorites this semester.