For more on Coraline
Visit
Coraline on Neil Gaiman's website
Coraline
on MouseCircus.com
Coraline
at Amazon.com
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Dear Subscriber,
This week, a book review.
====================================
 Neil Gaiman's
book: Coraline . This is a children's book
and is written for ages 8 and up. Plainly put, I
LOVED IT! I love his themes and imagery. His
introduction to the story is a quote by G.K.
Chesterson:
"Fairy tales are more than
true: not because
they tell us that dragons exist, but because
they tell us that dragons can be
beaten."
Neil teamed up with Dave McKean (a favorite
illustrator of his) for the illustrations. The
drawings are pen and ink and quite moody. I
don't want to spoil the book for anyone - so
won't touch on any story line specifics. I
will, however, pull out the one phrase and theme
that
jumped off the page at me. I've heard something
similar to this before. It continues to resonate.
In the story, there is a character that is in a
mirror world that Coraline enters. That
character is her "other mother". This woman is
not her real mother but rather her "other
mother" within this mirror world. This false
mother has created the mirror world to entice
and lure Coraline to stay with her forever. It
isn't out of love but out of desire - as one
desires a possession. Neil captures a theme
about evil that I believe to be true:
"The other mother could not
create. She could only transform, and twist, and
change."
I believe that the miracle of goodness
and true
Love is the unlimited possibility for creation.
Out of all the evil things that happen and exist
on this earth --- the scandalous and miraculous
power of goodness & Love is that something
beautiful, unimagined, and redeemed can be
created.
I'm going to read the book again. There are more
themes to be uncovered (such as Coraline's
deliberate choices for courage). I don't want to
build Coraline up to be something overly
allegorical or insanely
profound. It is, simply, a well-written and
entertaining children's book. It is written in a
fashion we've seen before like C.S. Lewis,
George MacDonald, Roald Dahl et al. *And*, if
you choose, you can witness (in a story) meanful
and challenging truths.
Quotes Worth Hearing
"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional
love will have the final word in reality. This
is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger
than evil triumphant."
--Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Have a great week!
Janece
email: janece@janece.com
voice: 425-772-8864
web: http://janece.com
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