As part of our little jaunt to Portland, Hubby and I made a pilgrimage (and there really is no better word for it) to Powell’s Books. After wandering for about an hour, taking in the amazing amount of books they had, my feet hurt and so I parked my rear on a bench (my only complaint about the store is that they had no place to sit!) and read this one until Hubby (who has more durable feet than I do) finished his browsing.
Having not read the novel (I know: a serious omission that I am going to correct soon), I had no idea what I was in for. It was an interesting little fable, but (as I am finding Gaiman often is) a bit, well, odd. For those of you who don’t know, Coraline is an only child and one summer her parents move to an apartment in an old house. Coraline is often bored, and she isn’t particularly happy in her new home, though she does like to explore. She finds a door that leads to nowhere, or so she thinks. One day, she opens it, and finds a passageway into an alternate world. One that she thinks she enjoys: the food’s better, the toys funner, the parents nicer. They want her to stay, the only condition is that they sew black buttons on her eyes. Coraline refuses, but when she gets back to the “real” world, she finds her real parents missing. She has to go back through the door to save her parents and stop whatever it is over there from taking her, too.
I enjoyed the graphic novel version of this; I thought the drawings were delightfully creepy (though I suppose they could have been even creepier…) and I thought the whole adventure was fascinating. However, I kept feeling like I was missing something because I hadn’t read the original novel. I don’t know what it was, but I think if I had done it the other way — read the novel first, and then the graphic novel — I would have enjoyed it more. Reading the graphic novel first, though, just whet my appetite for the real thing. I can only imagine what Gaiman did with the story, and I’m curious to know. Then again, curiosity isn’t always a good thing…
The Book Nut 
Did you sit on the bench in the orange room in front of the local authors shelves? or were you in the pearl room, which I seem to recall having a couple of benches as well? isn’t Powell’s a great place? my husband and I placed an order just before they stopped doing free shipping to Canada for orders over $50, and with our order came a couple of maps of the place. since we were already planning a road trip to the states to see my family, we made Powell’s a necessary stop. and we’ve back several times since. I’m so glad you got to enjoy it (even if your feet were sore at the end).now, about Coraline: I’ve only read the original book (it’s only a little over 100 pages) and found it utterly creepy. I can’t wait to see the graphic novel!if you’ve got your hands on the graphic novel version of Neverwhere, make sure you’ve read the book first!
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I picked this up cheap and am hoping to read it and the novel this year. People keep looking at me funny when I say I haven’t gotten around to it yet…!
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Ah, Jena, actually there happened to be a bench in the Rose room by the children’s books, and I parked there. 🙂 Powell’s is, well, an experience. I think, in the end, we decided it was almost too much. I also wondered if other local indie stores in Portland (I did see a couple) hate Powell’s the way indie stores in other towns hate Border’s and Barnes and Noble’s. I still need to read Neverwhere, but once I get to it, I’ll have to keep an eye out for the graphic novel. Thanks for the tip!
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Wooo! I would give an ovary to go to Powell’s! As for Coraline, I enjoyed the graphic novel well enough, but the novel was far better for me. I didn’t love the illustrations in the gn either, but that’s probably because the quirky illustrations in the novel ruined me. Can’t wait to read what you think of the gn!
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