Oh my! I didn't realize today was the 15th so I didn't see this post until now and don't have much time until the weekend to respond. I'm so happy that many of you enjoyed this book!
Here are a few thoughts for now. I really loved this book a lot even though it's not the usual type of book that I would read. I expected to like it since I enjoyed
Neverwhere and
Coraline. I'm not sure I would like some of his other books such as
American Gods but who knows how I might be surprised if I tried it. I do enjoy some fantasy now and then, especially when mixed with children's books.
Like others, I read
The Jungle Book before I read
The Graveyard Book, and it enhanced my appreciation of Gaiman's accomplishment on this book. I did not particularly like
The Jungle Book as much as other Kipling books that I have read such as
Kim. However, I wanted to understand Gaiman's inspiration for the structure of his book. One of which is that the overall plot is the coming of age story for Bod and that he has to ultimately defeat his nemesis independently, but it is told in a series of stories that are about coming of age and fitting in just like in
The Jungle Book.
Also, after reading
The Jungle Book, I wrote down a list of themes as follows: Rules and Order, Revenge, Violence, Courage, Coming of Age, Foreignness/Outsider, Principles, Betrayal and Family.
After I read
The Graveyard Book and looked back on this list of themes, I could see how much Gaiman was able to replicate through his own unique story.