El océano al final del camino

(Rocabolsillo. Ficción)

No cover

El océano al final del camino (Spanish language, 2014, Rocabolsillo)

297 pages

Spanish language

Published April 7, 2014 by Rocabolsillo.

ISBN:
9788415729570
OCLC Number:
899742191

View on OpenLibrary

5 stars (5 reviews)

Hace cuarenta años, cuando nuestro narrador contaba apenas siete, el hombre que alquilaba la habitación sobrante en la casa familiar se suicido dentro del coche de su padre, un acontecimiento que provoco que antiguos poderes dormidos cobraran vida y que criaturas de más alla de este mundo se liberaran. El horror, la amenaza, se congregan a partir de entonces para destruir a la familia del protagonista. Su única defensa la constituiran las tres mujeres que viven en la granja desvencijada al final del camino. La más joven de ellas, Lettie, afirma que el estanque es, en realidad, un oceano. La mayor dice que recuerda el Big Bang.

It began for our narrator forty years ago when the family lodger stole their car and committed suicide in it, stirring up ancient powers best left undisturbed. Dark creatures from beyond the world are on the loose, and it will take everything our …

23 editions

Very typical Neil Gaman.

5 stars

As I was reading this novel, I was pretty sure that the narrator was actually a version of @neilhimself@mastodon.social. The acknowledgement seems to acknowledge this.

The story follows a man in his forties, remembering a fantastic event from his childhood. Most of the novel follows this story, with the main character being a bookish seven year old boy with few friends, who gets trapped in a fight with beings from another reality.

A lot of the story is a commentary on memory, and for some time while reading, I thought that perhaps the entire fantasy story was a memory concocted by the narrator to cope with the shock of discovering his father's infidelity.

It's a quick read and very enjoyable. It would be appropriate for older children, but just as enjoyable for adults.

Short and mostly sweet

4 stars

I guess it is long for a novella, but short for a novel. That means there is not a lot of room to build up characters. The protagonist is a bookish but uncomplicated boy but e.g. the parents are mostly ciphers.

It's an engaging story, I finished it in a few sessions, something I don't do very often these days. It feel very English, and very Rural, which isn't what I remember of Gaiman. It doesn't really break any new ground, but it well crafted, and the setting is more completely related than the characters.

It does have some scenes that would probably give sensitive souls (and children) nightmares.

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Subjects

  • Supervivencia
  • Magic
  • Memoria
  • Mujeres
  • Survival
  • Bien y mal
  • Fiction
  • Boys
  • Memory
  • Ficción
  • Women
  • Magia
  • Muchachos
  • Good and evil

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