Borrowing a concept to write a novel is
a risky decision. The outcome
potentially derivative beyond face-in-public possibility, or conversely, a
highly original spin on an old idea that makes successful waves of its own,
everything depends on approach. Neil
Gaiman’s 2009 The Graveyard Book one
such offering, time has yet to tell whether his choice of Kipling’s Jungle Books and Halloween have been
mixed enough to offer a story entirely of his own.
The
Graveyard Book
is the story of Bod Owens and his life in a graveyard after his parents are
killed. Escaping his crib while the
assassin Jack murders his family, Bod crawls his way into the neighboring
graveyard and is adopted by the ghosts, vampires, ghouls, werewolves, and other
creatures of the night who call the quiet grounds home. With The
Jungle Books as inspiration, The
Graveyard Book is structured such that each chapter is a story on its own, individual
threads binding the whole together. Like
windows, these chapters relate various episodes of Bod’s upbringing. From a trip with the hounds of hell to
spending time with the girl Scarlett, mastering The Slide to encountering the
mysterious Sleer beneath a grave, the book is full of imagination. And like Kipling’s showdown with the limp
tiger, the final chapters feature Jack still trying to find the child who went
missing that night so long ago.
