Symbol Frost Graveyard Book

The Submission

"The names," Claire said. "What about the names?"

"They're a record, not a gesture," the sculptor replied. Ariana's words brought nods from the other artists, the critic, and the two purveyors of public art arrayed along the dining table, united beneath her sway. She was the jury's most famous figure, its dominant personality, Claire's biggest problem.

Ariana had seated herself at the head of the table, as if she were presiding. For the previous four months they had deliberated at a table that had no head, being round. It was in an office suite high above the gouged earth, and there the other jurors had deferred to the widow's desire to sit with her back to the window, so that the charnel ground below was only a gray blur when Claire walked to her chair. But tonight the jury was gathered, for its last arguments, at Gracie Mansion's long table. Ariana, without consultation or, it appeared, compunction, had taken pride of place, giving notice of her intent to prevail.

"The names of the dead are expected; required, in fact, by the competition rules," she continued. For such a scouring woman, her voice was honeyed. "In the right memorial, the names won't be the source of the emotion."

"They will for me," Claire said tightly, taking some satisfaction in the downcast eyes and guilty looks along the table. They'd all lost, of course—lost the sense that their nation was invulnerable; lost their city's most recognizable icons; maybe lost friends or acquaintances. But only she had lost her husband.

She wasn't above reminding them of that tonight, when they would at last settle on the memorial. They had winnowed five thousand entries, all anonymous, down to two. The final pruning should have beeneasy. But after three hours of talk, two rounds of voting, and too much wine from the mayor's private reserve, the conversation had turned ragged, snappish, repetitive. The Garden was too beautiful, Ariana and the other artists kept saying of Claire's choice. They saw for a living, yet when it came to the Garden they wouldn't see what she saw.

review: the graveyard book

By Neil Gaiman (with illustrations by Dave McKean) won the Middle Grade Cybils in the Science Fiction and Fantasy category. It's the story of Nobody Owens who is adopted by the "residents" of the next door cemetery when his family is brutally murdered.

Unlike so many recent orphan stories, Bod, as he's known by his friends and adopted family, is a well loved and happy child. His childhood may be unconventional and his schooling spotty by modern standards but he is still a happy and well adjusted child.

At the back of the book Gaiman describes the history behind The Graveyard Book and yes, it does share many similarities with the two volumes that make up Kipling's best known work. There's the young boy raised by an unlikely family (ghosts and other creatures of the night instead of the animals of India), an assassin disguised as a friend (Shere Kahn vs. Jay Frost), becoming one of the group (by seeing the elephants dance vs. the danse macabre) and so forth.

If you haven't read The Jungle Book The story is engaging, charming while being creepy and sometimes down right frightening. Key points in the novel are brought to life with Dave McKean's illustrations. There is a portrait of Bod on page 294 at the start of the final chapter that is very close to the author photograph at the back of the book. Gaiman says the story was inspired by his son Mike when he was two (although it took him twenty some years to finish the book!) but it seems that there's a lot of Neil in all his male leads.

Finally, if you do read the book (and I hope you do!), take the time to read the Acknowledgments on pages 311-2. I love it when authors share the methods and stories behind their finished works. Besides learning about the connection between The Jungle Book

Comment #1: Monday, May, 11, 2009 at 07:32:11

samulli

I just read the book recently and loved it. I am not really sure if I would let small kids read it as some of the scenes were indeed quite creepy and I could imagine they could be nightmare-inducing for younger kids. But since I don't have kids myself I could just enjoy it as a lovely story.