Gaiman's Ocean

I have been inhaling books lately. It has given me less time to write, but I have definitely felt inspired and productive when I work on my outline. Today, I finished Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the  End of the Lane, which was a quick read. Friends who have read this novel said that it touched them with sadness and even made them cry. I found that it did not make me cry. I also don't know that it made me sad. It was, however, touching and excellently written.

I have devoted particular attention to the craft of the novels that I read lately. For instance, I recently wrote a post about Terry Brook's Magic Kingdom for Sale... Sold! where I discussed the fact that one of the characters seemed to serve as a cabbagehead at times. On the other hand, in Ocean, Neil Gaiman did an excellent job of weaving the complex story elements into the narrative without long explanatory information dumps. That said, there was a lot left unsaid and definitely elements of the novel that I didn't feel I underst…