Coraline by Neil Gaiman

I am having my mid-semester exams right now. I picked this book expecting it to be a relaxing bed-time read. It turned out to be good, though I had to struggle hard to keep myself from opening it during study time.

It was my first experience with Neil Gaiman’s novels. It was great. I think to some people it might sound childish, but then I would love to be a child. So no worries there. Although I cannot imagine myself being a child like Coraline. I fell in love this cute, odd, intelligent, curious, strong-willed and daring character of Coraline in the very first chapter. And loved her even more as the story develops.

Coraline is a little girl living with her parents who have recently moved to a new house. She is spending her summer holidays, so she spends her time exploring. She has a deeply curious nature. She likes to go outside the house, meet new people and find new places. The most remarkable thing is that she is not at all nervous about going to new places or rather her curiosity is so strong that it easily overcomes her nerves. She likes to spend her time with new people she discovers and make friends with them. Coraline is so self-sufficient that she does not even brood over her parents’ indifference since they always remain busy in the story and tell her to go and play and not disturb them. I think I can go on and on about Coraline’s qualities.

Now her boredom and curiosity leads her to a door in there house that remains closed all the time, and there is a solid brick wall behind this door. But later she discovers that there is another world, a distorted version of her own, behind that door. She steps into this worlds and discovers her “other parents” (to be a part of the world, it was necessary to have black button eyes). There is a witch who lures children into that world she has created. To lure Coraline, she steals her parents. Its so fascinating how she manages to live alone in the house until she discovers who had taken them. She does not even get nervous about being alone in the house. Every word in this novel spells fantasy; every character and their actions.

When she discovers where her parents are, she takes it upon herself to bring them back. She does not even think twice before stepping into the dangerous world. She loves her parents enough to risk everything for them. In spite of being odd, she is a loving and dutiful daughter. I loved the part where Coraline recounted the incident when her father had willingly let a swarm of wasps sting him in order to let her escape. It shows how deeply she thinks and how intelligently she can infer.

As you read further, Coraline’s determination, her strong will, and her smartness and above all her courage continue to be a surprise. She has an incredible combination of unwavering will and a kind heart. After facing a number of frightening obstacles, she finally manages to rescue her parents and three other children who were captured by the witch earlier.

After this episode in her life, she realizes the importance of what she has in her own world and loves her parents. She even stops feeling nervous about her school after facing much more worse things.

I also liked the cat character. Sarcastic and proud on the outside but inwardly scared by the witch.

Its funny that I picked this book only because it had only 160+ pages (I am having my mid-semester exams and do not want to read something too involved). It certainly was an enjoyable read.

I am giving it 5 stars (on goodreads) happily although I think it was an ordinary horror story, written very intelligently. The reason is that I don’t like horror fiction in general (after my experience with R. L. Stine) but I enjoyed this one thoroughly.