Like I said last week, every civilization develops its own mythology to answer its questions and confront its fears. As the needs of the culture change, so change the heroes we worship. So, what happens to the older gods when these newer icons are developed? Do they resent being forced into retirement or do they transcend to a Sun City section of Mount Olympus where they can play endless rounds of shuffleboard and bore each other with photos of their descendants? Did Odin develop a sub-section of Valhalla to house superannuated deities? Is there an AARP for Gods? You might think that’s a funny idea for a story but it’s actually a question Neil Gaiman posed when he wrote American Gods. It’s also an English novelist’s perspective of America and a brilliant fantasy novel. At the center of the story is Shadow Moon, a man with a past who once thought he had a future. Instead, his wife and secure job die shortly before he can reach them and a man named Wednesday offers him work. Shadow is the perfect hero for this kind of adventure: he’s quiet, tough and shrewder than most folks realize. Shadow is the kind of…
Like I said last week, every civilization develops its own mythology to answer its questions and confront its fears. As the needs of the culture change, so change the heroes we worship. So, what happens to the older gods when these newer icons are developed? Do they resent being forced into retirement or do they transcend to a Sun City section of Mount Olympus where they can play endless rounds of shuffleboard and bore each other with photos of their descendants? Did Odin develop a sub-section of Valhalla to house superannuated deities? Is there an AARP for Gods? You might think that’s a funny idea for a story but it’s actually a question Neil Gaiman posed when he wrote American Gods. It’s also an English novelist’s perspective of America and a brilliant fantasy novel. At the center of the story is Shadow Moon, a man with a past who once thought he had a future. Instead, his wife and secure job die shortly before he can reach them and a man named Wednesday offers him work. Shadow is the perfect hero for this kind of adventure: he’s quiet, tough and shrewder than most folks realize. Shadow is the kind of…
I remember a few things about my first trip to Disneyland. I loved riding the flying elephants with my Dad and I screamed all the way through the Sleeping Beauty castle, terrified that Maleficent would appear. I don’t recall much more of that day but memories are like overstuffed closets; if you pull out one or two items, you’ll be surprised what you’ll find underneath. The hero in The Ocean at the End of the Lane has similar holes in his memories. He’s driving down roads he doesn’t remember to a childhood home destroyed long ago. Some neighbor ladies remember him and, at his request, take him to a duckpond behind their farmhouse. He stands by the pond, remembers someone called it “an ocean” and the memories crash in like a wave. Water’s important in this story, as is memory, and all the things we don’t know. As a child, our hero knows he was lonely but he doesn’t know what makes loneliness bad. So, other children play with each other while he stays inside and reads books. What’s wrong with that? His parents said they’ve lost their money but what he knows is they’ve rented out his bedroom; he’s not really…
Every once in a while an author comes along that recalls the viewpoint of a child. Not any child in particular, only what it was like to always be the youngest person in the room, with the most amount of instruction, whose opinions carry the least weight in a family. Because, along with being loved and read to and coddled and warm, that’s what it feels like sometimes when you’re a kid. Anyway, Neil Gaiman knows that. Like Roald Dahl and T. H. White and Lewis Carroll before him, he remembers how even loved kids sometimes want more from their lives, more attention, more influence, more glamor. And he puts this in his books, along with what comes from granted wishes. The man’s written many terrific books but if you’re not familiar with his work, may I begin the acquaintance? Let me introduce you to someone special, a girl named Coraline. Coraline is a girl with a problem. As a matter of fact, she is bored. Her family’s moved into a very old house that has been turned into apartments and her parents have focused on their work. Her folks love her and care for her but, right now,…