geri_chan | The Graveyard Book and nemu*nemu

Sorry, but I had to work late, and "Decisions" just isn't going to get done tonight. Hopefully tomorrow, or at most, the next day. I'm almost done, just another page or two left, but I don't want the ending to feel rushed or tacked-on.

So in the meantime, a couple of quick recs:

I mentioned in my Neil Gaiman post that I downloaded the audio version of The Graveyard Book. I just started listening to it, and it's wonderful. Gaiman does a great job of reading it; I swear I am just in love with his voice! The story itself is intriguing and engaging. It starts off a bit gruesomely for a children's book, with a man named Jack murdering a husband, wife, and their daughter, for reasons as yet unknown. (I've only listened to about one hour of the 7+ hour long audiobook.) The last member of the family, a baby boy, managed to crawl out of his crib, out the open door, and over to the nearby graveyard. The ghosts in the graveyard, particularly one protective female ghost, decide to raise and protect the child, with help of Silas, who is the only one able to leave the graveyard to get food and other necessities for the boy. (The ghosts are bound to the land where their bones are buried, which is why the baby's own family cannot raise him themselves.) It is not stated openly, but there are plenty of hints that indicate that Silas is a vampire. Silas and the ghosts form a rather odd, but very loving and protective family for the child that they name "Bod" (short for "Nobody"). And he needs their protection, because Jack makes it clear that he intends to finish what he started and kill the last member of the murdered family, even if it takes years.

But for a story with such a grim start, it has a surprising sense of innocence and humor, since most of the story is told from young Bod's viewpoint. Having known nothing else, the graveyard is not at all a spooky place; it is his home, and it's perfectly normal for him to be raised by ghosts, and wear a winding sheet for his clothing, and to be taught his ABCs by a vampire. He is beginning to chafe a little at the point where I'm at now, wanting to go into the outside world, while Silas kindly but firmly tells him that it isn't safe for him to leave the graveyard yet. However, he has made friends with a little girl named Scarlett who happened to be walking past the graveyard, and she comes to play with him often. She has told her parents about the boy who lives in the graveyard, but they think that he's an imaginary friend, and see it as a harmless phase that she's going through.

Right now Bod is taking Scarlett exploring in the graveyard, and they've entered the barrow of an ancient Celt--a rather ominous place, since Silas has told Bod that one young man who went in there came back out with his hair turned white, and another didn't come out at all. So boys being boys, how can he resist wanting to check the place out for himself? ;)

I'm looking forward to listening to the rest of the story. I kind of want to savor it, because I don't want it to end too soon, but on the other hand, I'm eager to see the inevitable confrontation with Jack.

***

And I found a link on MangaBlog to an interview with the creators of nemu*nemu, an adorably sweet webcomic that I reviewed here. The childish sense of innocence and whimsy is reminiscent of Yotsuba, and the stuffed-animals-come-to-life plot will appeal to Calvin and Hobbes fans. The interview gives a good background of the authors and the story, and it has some nice samples of artwork from the comic.