| Title | : | Coraline |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0061139378 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780061139376 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 176 |
| Publication | : | First published July 2, 2002 |
| Awards | : | Bram Stoker Award Best Work for Young Readers (2002), Hugo Award Best Novella (2003), Nebula Award Best Novella (2003), Locus Award Best Young Adult Novel (2003), World Fantasy Award Best Novella (2003), Mythopoeic Fantasy Award Children's Literature (2003), Audie Award Audio Drama and for Middle Grade (2023), Vermont Golden Dome Book Award (2004), Child Magazine Best Book of the Year, Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards Best Publication for Teens/Tweens (2009), Elizabeth Burr / Worzalla Award (2003), Premi Protagonista Jove Categoria 13-14 anys (2004) |
In Coraline's family's new flat are twenty-one windows and fourteen doors. Thirteen of the doors open and close.
The fourteenth is locked, and on the other side is only a brick wall, until the day Coraline unlocks the door to find a passage to another flat in another house just like her own.
Only it's different.
At first, things seem marvelous in the other flat. The food is better. The toy box is filled with wind-up angels that flutter around the bedroom, books whose pictures writhe and crawl and shimmer, little dinosaur skulls that chatter their teeth. But there's another mother, and another father, and they want Coraline to stay with them and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go.
Other children are trapped there as well, lost souls behind the mirrors. Coraline is their only hope of rescue. She will have to fight with all her wits and all the tools she can find if she is to save the lost children, her ordinary life, and herself.
Critically acclaimed and award-winning author Neil Gaiman will delight readers with his first novel for all ages.
Coraline Reviews
-
I've read this book many different times in many different ways.
I read it off the page when it first came out. Later, I listened to Gaiman's narration of the audiobook when I was sequestered in the north woods of Wisconsin in a desperate attempt to finish book two. I watched the movie and enjoyed it.
My most recent experience of the book was listening to it with my little boy on a long car ride. I wasn't sure he'd be able to get into it. Not because of the vocabulary. He's very sharp for being 4.5. He's good with words. But sometimes he gets a little scared.
Despite my worries, he seemed to enjoy it. He paid attention, attention, asking for us to turn it back on after we stopped by the side of the road. A day later, he excitedly told me all about the story, apparently forgetting I'd been in the car too.
All of that was months ago. Fast forward to now....
* * *
"Dad," Oot said. "Do you know the guy who wrote Coraline?"
The question caught me by surprise. The two of us were driving to a party together, a friend was having a bonfire and I was amazed that he was thinking about anything other than smores.
"I do," I said. "His name is Neil Gaiman."
"Do you have his phone number?" he asked.
"No," I said.
"Do you know where he lives?"
"I do," I said.
"Are you his friend?"
That brought me up short. For Oot, that's a simple question. If you meet someone and play with them, they're you're friend. Easy.
For adults these things are harder. And it's doubly hard for me these days. My life has changed so much over the last five years, and my previously established metric for friendship doesn't work very well any more.
You see, for the majority of my life, a friend was someone who would, say, help me move a couch. Someone you could bum 10 dollars off of if you needed to. A friend was someone who felt comfortable enough to come over to my house without calling first. Then, if I wasn't home, they would let themselves in, eat out of my fridge, and start watching TV.
While I'm terribly fond of him, Neil Gaiman has never done any of these things.
Then again, neither have any of the other authors I've met over the last few years. I'm painfully aware of the need for new friendship metrics, but I haven't managed to develop a good set yet.
That won't make any sense to my boy, but still, I try to be honest with him whenever I can. "I don't know if we're friends," I say. "But we're colleagues."
"What's a colleagues?" he asks, right on cue.
"That means we know each other and do the same job," I explain.
"Oh yes," he says. "You're both authors."
It makes me proud when he says that. I'm proud that my boy knows I write books.
"Do you know his address?" Oot asks, and it takes me a while to realize that he's returning to his previous line of questioning.
"I do," I said, not bothering to point out that knowing where someone lives and knowing their address is pretty much the same thing.
"Can you send him a letter?"
"I could," I say.
Oot pauses for a moment then, and I realize that this has been the point of the whole conversation. He wants to send Neil Gaiman a message.
"What would you like me to write to him?" I ask.
"You should tell him he *sure* knows how to write a scary story...."
* * *
So there you go. You don't really need me to tell you how I feel about one of Gaiman's books at this point. You know I love his writing.
Instead, I'm offering up my boy's unvarnished opinion. Did he think the story was scary? Absolutely. But he still wanted us to turn it back on as soon as we were back in the car.
What's more, he was still thinking about Coraline months later. And it was the first book where he's ever shown any interest in contacting the author.
So. Bravo, Neil Gaiman. You've managed to win over two generations of the Rothfuss household. -
The Written Review:
Halloween is just around the corner and it's time for some spooky books - but which ones are worth your time? Check out this
BookTube Video for answers!
I was such a cowardly kid that I never managed to read more than the blurb on the back
Now that I've finally summoned the courage to give it a try - I wish I read it sooner.
I love this novel.
Unlike Gaiman's fiction for adults, every sentence, every word has its purpose. And finally, Gaiman does not throw in some weird sex scene. Can I get a hallelujah?
One especially dull and rainy day traps young Coraline inside the new house. Her parents are busy and she must entertain herself. She finds a little door in the drawing room and a little key that fits in.
he discovers a passageway into the otherworld. In it are her other-mother and her other-father - both of which always have the time for her and adore making her favorite foods. But, there's something... too otherly about the two that raises her hackles.
They're perfect.
Finally, the other-mother plays her hand. She wants Coraline all to herself. With a growing sense of dread, Coraline finds the way back locked and her chances of escaping becoming ever slimmer...All the while, the other-mother promises how wonderful and lovely living with her will be...forever...I don't want whatever I want. Nobody does. Not really. What kind of fun would it be if I just got everything I ever wanted just like that, and it didn't mean anything? What then?
Coraline herself is brave and kind and courageous. At her age, I certainly couldn't have done half the things she managed. I love her strength and how there isn't a stich of love-interest - only adventure and escapades.
Much better than expected (and I didn't get any nightmares).
Audiobook Comments
Read by the author - woohoo! As much as I grumble about some of his books, there's no denying that he's absolutely fabulous to listen to - this man could read a grocery list and I'd give it a listen.
Other Booktube videos featuring this one!
If you've ever wondered which literary world would be the best to live in, wonder no longer, cause there's a
BookTube Video to answer that!
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(A-) 82% | Very Good
Notes: A genuinely disturbing and creepy story with vivid imagery, it's well-rounded and goes at a perfect pace and length. -
(A-) 82% | Very Good
Notes: Intimately eerie, Through the Looking-Glass in horror tones, a fright pastiche, but off-the-leash, ethereal and all its own. -
Does anyone have access to a rooftop? Preferably in a big city, or at least a town of reasonable size. High enough for it to be noticeably a rooftop, but absolutely NO higher than that because I have a mildly-to-seriously debilitating fear of heights. Maybe you’re an electrician, or a building super, or simply a very sneaky person with a skill for discovering high-up places. Whatever. I just need temporary roof access.
Because, ahem…
I LOVE THIS BOOK AND I NEED TO SCREAM IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS.
This is creepy and exciting and beautifully written and filled with wonderful characters and settings and scenes. I love Neil Gaiman, as of recently, and I most especially love Coraline (both book and character). I love it enough to read it multiple times, and also read the graphic novel at least once (possibly more), and also see the movie several times over (including in theaters with my whole family, including my very very small and very very scared brother).
I saw the movie before I read the book, and for that I repent.
There are so many little things from this that have stuck in my memory: the character voice of the cat; the talking terriers in Miss Spink and Miss Forcible’s apartment; the all-knowing circus mice; the fact that when Coraline had to feed herself, she went to the grocery store and bought herself a bag of apples and a whole chocolate cake (the biggest mood ever).
Also, that reminds me that this is the best book ever for talking animals.
I just love this story. I love everything about it. It is, for me, a perfect book.
Now I want apples and chocolate cake.
Bottom line: I love fairytales, and this is my favorite one.
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rereading updates
nothing in this world brings me comfort and joy like this book
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i have to read 4 books in 4 days to finish my reading challenge and i'm stressed and today is the first day i don't feel sick in 2 weeks and there's so much to do and i have no motivation to do it and yes in conclusion i'm reading coraline for the second time this year.
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pre-review
this is a top to bottom perfect book.
review to come
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currently-reading updates
i love this book so much i want to absorb it into myself, but that is physically impossible.
so i'm rereading it, which is the next best thing. -
Coraline is a short but delightfully dark and creepy book that just happens to feature one of my absolute favorite characters. Is it wrong that I want to be Coraline's best friend???
“Because,' she said, 'when you're scared but you still do it anyway, that's brave.”
Coraline is clever, quirky, curious and adventurous, brave and determined, independent, stubborn to no end, a bit reckless and not scared of danger. She will NEVER leave any mysterious doors locked and uninvestigated. In short, she is what I hope my future (hypothetical) daughter is going to be like. Out of boredom due to rainy days and parental inattention, Coraline sets out on a scary but awesome adventure. She bites off (almost) more than she can chew, but comes out of it a winner and just a bit more grown-up and mature (but luckily not in a dreadful moralistic way)."Nothing’s changed. You’ll go home. You’ll be bored. You’ll be ignored. No one will listen to you, really listen to you. You’re too clever and too quiet for them to understand. They don’t even get your name right."
The story is intense and sinister, and yet really fun. With his dark fairy-tales Coraline and The Graveyard Book, Gaiman proves that he has mastered the art of writing perfect non-condescending children's books that also appeal to adults. He is not afraid of making a kids' book scary; he knows kids can handle it quite well. The "Other" world he creates is eerie and surreal, with a dreamlike quality - the kind of dream from which you wake up screaming. But the story is also full of humor and has the Cat!
.......
............
I guess I have a weakness for amazing book-cats (it must be the Alice in Wonderland influence on my young pliable mind back in 1980s). I adore the wisdom, independence, and a bit of condescending attitude they give humans."We... we could be friends, you know," said Coraline.
-----------
"We COULD be rare specimens of an exotic breed of African dancing elephants," said the cat. "But we're not. At least," it added cattily, after darting a brief look at Coraline, "I'M not."
The language of the book is simple and sparing, and fits the story perfectly. Coraline is one of the books that are just meant to be read aloud. Overall, a great story that fully deserves the 5-star rating. -
Well that hit the spot
Neil Gaiman’s Coraline is a novella that features a young girl named Coraline who has just moved into a new house. She is intent on exploring and discovers a mysterious door that has been walled up. However, one day, the door is left ajar. What will Coraline discover on the other side of the door?
This short story is perfect for getting out of a reading slump. The book is very short with short paragraphs and sentences to keep the action flowing. This book also had laugh-out-loud moments, and Neil Gaiman is a master of intrigue, piquing the curiosity. He has walled off passages and old keys. His character is told not to go someplace, essentially daring the reader to explore. His prose is delicious, non-pretentious, but subtly brilliant.
The adventure is engaging and a pleasant one. It also has depth with symbolism thrown in. There is one moment in the book that will stay with me for a long time.
For this story, I utilized a reading technique called immersion reading (listening to the audiobook while following along in a copy of the text). Neil Gaiman himself narrated the audiobook. Listening to him is quite a treat. His enthusiasm is enchanting, and when he reads his own work, it feels like he is in the room with you, your very own personal reading, like the very best campfire story.
One of my favorite lines: How often do you get to say a name like “Mr. Bobo” aloud?
Plus, there is a cat….
I am already looking forward to reading Coraline again. So far, I have read three works by Neil Gaiman, and they have all been stellar. Is it possible for him to write any bad books? I guess I will have to find out.
2022 Reading Schedule
Jan Animal Farm
Feb Lord of the Flies
Mar The Da Vinci Code
Apr Of Mice and Men
May Memoirs of a Geisha
Jun Little Women
Jul The Lovely Bones
Aug Charlotte's Web
Sep Life of Pi
Oct Dracula
Nov Gone with the Wind
Dec The Secret Garden
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3.5/5
"When you're scared but you still do it anyway, that's brave."
I think this would have been one of my favorite books if I read it as a child, but unfortunately 20-something me felt like it was lacking. I went into this with too high of expectations because the movie gave me nightmares after I saw it in theaters. Basically, I pretty much expected this to be a novelization of the movie - that was not the case. Though the big plot points remain the same, the movie was more fleshed out and atmospheric, and I was disappointed. But all in all, if you're looking for a spooky book that only will take you a couple of hours to read - this is it! -
Has anyone ever said to you “time heals all wounds?”
Well for the "villain" of this story that is clearly not the case. It’s easy to pinpoint Coraline’s bravery and talk about her experience, but that’s not what this review is about. I want to consider the “other mother” and her story.
I mean what exactly is her story? We can only presume that she has been doing this kind of trickery for years, perhaps even centuries. We don’t really know a great deal about her. She has three victims prior to her attempts on Coraline. Two appear to be fairly normal children. The third speaks in a form of Shakespearean English, which I took for proof of a victim many years previous. We don’t know a great deal about the actual house either or how long it has actually been standing. The descriptions speak of age. But how much age are we talking?
It’s all a little bit of a mystery. What drove this woman to such depravity? What happened in her life that she needed to feed upon the love of children? What has she lost? Where did it all begin? I can only speculate. But one thing remains an absolute certainty to my mind; something terrible happened to the “other mother” a long time ago, something awful that drove her into the deepest depths of despair and as a result she clings to the essence of life: love.
The movie adaption gives some brief idea of where she came from; she is Wyborn’s Grandma’s sister. But I’m not sure how much of this we can actually consider. Although the movie was written in collaboration with Gaiman neither of the characters actually appear in the book. So I’m left with even more speculation.
What do you think?
Is the “other mother” a villain or is she simply a misunderstood victim of fate?
Postscript- I wish I had a friend like Coraline whilst growing up. She’s one cool kid.
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Coraline, Neil Gaiman
Coraline is a dark fantasy children's novella by British author Neil Gaiman, published in 2002 by Bloomsbury and Harper Collins.
It was awarded the 2003 Hugo Award for Best Novella, the 2003 Nebula Award for Best Novella, and the 2002 Bram Stoker Award for Best Work for Young Readers.
It has been compared to Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and was adapted into a 2009 stop-motion film directed by Henry Selick.
Coraline Jones and her parents move into an old house that has been divided into flats. The other tenants include Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, two elderly women retired from the stage, and Mr. Bobo, initially referred to as "the crazy old man upstairs", who claims to be training a mouse circus. The flat beside Coraline's is unoccupied. ...
عنوانهای چاپ شده در ایران: «کورالاین»؛ «کرلاین»، «کورالین»؛ نویسنده: نیل گیمن؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز هفتم ماه آوریل سال2012میلادی
عنوان: کورالاین؛ نویسنده: نیل گیمن؛ مترجم: پریا آریا؛ تهران، مریم، 1386؛ در 141 ص؛ شابک 9789643059576؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان بریتانیا - سده 21م
عنوان: کورالین؛ نویسنده: نیل گیمن؛ مترجم: پروین جلوه نژاد؛ تهران، پیدایش، 1388؛ در 325ص؛ شابک 9789643497057؛
عنوان: کورالین؛ نویسنده: نیل گیمن؛ مترجم: آتوسا صالحی؛ تهران، افق، 1389؛ در 210ص؛ شابک 9789643696566؛ چاپ چهارم 1392؛ چاپ دیگر 1395؛ در 168ص؛ شابک 9786003532878؛
عنوان: کورالین؛ نویسنده: نیل گیمن؛ مترجم: فرمهر امیردوست؛ تهران، حوض نقره، 1395؛ در 128ص؛ شابک 9786001942358؛
عنوان: کرالاین؛ نویسنده: نیل گیمن؛ مترجم: دنیا بیدار؛ تهران، سوره مهر، 1393؛ در 192ص؛ شابک 9786001757297؛
راوی در داستان «کورالاین»، سوم شخص است، به این معنی که یک قصه گو داستان را بازگو میکند؛ معمولا در بیشتر داستانهای کودک و نوجوان، راوی سوم شخص است؛ انگار که کسی همه ی ماجراها را با فاصله میبیند، و سپس آن را برای خوانشگر بازگویی میکند؛ راوی سوم شخص داستان را که شرح میدهد، رویدادها با چشم انداز گسترده تری برای خوانشگر نمایان میشوند
کورالاین (کورالین) تنها فرزند پدر و مادری است، که هر دو در خانه کار میکنند؛ خانواده ی «کورالاین» به خانه ای تازه نقل مکان کرده اند؛ همسایه های آنها دو زن بازیگر، با پیرمردی نیمه دیوانه، که ارکستری از موشها را آموزش میدهد، هستند؛ «کورالاین» روزها دوروبر خانه میگردد، و به همسایه ها سر میزند؛ در خانه ی آنها دری وجود دارد، که رو به دیوار باز میشود؛ روزی «کورالاین» که در خانه تنهاست، در رو به دیوار را باز میکند، و با راهرویی روبرو میشود؛ در انتهای راهرو وقتی موفق میشود در را باز کند، با فضای عجیبی روبرو میشود؛ در آن دنیای عجیب، «کورالاین» پدر و مادر دیگری دارد، که تفاوتهایی با پدر و مادر اصلیاش دارند؛ وقتی که هراسان تصمیم میگیرد از راه رفته به خانه ی خود برگردد، متوجه میشود پدر و مادرش ناپدید شده اند؛ به نظر میرسد مادر قلابی آنها را دزدیده، و به آن دنیای عجیب برده است؛ حالا «کورالاین» چاره ای ندارد که دوباره به آن دنیای عجیب برگردد، تا خانواده اش را نجات دهد؛ سفری پر رمز و راز که «کورالاین» را با ناگواری بسیاری روبرو میکند و اگر توان اندیشیدن نداشته باشد، برای همیشه در دنیای فراسوی آن در، به دام میافتد، و دیگر هرگزی نمیتواند به آن زندگی که پیشتر داشت، برگردد
نقل از متن: (سیزده تا از درهایی که پیدا کرد باز و بسته میشد؛ آن در دیگر، در بزرگ کنده کاری شده گوشه ی اتاق پذیرایی قفل بود؛ حق با مادرش بود؛ در به هیچ جایی باز نمیشد؛ پشت در دیواری آجری بود؛ کورالاین گفت: «قفلش نکردی.» مادرش شانه بالا انداخت و پرسید: «برای چه قفلش کنم؟ اینکه به جایی باز نمیشود.»؛ کورالاین چیزی نگفت؛ هوا دیگر تاریک شده بود و هنوز باران روی شیشه ی پنجره ها میریخت و نور چراغ ماشینهای توی خیابان را محو میکرد»)؛ پایان نقل
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 23/09/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 11/06/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی -
‘When you are scared, but you do it anyway, that's brave.’
There are few villains that still frighten me to this day quite like the button-eyed Other Mother of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline. While, sure, this is a book for younger readers, but Coraline is a terrifying little tale that even adults can take to heart and feel inspired by 9year old Coraline as she learns that being ‘being brave didn’t mean you weren’t scared,’ as Gaiman explains in his forward, ‘being brave meant you were scared, really scared, badly scared, and you did the right thing anyway.’ This twisted coming-of-age story examines finding oneself as well as a sense of home, made all the more sinister when evil seeks to seduce you into their grasps by playing off of your loneliness and frustrations during periods of upheaval. Gaiman has crafted a delightfully spooky modern fairy tale that is sure to charm readers of any age with his whimsical imagination, foreboding vibes and empowering moral messages, and, best of all, his sharp and witty heroine, Coraline Jones.
I don’t care who you are, Other Mother/Bedlam is terrifying.
I recently reread Shirley Jackson’s
The Haunting of Hill House with my book club and spent a lot of time thinking about how the novel discusses fear as being something that isolates us from the not-afraid parts of us, and can isolate our minds from reality. In this way, the house isolates Eleanor and plays off her feelings of lacking a home and even a solid identity in order to take hold of her, writing ‘come home’ in blood on the walls to tell her the haunted house was her real home. This made me think of Coraline and how the Other Mother baits her by being a warm and welcoming mother during a time when her family is in the chaos of a move and the usual family frictions children have as they seek more independence from their parents. I don’t know if Gaiman was inspired by Hill House at all, but the symmetry is there, and in both books to fall into the snare means to have your soul consumed. Fun stuff! This novel, however, is about how a young girl and a sassy cat are able to overcome the psychological traps, entering into the fairy tale are returning wiser and with a better idea of the self.
‘Coraline wondered why so few of the adults she met made any sense,’ Gaiman writes, and much of the troubles arise because Coraline feels the adults in her life are failing her. This is a common theme in children’s fiction, and Gaiman embodies the trope masterfully with goofy neighbors and hijinks that make the adult world seem pretty lame and off putting. There is a great message at play in this book that even when relationships are rocky or stressed, people still love each other and the memories of this love can sustain you in your darkest hours. It is a beautiful sentiment, though when a demon is chasing you to devour your soul perhaps its better to take strength from it than bask in the mushy-goodness of it.
Gaiman also interrogates the idea of ‘home’ in Coraline, an apt discussion for a child who has just been uprooted from Michigan (in the amazing film version by Henry Selick, the Jones family owns a snowglobe of the Holland Lighthouse where I live, so that's cool). Through the novel we seem the concept of ‘home’ less as a physical space, and more an emotional one made up of good relationships with those around you. This is a good lesson to impart, and it is amusing to see Coraline connect with the strange neighbors living around her, though we see her impression of home become less welcoming each time she argues with her mother, pushing her closer and closer to the clutches of evil.
‘Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.’
-
G.K. Chesterton
I love the way Gaiman takes on fairy tale attributes here. Keys and mirrors are frequent in the book, and Coraline literally enters a mirror world at the risk of being trapped there forever. She also has three neighbors who she visits on both sides of the mirror, and cycles of 3 is a common motif in fairy tale narratives. He toys around with tropes in humorous ways to fit his themes of self-identity, such as in the mirror world where her neighbor can actually call her by the correct name but she is then told by the cat that names are meaningless. ‘Now you people have names,’ he tells her, ‘that's because you don't know who you are. We know who we are, so we don't need names.’ The idea of naming something in a fairy tale often means taking power over it, but here we see names as a placeholder until we can have power over ourselves. Clever riffing on fairy tale logic is part of what makes Coraline such a sheer delight.
This is a scary book though, Other Mother for real creeps me out, but Gaiman needed a creepy villain in order to bestow his biggest message: be brave. Life is scary, he tells us, and sometimes the only way to get through is to truly be brave. ‘It wasn’t brave because he wasn’t scared: it was the only thing he could do,’ he writes as an example, ‘but going back again..when he was really scared. That was brave.’ It is a lovely reminder that doing the right thing often means facing hardships and fears, but we should do it anyways. Coraline is a stunning little book and a perfect spooky season read.
4.5/5/
‘Be wise. Be brave. Be tricky.’ -
“Because,' she said, 'when you're scared but you still do it anyway, that's brave.”
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Neil Gaiman
Coraline is the 4th novel I read by Neil Gaiman so I might have to consider myself a fan now. The ratings ranged from 3* for American Gods, 4* for The Gaveyard Book and 5* for The Ocean At The End of Lane. I hesitated on how to rate this one but it was so perfectly spooky that I could not resist the top mark.
Coraline (initially a typo of the author) is a young girl who finds herself bored in her new home. It is the Holiday season, her parents are busy working from home on their computer so she is left with way too much time on her hands. Too much time to explore. The house is structured in 4 apartments, one of which is left empty. There was a door who led from their apartment to the empty one but it was walled and the door looked. One night, when she opens the door, she realizes the wall is no longer there and instead she is led through a dark corridor to another apartment, arranged almost exactly the same as hers. There, she encounters the Other Mother and Father. They are very friendly, they offer her the best food and attention, all that was missing from her real life. There is one tiny creepy detail. They have buttons sewed over their eyes. She is told she can stay with them forever and have everything she wants but she also has to sew those buttons over her eyes. Scared, she goes back home but she realizes that things are not as before and she will have to gain courage and use her wits to save herself and her family.
“I don't want whatever I want. Nobody does. Not really. What kind of fun would it be if I just got everything I ever wanted just like that, and it didn't mean anything? What then?”
Without being preachy, Gaiman sends all the right messages about fear and bravery, family, love etc. The writing also transported me in that magical/scary place and made me feel what Coraline feels. I was scared when she was and I felt courage when she did. All the characters where unique and interesting, helping build the plot and the atmosphere. Neil Gaiman is an equally talented narrator, he really knows how to hit the right tones to make the experience complete. I cannot recommend the audiobook enough.
The novella was very spooky and it almost gave me nightmares so I can’t help but wonder if it would be appropriate for a kid. I am not sure if I wouldn’t have had some sort of trauma If I had read this when I smaller. At the same time, I might be reading from the adult's perspective so it might be scarier for me.
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⭐️4.5
I’m not gonna lie to y’all. This audiobook had me legit scared. -
Coraline, not Caroline, thank you, the little girl who was small for her age, and found herself in darkest danger was the subject of Neil Gaiman’s 2002 publication, which was in Gaiman’s own words “refreshingly creepy.”
Gaiman said that he started writing the book for his young daughter Holly around the time they moved to America but, unintentionally, wrote it very slowly, “one word at a time” and thus stretched out the project for years. Refreshingly creepy is maybe the best way to describe this young adult work that also has darker elements, references to myth and the occult that will probably fly over the heads of younger readers. Older readers will find Coraline living down the street from Charles Addams place and also backyard neighbors of Ray Bradbury’s
The October Country folks.
“There was a tiny doubt inside her, like a maggot in an apple core.”
But Gaiman’s Coraline never achieves the campy fun of Addams or Bradbury, leaning instead towards a Tim Burtonesque darkness that is charming in its own way. (Though the 2009 film was directed by Burton collaborator Henry Selick).
Gaiman masterfully blends haunting elements of nighttime mystery with his own inimitable style of writing, to create a setting for Coraline to explore. Coraline’s plucky little girl, written soberly for a slightly more mature reader, struggles perfectly with the arcane machinations of the other mother.
“It doth not hurt,” whispered one faint voice.
Finally, Gaiman’s unique ability to craft a sepulchral niche that is akin to Lovecraft but more playful, reminds the reader of his brilliant work
The Graveyard Book. An excellent introduction to his canon, this is also a must read for a Gaiman fan.
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This is the perfect Halloween read! It's creepy, eerie, and beautifully written.
Now I want to rewatch the movie! I loved it :D -
This a perfect, traditional fairy* tale, with a slightly surreal twenty-first century warp. The writing is as magical as the plot.
Its thirteen chapters are delightful, dark, and funny, with a heroine many can relate to, as child, parent, or both.
Coraline is intelligent, inquisitive, slightly contrary, hates being bored, and wishes her parents paid her more attention, and didn’t feed her “recipes”. Perhaps, she wishes she had different parents. And you should always be careful what you wish for, even if you don’t know you’ve wished for it.
So begins an adventure in which Coraline unlocks a door, goes down a secret passage, and finds herself in an alternate world that is eerily familiar, and scarily unfamiliar. She must conquer fears, discover the truth, and solve problems to find and rescue her parents, herself, and others.
"A book is not supposed to be a mirror. It's supposed to be a door." Fran Lebowitz.
There are echoes of Grimm, Lewis Carroll, Roald Dahl, Dickens, Greek myths, and others, but it's also thoroughly original. It is YYA, rather than YA. I only wish it had been published a decade ago, so I could have read when my son was YYA.
Learning Outcomes
This isn’t a remotely teachy or preachy book, but Coraline learns a lot about life, familial love, and especially herself. She finds bravery she didn’t know she had, but she faces temptation as well. “The other mother loved her… as a dragon loves gold.” The other mother offers her everything she thinks she wants. But there is a price, and Coraline has a Eureka moment, and declares:
“I don’t want whatever I want. Nobody does. Not really. What kind of fun would it be if I just got everything I ever wanted? Just like that, and it didn’t mean anything?”
The Importance of Names
Names are often endowed with supernatural power, but in this book, it’s almost the reverse.
In Coraline’s real world, there is a strange man who has an apartment in the same house; Coraline doesn’t know his name (it hadn’t even occurred to her that he had one), and he always gets hers wrong (Caroline).
The equivalent man in the alternative world always gets her name right, and yet that's also where the cat explains why names are unimportant: “We [cats] know who we are, so we don’t need names.” When Coraline asks what she'd do if she needed to call it, the cat replies, “Calling cats… tends to be a rather overrated activity. Might as well call a whirlwind.”
The Importance of Fairy Tales
In the introduction, Gaiman says that the prime message he wanted to convey to his young daughters was that bravery is “when you’re scared but still do it anyway”.
Hence, he opens with a quote from GK Chesterton:
“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”
That reminded me of an equally pertinent one from Ursula Le Guin:
“People who deny the existence of dragons are often eaten by dragons. From within.”
Chris Riddell’s Illustrations Compared with Henry Selick's Film
My edition of the book is illustrated by
Chris Riddell, who has also illustrated Gaiman's
The Graveyard Book. I have fond memories of his collaboration with Paul Stewart on
The Edge Chronicles, read with my son a dozen years ago, and enjoy his cartoons in The Literary Review.
The slightly different imagery of the
film is probably familiar to more people. I saw it several years ago, and it feels like a
Tim Burton work, but it was actually adapted and directed by
Henry Selick, who worked with Burton on
The Nightmare Before Christmas, and also directed
James and The Giant Peach (Miss Spink and Miss Forcible reminded me of aunts Spiker and Sponge).
Submit to being entrapped in this tangled web of creative talent.
Quotes
• “It wasn’t the kind of rain you could go out in, it was the other kind, the kind that threw itself down from the sky and splashed where it landed. It was rain that meant business.”
• “'Go away,' he said cheerfully.”
• “An argument as old and comfortable as an armchair… that no one ever really wins or loses.”
• “The mist hung like blindness around the house.”
• “She had the feeling that the door was looking back at her, which she knew was silly, and knew on a deeper level was somehow true.”
• “There was something slightly vague about his face – like bread dough that has begun to rise.”
• “Her long white fingers fluttered gently, like a tired butterfly.”
• “Her hair was wriggling like lazy snakes on a warm day. Her black-button eyes seemed as if they had been freshly polished.”
• “If she were nowhere, then she could be anywhere. And, after all, it is always easier to be afraid of something you can’t see.”
• “Her voice did not just come from her mouth. It came from the mist, and the fog, and the house, and the sky.”
• “Mirrors… are never to be trusted.”
But Gaiman is.
This book is magical.
I already said that, but it’s worth repeating.
* No actual fairies in this fairy tale, but that's true of most of the best fairy tales, imo. -
My summary:
The story begins with Coraline, a young girl who has just moved into a new house with her parents which has been broken up into different apartments with neighbors. Coraline’s new neighbors are interesting: an old man who trains rats for a circus performance, and two old ladies who are retired stage actresses. The issue is that Coraline’s extremely frustrated and bored with not much to do. Her parents are simply too busy with work to spend any time with her and Coraline feels somewhat neglected.
Coraline shook her head. “Why don’t you play with me?” she asked.
“Busy,” he said. “Working,” he added. He still hadn’t turned around to look at her.
As she begins exploring her new home she finds a little door in the wall, but it’s locked and she can’t seem to get it open. Once she finds the key, she opens the door and discovers that it’s closed off, but the next time she opens it, she finds a secret hallway that leads to another world. Her neighbors have warned her previously, but curious Coraline enters the door into a new world and finds that the house looks much like her own. Her neighbors are the same, but younger and more interesting. She discovers that the people living in the home look like her parents, but aren’t her real parents. They give her tons of attention and cook all the yummy food she loves. It’s like everything is perfect here.
“So,” said her other father. “Do you like it here?”
“I suppose,” said Coraline. “It’s much more interesting than at home.”
Eventually her ‘other mother’ tells her that she can stay there and live forever, if she would only let them sew buttons onto her eyes. Coraline is creeped out and decides to go back home, but now her real parents are missing. Where on earth did they disappear to? Now Coraline must figure how to get her parents back from the other mother.
My thoughts on the book:
I finally read this with my kids after seeing the movie a hundred times. We were surprised that the movie stayed fairly close to the book minus a few differences like the addition of a character and small details like the mango milkshake. It was fun reading along and having the image of the movie characters in our minds.
The book reads like a creepy fairy tale and we all savored it. It surely held our interest, and I thought it was written really well with good descriptions. Neil Gaiman definitely doesn’t disappoint with Coraline. I think it’s perfect for all ages, but maybe too creepy for very young readers. There were a few disturbing parts that had us on edge toward the end and even as an adult, I found it gripping.
I have to say that I loved the themes in this book! I think they’ll really push readers (especially children) to think about the choices they make in life and to appreciate what they have. Not only that, even though Coraline experiences much fear, she must find a way to be brave and fight for what belongs to her. She’s actually very wise for her age and we just loved her.
Somewhere inside her Coraline could feel a huge sob welling up. And then she stopped it, before it came out.
There are some thought-provoking lessons here and it opened up a big discussion after we finished the book. We talked about some of the decisions that Coraline made and what we thought she could’ve done differently. We appreciated the Q&A with the author and also the reading group questions in the back. We’re happy to have this book added to our home library and will definitely be rereading this one in the future.
4.5****
You can see this review @
https://readrantrockandroll.com/2018/... -
I saw the film before I read the book, which is not how I like to do things, as it can often be like taping a hockey game and having someone tell you the final score before you've had a chance to see the game for yourself. However, I can say that seeing the film first didn't really spoil the book for me.
Coraline starts off rather slowly but this independent, thoughtful, odd, distant, misunderstood child soon gains the reader's sympathy. This becomes more intense as Coraline gets more deeply enmeshed in danger.
Gaiman does a good job of characterization. We see the characters through the eyes of a little girl who is remarkably intelligent and yet doesn't understand everything the adults do or say. Many of the adults are eccentric in a Dickensian sort of way; they deal with others when they have to but are firmly ensconced in their own little worlds. And so they see Coraline as an oddity too.
The cat is perhaps my favourite character of all. Gaiman knows cats well; they appear elsewhere in his works. And this one is the genuine article: superior, stand-offish, wilful, easily offended, and yet a true friend.
Gaiman makes this a children's book that will appeal to adults as well. It doesn't talk down to children. Not everything is spelled out or explained away. We don't really know, for example, who the Other Mother is or where she came from. As the book progresses we get hints, but not a "back-story." And that's just fine--although I have to admit, I'm curious. Any chance of a sequel or a prequel, Neil? -
Re-read for my book club! This time I liked it less, mostly because I already knew what was going to happen and wasn't as enchanted by the voice of the book (which felt like someone older telling me a story, rather than getting to experience a story through Coraline). I think it reads like it really wanted to become a movie (and did!).
So good! Short and sweet scary kid horror with a great message about how to be brave.
As usual after reading anything by Neil Gaiman, I'm way inspired. He's incredible across so many genres! I always leave each book wanting to be a much better storyteller and looking for which of his books to read next.
For me, it was also a really interestingly written book. The sentences are short, punchy, and vivid in a way that made me feel like I was there with Coraline, going into danger and finding a way to be brave.
I see there are two versions with different illustrations. For what it's worth, I really liked the Chris Riddell illustrations in this one.
I'll definitely be reading this one again and again. -
Dude imagine writing a horror book for your children.... and on top of that setting the story in YOUR OWN HOUSE????? Neil Gaiman is ruthless.
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“Because,’ she said, ‘when you’re scared but you still do it anyway, that’s brave,”
I thoroughly enjoyed this! A quick read that I blitzed through in a couple of hours, but of course it being Gaiman it left behind chills and the fears so prominent in childhood.
Coraline Jones and her parents have moved to a new flat. One with two elderly ladies next door and a crazy old man upstairs, not to mention the black cat who seems to belong to no one.
Having explored everywhere in the surrounding land of the house, Coraline grows bored. What’s with the door that opens to a brick wall? Does it really go nowhere?
What Coraline discovers behind the door is the worst of nightmares for a child. And when this villain threatens her family Coraline must act to protect those she loves.
Creepy and imaginative, I’m glad I didn’t read this as a child! -
Edit : I'm sorry guys, I won't be able to post the review today because it's already midnight and I was busy :(REVIEW TO COME TOMORROW.
'She left us here' said one of the voices. 'she stole our hearts, and she stole our souls, and she took our lives away, and she left us here, and she forgot about us in the dark.'
This is a story about a girl named Coraline Jones, She and her parents move to a new house but they don't own all of the house. They just own part of it and they also have neighbors who live in this big house. They are Miss Spink, Miss Forcible and an old man with big moustache but one day the old man says he has a message for Coraline from the mice. The message is Don't go through the door and when Coraline visites Miss Spink and Miss Forcible's house, they read Coraline's tea leaves and they say she is in danger.
what does the old man mean when he says he has a message from the mice that says Don't go through the door? and what do Miss Spink and Miss Forcible mean when they say she is in danger when they see her tea leaves? what kind of danger is this?
you have to read the book to know all the answers. you won't regret it once you start reading it. just go, buy the book and read it.
I have always loved watching horror or creepy movies since I was a kid so when I was a kid I watched Coraline movie. I wasn't born as a reader, so I didn't read the book first before watching the movie :( and I loved it so much! I still remember those days when I watched the movie and I felt my heart pounded so hard inside my chest and it was actually one of my favorite movies. I watched it all over again and again and I even watched it again with my best friend and she totally loved it too. So months ago I decided to read the book because I loved the movie when I was a kid and I liked the book so much! it was my first book in 2017.
when I started reading this book, I felt so excited because I was in reading slump ( and I'm probably still am) but I got a little bit bored when I was in the beginning maybe I felt a little bit bored because I already knew about the story but it was just a little bit. and Coraline was so cute and she was brave, clever and she also loved adventure! I mean, she was just a kid but she was SO brave. what could I do when I was around her age? possibly nothing important. you'll know what I mean if you've read this book, if you haven't then you have to read it. IT WAS SO GOOD!
the story was really interesting and I should have read this book sooner! the illustrations in this book are so amazing and they're cute but some of them are scary too, which are SOO AMAZING.
I almost always read this book at night and that was the perfect time to read this book. I love that feeling when I feel scared, my eyes barely wink, my breath become fast or when I clutch my hair with one hand and turn the pages very fast ( sometimes I think I'll tear my book when I turn the pages so fast. but I just can't control my emotion). So I suggest you to read this book at night. it's just the perfect time to read this book.
I just don't know what to say about this book. this book was great and I enjoyed it even though I got a little bit bored at the beginning. Basically this book was great and If you want a creepy book with interesting story then I recommend you to read this book.
thank you so much for reading and liking this review. Hope you all have an amazing day!❤❤❤
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Yep, I’m going to have some lovely nightmares tonight.
Every single word of this book was so purposeful, I absolutely loved it. This is my first Neil Gaiman novel, though I have had Graveyard book on my shelf for years now. And despite its cinematic popularity I’ve never read or seen a Coraline before (Tim Burton movies STILL terrify me).
Before Coraline I never understood how a book could be scary, without jump scares and such. But wow, this book was terrifying. Everything from the concept of an “other family” to the writing style was downright chilling. I can’t understand how this was meant to be a children’s book, because I’m 20 and nearly had to sleep with a night light on after. As Gaiman remarked though this is a book that “children experienced as an adventure, but which gave adults nightmares.” What an understatement.
The only thing I didn’t understand was why the story kept going after Coraline went back through the passage. Was it just to include a disembodied hand that will haunt my thoughts for the foreseeable future? I got the message of “the grass isn’t always greener on the other side” (ha ha) of the book in general, but didn’t see how this added to it.
Either way, I really loved this and devoured it in one sitting!
“‘The names are the first things to go, after the breath has gone, and the beating of the heart’”
Intended audience: All ages (except maybe young or easily frightened children)
Content warnings: None -
Coraline by Neil Gaiman is a Creative, Original, and Different Children's Story!
Eleven-year-old Coraline Jones is incredibly bored in her family's new flat, so off exploring she goes!
She unlocks a door to a passageway that leads to another flat. It appears to look exactly like her family's flat in every way. Only everything is better, much better. But all is not as it seems...
Coraline is another amazing story from the creative mind of Neil Gaiman. The narration takes you on a creepy ride through the eyes of sweet and inquisitive Coraline. A blend of magical realism, dark fantasy, and things made of nightmares, all wrapped up in a children's story. The characters are creative, the creatures imaginative, and Caroline's journey is epic! What a ride it is!
I listened to the audiobook with the full cast production on the recommendation of a Goodreads friend. This version truly does give a theatrical feel to the story and an elevated listening experience. Thanks, Melissa ~ Bantering Books!
Coraline could be a bit nightmarish for the younger set, so a read through or quick listen before letting this story loose on them is advised. This could be disturbing for those sensitive kiddos.
Mr. Gaiman, you've done it to me again. I'm basking in a puddle of pure joy, right here, right now!
5 Creative-Original-Different Stars!⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ -
Coraline was woken by the mid-morning sun, full on her face.
For a moment she felt utterly dislocated. She did not know where she was; she was not entirely sure WHO she was. It is astonishing just how much of what we are can be tied to the beds we wake up in in the morning, and it is astonishing how fragile that can be.
This is like Stephen King's
It re-written for children.
I adore Stephen King, obviously, and I highly enjoyed this creepy and horrifying children's book that Gaiman has written.
Coraline is a little girl who is rather introverted. This means she is ignored by adults a lot. Most of them don't even know her real name - Coraline - and instead, keep erroneously calling her Caroline. Her parents work a lot and don't spend a lot of time with Coraline.
One day, Coraline discovers a secret door that leads into a world just like her own. There's her bedroom, slightly off-color. There's her bed. And there's her 'other mother' with black button eyes and fingers that are constantly twitching and writhing.
Her other mother loves her. Wants her to stay. Stay forever. There's only one thing Coraline has to do, and her other mother promises it won't hurt at all...
...
Seriously creepy and disturbing book. You might want to vet this for your children if you worry about that sort of thing. When I say "Stephen King for children," I am not joking. This book is dark and full of very disturbing and unsettling images.
I think any adult or child could really love this book. It is a great book.
I think some of my favorite books are books where:
They were astonishingly heavy - almost too heavy for a girl to lift, even using all her strength, but she managed. She didn't have any choice.
a female character does something challenging or disgusting or scary because she has to. There's no other option - she must be strong and brave or die. No fucking around. This is so reminiscent of my life that I love seeing it in my fiction. Especially when (like here) everything turns out okay in the end and the story has a happy ending. Female characters with agency and gumption float my boat. Coraline has that in spades. She's a great little heroine.
There are some things that are going to bother an adult reader. For example, a certain twist will be obviously to an adult reader LONG before Coraline ever figures it out.
Also, you will probably be shaking your head frequently and wondering why adults are so goshdarn useless in children's literature.
Another drawback of the book for me is the utter villainization and denigration of rats. Rats are lovely creatures. Why are they always demonized in fiction? This is a travesty. You're not winning any points with me, Mr. Gaiman. And you're teaching children to hate and fear rats when really rats are a delightful pet for children to have. Friendly, sweet, smart, and cuddly. Like very tiny dogs and with much less upkeep and expense.
Little things in the book I love. For instance, Coraline hates "real food" (what she calls 'recipes') and instead lives on stuff like microwaved frozen pizza and microwaved frozen French fries. She is delighted when, while visiting the neighbors, she is served limeade.
For tea she went down to see Misses Spink and Forcible. She had three digestive biscuits, a glass of limeade, and a cup of weak tea. The limeade was very interesting. It didn't taste anything like limes. It tasted bright green and vaguely chemical. Coraline liked it enormously. She wished they had it at home.
LOL So funny and so true of children. I'm glad Gaiman isn't trying to make Coraline into a 'little adult.' And, now that I think about it, nor is he trying to force some kind of 'healthy eating' agenda down readers' throats. Ugh, I hate that shit. Instead, he's absolutely captured childhood with perfection.
I enjoy Gaiman's writing, which is not very detailed, but is pleasing nonetheless.
The mist hung like blindness around the house.
How about this passage, talking about rain:
Coraline went over to the window and watched the rain come down. It wasn't the kind of rain you could go out in, it was the other kind, the kind that threw itself down from the sky and splashed where it landed. It was rain that meant business, and currently its business was turning the garden into a muddy, wet, soup.
...
Tl;dr - A delightful, very creepy and haunting story that will have both adults and children turning on the nightlights after darkness falls. A great, smart heroine who takes the initiative and acts with purpose. Highly recommended.
P.S. I wonder if the 'other mother' in this book was called The Beldam after La belle dame sans merci. *shrug* Something to ponder.
P.P.S. Thanks, Chrissie, for this cool link of people reading Coraline!
http://mousecircus.com/coraline-video... -
It’s been ages since I last saw the movie but I loved it. I waited a long time to read the book so I can forget the events of the movie (and I did) but my mistake was listening to the audiobook. Not that Neil’s narration wasn’t great (I loved it and also enjoyed the music effects) but my mind refuses to focus on anything fantasy or even mystery sometimes. I don’t sit still and listen to audiobooks, you see. I repeated lots of passages because my mind drifted off… eventually decided to read it (and glad I did). I have no idea why I wanted to listen to the audiobook, anyway. I guess it was available in my library? It’s such a short book that I could’ve finished easily in one sitting.
What I want to say I wasn’t creeped out. But I loved Coraline’s character, she’s brave, intelligent, and kind. The cat was another highlight of this book. Also, the story overall was well-written of course and enjoyable. I didn’t think I’m going to like it because it’s a “children” book but I actually believe it’s something that anyone might enjoy regardless of their age. I’m certainly considering telling the story to my young cousin now. -
Coraline, a young girl, comes into a kind of parallel world when walking through a bricked door. On the other side she meets other parents than her own. Things get scary and complicated when her real parents are missing. Where are they gone? What about the mirror? Coraline get her parents back and what's the role of the black cat and the mouse circus? The author wrote a nice book for kids or early youth. There are also fine illustrations inside. Compliments to the author's imaginary vision and the great ideas. A very unusual haunted house story. Sometimes I was also reminded on Alice in Wonderland. In the end I felt a bit too old for that kind of literature but it was well done. A youth might have given four or five stars...
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To read Coraline? Or to listen to Coraline? That is the question.
Because I’ve now enjoyed Neil Gaiman’s masterwork of a children’s story in both bookish formats, and I honestly can’t decide which I prefer.
When I first read Coraline years ago, I felt pure magic. It was the same feeling I had as a young girl when I read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, two of my most favorite children’s stories written with a twist of the fantastical and a dash of dark magic. For this is what Coraline is: a child’s dark, fantastical nightmare brought to life on the page. But it’s also one to which adults can relate. While growing up, who among us didn’t at one time wish for another mother? Or another father?
Yet Coraline is written so simply and poetically that it’s almost meant to be listened to. The audio version that I borrowed from the library has a full cast, and it’s one of the best audiobooks I’ve ever encountered. Plus, having the story read aloud to you only adds to the experience of being returned to your childhood. It’s just wonderful.
So pick your favorite format. Either print or audio, you can’t go wrong. What’s most important is that you enter Gaiman’s world and meet Coraline – the curious and daring, clever girl that she is. -
I really love this 2012 edition by Bloomsbury! I love the cover, I love the illustrations inside, I just love everything about it.
It was worth waiting all this time to pick up this book. And I am so glad I started Neil Gaiman's books with this one.
I am telling you this that it's never too late to read a good book. No matter what the genre it belongs to.
I like the story. I like the unexpected adventures Caroline had to explore. I like the side characters. I like the fact that the 'other' parents seemed more convincing than the actual parents. I like the book as a whole.
📌 What more I was expecting from this book:
I wanted this book to be more gripping and fast paced. I wanted the writing to be more dramatic. I wanted the characters, especially the main character, to be a little more lively and interesting. I wanted to learn more about the side characters and I wanted these characters to be more involved in the adventure and the quests. I wanted the actual parents to be more realistic rather than seeming like fragments of a good, nice memorable dream. I wanted the ending to be a bit more interesting and enjoyable.
But it's a good middle grade fiction in the end. -
Re-read. But this time... with my daughter. And, as it turns out, SHE LIKED IT. :)
Whew.
Nobody be dissing my Gaiman, yo.
Truly, it does get better on re-reads. So dark. Like, disturbingly dark. Honestly scary. Maybe worse for adults than for children. Maybe. My girl hid under her covers during certain points. I call that a win.
Teeth and tails and buttons for eyes. Can't go wrong with a little fluff, either. :)
