Note:
I started writing this January 7th of 2023 and published it on February 17th.
It was held without review out of respect for HarperCollins Union and their strike for fair wages. HCU are the only unionized group among the big five publishers. If you are interested in purchasing books to support the union, please do it through their bookshop.
Premise and Review
Published in 2002, this is Gaiman’s second children’s book. Coraline is a dark fantasy/horror story about a young girl who is often alone and bored. It’s also a book about family. It features a creature inside (or on the other side of) her house that preys on children, naturally.
This is my third read of Coraline, I’m pretty sure. I’ve enjoyed it each time. I think it surpasses the film by far in creepiness. There’s also a stronger sense of Coraline’s courage and her sense of aloneness.
The narrative voice in Coraline is very Neil Gaiman. He can’t seem to escape himself in his writing, I think. Even he jokes about it as he’s writing the book, that the inside of Coraline’s head sounded like an older man. But that’s exactly what I was thinking. He writes as her, but her voice is stifled by him. It’s also quite British. There’s something about the humour and the stoic cat that hammers this in.
Emotional / Psychological Neglect
Alongside this, Coraline is largely about neglect. We see how familial neglect can lead someone to choose a more dangerous option for some attention. She isn’t swayed for long, in this case.
One thing I did notice is that twenty years ago, when this was published, the notion that neglect is a better form of abuse would go unquestioned. Now-a-days we know how damaging it is. So, with that in mind it was hard to see her return to her parents as they downplay all of their love even after she risks her own life for theirs. And even after a horrifying adventure. On one hand I appreciate that Gaiman probably was wrestling with this himself, with regards to his own parents and his own parenting style. It’s very British, after all, to stuff all your feelings inside of you and put love in small digestible boxes. On the other hand, I wish that wasn’t a lesson he had given to all the children that were read this book or read it for themselves.
Horror or Dark Fantasy
I can never decide if Gaiman’s books are horror, dark fantasy or something else. I have always appreciated the way he does it, though. It’s not gorey. It’s not frightening. But it is a bit like Edward Gorey. It’s much like Tim Burton, as well. There’s an overall miserable atmosphere tinged with something monstrous, but our characters always pull through.
Sometimes I hate the way things are classified. The Witcher, for example, is classed as fantasy. But that is most definitely a dark fantasy tinged with horror! Especially the games, which I find quite scary at points (though I have yet to read the books, I apologize, but rest assured it is on the list).
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I think this year I will be getting rid of my numbered rating system, as even I can’t decide if I’m rating something accurately and will change it a few times. For now, though:
Rating: 4/5
To purchase a copy of Coraline, check out my bookshop, which supports independent bookstores across the US. If you’re more interested in reading digitally, Booksio has a rather large selection of books and is a woman owned company that donates 15% of their earnings to a charity each month.
