Coraline

Aug 24, 2008

Posted by: John Admin

Uncategorized

I picked Coraline up because it was compared on the back of the book to Alice in Wonderland, which I love. And ultimately I agree – the tale has very much of a Looking Glass quality to it, in particular. However, my impression is equally that it reads like a Tim Burton movie. Seriously, if I could mail him my copy and get him to make a movie similar to Nightmare Before Christmas out of it, I’d send him ten of them just to make sure he had enough room to make notes. It’s just enough deliciously creepy that it’s not as saccharine sweet as the Alice books may seem to modern audience. The text is fraught with images of mice, hands, spiders, and buttons, and it is absolutely no exaggeration to say that I dreamt about the buttons after finishing this one (a bit odd, I know, but less so after you’ve read it).



Coraline lives in a flat in a large old house with her parents, who seem to have fairly little time for her even though they work at home. While the other tenants (a couple of dotty little old ladies who once were actresses, and an even dottier little old man who claims to have a mouse circus) do pay attention to her, they all seem much more interested in telling her their stories rather than interacting with her and can’t even quite get her name right. Coraline really loves to explore, but her parents don’t want her to do too much of that when the weather is bad, suggesting that she instead explore inside. She counts things and finds a door that leads nowhere… which, of course, any veteran fairy tale reader will tell you, is when the good adventure is about to begin.



Even if the story itself doesn’t pique your curiosity (which it should), it’s worth finding it at the library just to read the recommendations on the back… the Lemony Snickett one, in particular, made me laugh out loud.



Younger Potter fans (think the kids who would love the first three novels but can’t quite make it through the fifth) would like this the most, I think. It’s a fairly straightforward story that could have had far more mystery than Gaiman included, so middle school students might be a little put out by its simplicity. However, it is a fast read for older, and readers of all ages who love a good fairy tale will enjoy it. It follows a near-perfect hero structure and it’s a pretty entertaining YA fantasy. The characters nor the events are as compelling as those Rowling writes, but the good guys are all kind without being flat, while the villains have just enough intrigue without knowing more of a history. The youngest may be a little annoyed that one could argue that many
things are not completely resolved in the story, although the real goals are met. It could lead the way to a sequel, I suppose, but it is difficult to imagine it being as interesting once Coraline figured out the tricks of her new world.


I really enjoyed this one (which, as I blog more and more, I’m sure you’ll hear a lot) and highly recommend it. In fact, I liked it enough that the version I borrowed had each page torn down the middle and I negotiated all of that weird paper to finish it. Is it going to fill that post-Potter void in anyone’s life? Probably not, but it is a satisfactory way to spend an afternoon or a weekend.





Gaiman, Neil. Coraline. 2002.

Check it out.





The Leaky Cauldron is not associated with J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., or any of the individuals or companies associated with producing and publishing Harry Potter books and films.