After giving The Hitchhiker’s Guide good marks, my friend Pat told me to check out Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.  I’ve never read anything by either author before.  I picked it up from the library, and have really enjoyed the first couple chapters.  Lately, I’ve been going through electronic format books a lot faster than those in print; largely because it’s easier for me to read.  Ergo, from the library I got a hold of a digital copy of The Graveyard Book by one of the authors, Neil Gaiman.  Aside from the title, I wasn’t sure what to expect; though it seemed popular and I figured I’d give it a shot.

Now that I’m finished with the book, I see that it’s listed under “juvenile fiction” sections; I hadn’t a clue about that, previously, and even after finishing it I was a bit confused by the listing.  In many ways, it makes sense: there’s nothing in the pages that are all that offensive, and the main character is a boy who is at all times less than 16 years old.  With that said, I found it to be a great read, very well written with a solid story that was strictly entertaining.

Without giving too much away, the chapters are rather self contained, almost to the effect that they are a series of short stories that are loosely coupled.  In many ways, though, the variety adds to the depth of the story, and also makes for a quick read.  I’ve heard that there are strong followings to Gaiman’s novels, and I can certainly see why.

I live close to a very large cemetery, which I’d heard was beautiful from a variety of sources.  Since I’ve never been that much of a goth, nor have I had that much interest in graveyards in general, I didn’t give it much thought.  Reading this book, though, made me a bit curious, and this past weekend I spent an hour or two walking through the cemetery paths.  It really was pretty incredible, and got my mind going a bit about burial and legacy; which for me was an unexpected twist. Respect to that, and to the book.