It is astonishing just how much of what we are can be tied to the beds we wake up in in the morning, and it is astonishing how fragile that can be.
Basic Facts
Title: Coraline
Author: Neil Gaiman
ISBN / EAN: 9780060575915
Publisher: HarperTrophy (HarperCollins)
Content
When Coraline and her parents move into a new flat, the little girl discovers an always locked door in the painting room. When her mother unlocks it they face… a red brickwall. But later on, als Coraline is alone at home, she opens the door again and steps into a different world, which might be different, but then again very much resembles her own world. She steps into a flat nearly completely similar to her own one; there are two people waiting for her: her „other parents“. They promise to love and play happy family with her all the time, in a world which is made to please her, but Coraline refuses. As she returns into her own world, she finds her parents gone missing – and gets a hint as she sees them in the mirror down the hall. Of course, there is only one person who could have taken her parents… and so Coraline once again steps into the other world, to face her „other mother“ and rescue her real parents. But nothing is as easy as it seems, and Coraline is just a little girl. But, then again, there is the quite sarcastic black cat, turning out to be a good friend and advisor, and this strange stone, the one with the hole in the middle. Her neighbours, Misses Spink and Forcible, gave to her because it should protect her. So, Coraline takes up a fight…
My opinion
You like Alice in Wonderland? If yes: I really, really recommend you to read this book! You don’t like Alice? I also recommend you to read it!
It is full of fantasy, of dark but oh-so-wonderful pictures. It’s thrilling, catching and a real pageturner – I just read it in one sitting. The 190 pages flew by as nothing. Once it sucked you in, it will never ever let you go.
Resemblances with Alice are… there, but as it seems to be like Alice, it’s entirely different at the same time. The cat-companion reminds me a bit of the Cheshire Cat – endearingly sarcastic (oh, it provides one or another giggle!) but always helpful. Nevertheless, it’s a lot darker than Alice, but just as fantastic. The other world is so close to our real world that, by reading the last page, you’ll gain an entirely different look on everything around you. This closeness is what makes it so creepy sometimes – you can imagine what it is like, what it looks like, and I am sure you’ll find something that reminds you of your grandparents‘ house.
Of course, Neil Gaiman’s writing is amazing! His writing is witty, and fast, but then again it can be slow and kind. But it is always full of fantasy, of pictures and painting a world you want to dive into. It even turns quite philosophic sometimes, as to be seen in the chosen quote on top of this review.
So… as said in the first sentence of my opinion: Whether you like Alice in Wonderland or not – I really, really recommend you to read this book. I promise, it’s no waste of time. (: