The Ocean at the End of the Lane (Fantasy Novel)

That’s the trouble with living things. Don’t last very long. Kittens one day, old cats the next. And then just memories. And the memories fade and blend and smudge together….

I do not miss childhood, but I miss the way I took pleasure in small things, even as greater things crumbled. I could not control the world I was in, could not walk away from things or people or moments that hurt, but I found joy in the things that made me happy. The custard was sweet and creamy in my mouth…

Beautiful. What a beautiful little novel. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman so gently touched my heart. The main character as a child reminds me a lot of seven year old Bertie from Alexander McCall Smith’s 44 Scotland Street Series.  Gaiman’s character has that same innocence. Both authors have a talent for looking at life and what it is like to be human. Unlike Scotland Street, The Ocean at the End of the Lane also contains a liberal dose of magic, a bit of horror, and a smidgen of sexuality. The story is deceptively complex, both a simple fantasy and an allegory.

After the narrator returns to his hometown to attend a funeral, he finds himself returning to the Hempstock’s farm. There he remembers something that happened to him as a child. A new boarder had run over his beloved cat. Later the boarder was found dead by suicide. While his father and the police officer were busy, the narrator met the Hempstocks, including Lettie, who is eleven but she isn’t. He learned about the ocean on their property. The death unleashed a magical force. While Lettie promised to keep him safe, something unfortunate happened when he lets go of her hand. The Hempstocks attempted to put things back right. But, they wonder whether they did the right thing.

This image of the ocean at the end of the lane has appeared in my life while I have been exploring a mediation in my real life. The ocean is a perfect and vivid metaphor. As I sat down today, I couldn’t help but think of Lettie and her ocean.

Sometimes I think of the winners of the various awards as representing the world at a particular point in time. I want The Ocean at the End of the Lane to represent us to future generations: burnt toast, fathers and sons trying to understand one another, and magic. And it will. The novel won the Locus Fantasy award and was nominated for the 2013 Nebula, 2014 Mythopoeic, and 2014 World Fantasy Award.

The Drowning Girl (Mythic Fiction/Gothic Novel)

Hauntings. Ghosts. Sirens. Wolves. Mermaids. Drownings. Ravens. Schizophrenia. Suicides. Myths and Legends. Music. Paintings. Numbers. Murders. 

When I first started reading The Drowning Girl by Caitlin R. Kiernan, I thought it was a bunch of semi-coherent ramblings. I was confused how it could have been nominated for five awards -- 2012 Nebula, 2012 Shirley Jackson, 2013 Locus Fantasy, 2013 Mythopoeic, 2013 World Fantasy – and won the 2012 Stoker. In time I began to see the patterns and the forms, the play of themes, the interplay of the literal and the metaphoric.

Briefly, the story is narrated by Imp, a lesbian and schizophrenic, whose mother and grandmother both committed suicide. At the beginning of the novel Imp talks about a painting, "The Drowning Girl," that she saw in a museum when she was eleven. Imp rescues two women. The first is Abalyn, a transsexual, who makes her living writing reviews of video games. Imp finds Abalyn’s belongings out on the sidewalk after a messy breakup. Imp takes her back to her apartment, and they soon become girlfriends and lovers. The second woman whom Imp rescues is Eva. One night when Imp is out driving, she sees a naked woman along the side of the road. Imp takes her home. The true story of Eva, if it ever is actually revealed, is woven throughout the novel. Why does Imp think she met Eva twice? Why does Imp think that there are two Eva’s? What really happened between Imp and Eva? Who is (are) the “drowning girl”?

The Drowning Girl is not an easy novel to read. It has some intense themes, and it requires mental energy to work through the ideas. I won’t even pretend that I had it all figured out by the end. Even after finishing the novel, I still am seeing how all the ideas fit together.