# Neil Gaiman's Coraline **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 16, 2002, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-coraline/124183 "2002-08-16T13:57:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lady\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Lady\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lady_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-coraline/124183/1 "2002-08-16T13:57:23Z")
Hello. Longtime lurker and newbie poster here. I know there are Gaiman fans that post here. I just finished reading _Coraline_ last night. I thought it was brilliant and was looking for other opinions/admirers. I loved the fact that, despite being a kid’s book, it still had enough creepiness and clever turns of phrase (Coraline referring to her dolls as “protective coloring”) to appeal to adults. Whaddya think? ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-coraline/124183/2 "2002-08-16T15:49:43Z")
I just read it too. I liked it. Very Gaiman, I felt, with just the right combination of humor and eerieness. The imagery was very good, especially the “dough-man” in the basement that had been her other-father. As a side note, Terry Pratchett’s recommendation on the back cover, brief as it was, was also very entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![Gozu\_Tashoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Gozu\_Tashoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu_Tashoya)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-coraline/124183/3 "2002-08-16T16:07:06Z")
It’s sitting on my nightstand right now. Planning on reading through it this weekend, and it’s good to hear that I didn’t waste my money on a “kid’s” book. (Read the first page and it was enough like Stardust to already have convinced me of that, but it’s still nice to have verification.) ---
**Author:** ![Lady\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Lady\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lady_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-coraline/124183/4 "2002-08-16T16:22:02Z")
Speaking of recommendations, I also liked the Lemony Snickett (brief hijack of my own thread: who is this person?) blurb. :: walks off to make small animals out of yarn :: ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-coraline/124183/5 "2002-08-16T17:43:42Z")
I loved it (and I even have a signed copy, since the author lives in my city). I’d agree that it’s very Gaiman-- lots of absolutely great turns of phrase and a pretty good grasp on how kids think and process information. I think some of my favorite descriptions were of the lime soda (something like, “tasted bright and chemical and nothing at all like lime. Coraline liked it enormously.”) and of spiders (something like, “Spiders made Coraline intensely uncomfortable.”). Great stuff. Wish I knew if the Beldame was based on older mythology, like so much of his work, or if she’s purely a Gaiman creation. ---
**Author:** ![Orual](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orual](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orual)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-coraline/124183/6 "2002-08-16T17:58:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lady Mondegreen \* > **Speaking of recommendations, I also liked the Lemony Snickett (brief hijack of my own thread: who is this person?) blurb.** Lemony Snickett is the (purported) writer of a series of childrens/young adults books called “The Series of Unfortunate Events”. A most excellent series. Hilarious. Go [here](http://www.lemonysnicket.com/) to find out more. ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-coraline/124183/7 "2002-08-16T18:28:05Z")
Another yea vote here. I am in the process of reading it to my kids and my only fear is that Claire will pick up on Coralines “Oh Daddy, you made a _recipe_” line and use it in her never ending struglle to avoid eating what I prepare:) ---
**Author:** ![DarkWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee59a6/32.png) [@DarkWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkWriter)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-coraline/124183/8 "2002-08-16T19:10:56Z")
I’ve been waiting for _Coraline_ since he talked about it at a [convention](http://www.campnecon.com) a couple years ago. Glad to hear it’s as good as I’d hoped. I’m going to try to pick it up this weekend. Sheri ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-coraline/124183/9 "2002-08-16T19:21:47Z")
From Roget’s II The New Thesaurus, Third Edition 1995 NOUN: An ugly, frightening old woman: crone, hag, witch. Slang : biddy. Archaic : trot. See BEAUTIFUL. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-coraline/124183/10 "2002-08-16T19:23:31Z")
D\*mn! Left out - that’s the entry for Beldam/Beldame. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-coraline/124183/11 "2002-08-16T20:30:56Z")
Look it up, you say. \ Yes, I can see how that might lead to useful information. Heh heh. It never occurred to me that it was a real word. Thanks for the info! ---
**Author:** ![A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/46a35a/32.png) [@A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_wizard_song_for_thee)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-coraline/124183/12 "2002-08-16T22:00:50Z")
I’m just sayin’, I was seriously freaked for weeks (I bought the audio version, which came out a couple weeks before the hardcover) about the soggy thing at the back of the theater. Y’know, the thing that was the other Mizzes Spink and Forcible. Yikes. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-coraline/124183/13 "2002-08-16T22:11:36Z")
Oh, yeah. Gaiman is a very visual author. His descriptions of the house and the …things are excellent and creepy. Particularly that thing on the theatre wall. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-coraline/124183/14 "2002-08-17T05:39:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by arisu \* > **Lemony Snickett is the (purported) writer of a series of childrens/young adults books called “The Series of Unfortunate Events”. A most excellent series. Hilarious.** Quite! I love that series, and I love reading it to my girls. Of course, one realizes fairly quickly that the persona of Lemony Snicket is a key part of the inventiveness of the Unfortunate Events series. My wife and I were briefly theorizing that Gaiman and Snicket may be one and the same, which is a stylistic possibility, though practically very unlikely. Anyone who’s read _The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish_ can see how we entertain the idea, even if we know it’s not true. The author who created Snicket has his own name (though I’ve seen it I can’t remember what it is), and has supposedly made a number of “real” appearances as Snicket. So’s it’s not a complete hijack… I just picked up _Coraline_ this evening, after drooling over the Dave McKean illustrations. Looking forward to reading it. Gotta love a book that gets its title from a “treasured” typo. _grin_ ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-coraline/124183/15 "2002-08-17T06:34:29Z")
I have _Coraline_ sitting on my bookshelf waiting for me to finish one of the books I’m currently in the middle of. I actually shouldn’t have bought it–I forbade myself to buy any more books until I had read all my unread ones–but I couldn’t resist. And, of course, it got put at the top of the “to-be-read-next” list. ---
**Author:** ![A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/46a35a/32.png) [@A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_wizard_song_for_thee)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-coraline/124183/16 "2002-08-17T21:22:55Z")
Lemony Snicket is Daniel Handler’s nom de plum. He’s written two adult novels, as well, and they’re both really good and really twisted. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-coraline/124183/17 "2002-08-30T03:42:17Z")
I finally got to _Coraline_… I started it on the way to work this morning and finished it on the way home. It was wonderful… the main character reminded me of my own daughters (especially the fact that she doesn’t like “recipes,” just like my girls), and the story was one of Gaiman’s best. Some very creepy things in it as well, such as the “other mother” tapping her long fingernails against her black-button eyes. That one’s sticking with me, I think. Chilling imagery, and elegant prose. I’m looking forward to reading it to my girls, starting tonight when they go to bed. I think they’ll enjoy it as much as I. They love the Lemony Snicket books, and though it’s been a while, I remember that they also liked when I read _The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish_ for them. Well worth reading, for children or adults, I should think. ---
**Author:** ![Gozu\_Tashoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Gozu\_Tashoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu_Tashoya)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-coraline/124183/18 "2002-08-30T21:20:22Z")
**Avalonian** , that was my favorite image as well (the tapping, that is). It’s interesting that you say that _Coraline_ is one of Gaiman’s best, as he says that it’s the book he’s proudest of as well. (Of course this may have just been a publicity thing.) Personally, I’m still holding onto Neverwhere as my favorite. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaimans-coraline/124183/19 "2002-08-30T22:52:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KKBattousai \* > \*\*Personally, I’m still holding onto Neverwhere as my favorite. \*\* Picking a favorite Gaiman work is very hard for me, and really depends on the genre we’re talking about. I really liked _Neverwhere_ as a BBC movie, but as a novel it lacked something for me. Looking forward to the Jim Henson Productions movie, as I think it works better visually than in prose. His best adult novel, for me, was _American Gods_. I put that one right on a par with some of the best dark fantasy novels, such as Clive Barker’s _Imajica_ or King’s Dark Tower series. Of course, there’s his comic work. Hard to pick favorites even within that, as _Sandman_ can be seen as a complete work in itself or several (perhaps 10, perhaps 75) shorter works. I suppose, if I had to choose, my favorites among his comics would be “Dream of a Thousand Cats” from _Sandman_, or the original four-issue _Books of Magic_ series. Or maybe _The Dream Hunters_, the last Sandman story. Short stories… hmm. My favorite collection is _Angels and Visitations_, and my favorite prose story… perhaps “Chivalry” (which is best when he reads it live) or “Murder Mysteries.” So, when I said _Coraline_ is one of his best, it’s sort of up there somewhere with all of those, under the category “Children’s Story”. It is _one_ of his best stories in general, but I’d be hard-pressed to choose a “favorite.” Sorry, that was longer than intended…