Nothing had ever been so interesting
"Coraline" by Neil Gaiman is a universal novel. I have read it three times.
The first time I read it was as a teenager, and it felt like a scary tale about a weird world and a brave girl. The second time was as an adult, and it felt much deeper than before. But the third time was the best — when I was reading it in English. That time I was delving much deeper than I had before. I think that happened because I was reading slowly, aloud, and in the original language. I believe that gave me the opportunity to read every word attentively. I kept stopping and cogitating about the meanings of new words again and again. I reread a few scenes just to feel them better.
I had a lot of enjoyment reading the scenes in the cellar. It was so creepy! And I really can't understand how I hadn't noticed that before!
"Coraline's slippers crunched across the cement floor. The bad smell was worse now. She was ready to turn and leave, when she saw... the foot sticking out from beneath the pile of curtains."
I was really frightened by that scene! There is no pause in the text, but when I was reading it, I stopped and just... Wow! My heart almost jumped out of my chest! My astonished brain started imagining the worst scenes! Who is that? Is it a body? I mean a dead body. The last victim?! Who?!
"She took a deep breath (me too) (the smells of sour wine and mouldy bread filled her head) (in my head I felt a sweetish smell of cadaver) and pulled away the damp cloth to reveal something more or less the size and shape of a person."
The author used such powerful words that it couldn't have been better for drawing such a scary picture.
I adore Neil Gaiman's language and his style of writing — I read large parts of the text aloud with inflection. Some sentences sound pretty poetic, they have rhythm, and I reread them many times:
"Coraline also explored for animals. She found a hedgehog, and a snakeskin (but no snake), and a rock that looked just like a frog, and a toad that looked just like a rock."
What I initially thought was a scary kids' tale turned out to be a complex, thoughtful story about family, courage, growing up, and love. Neil Gaiman designed his novel with enigmas, and that is the best way to create new theories around Coraline's world.
I came up with a few questions for discussion, but before that, I would like to share one extra quote with you:
"It was true: the other mother loved her. But she loved Coraline as a miser loves money, or a dragon loves its gold."
Now, my questions:
· Who is that girl with the wings?
· Why does the Other Mother's hair keep moving?
· Who is the Other Mother? Could she have a difficult and sad life story?
· What happens to time in the Other Mother's world?
· What if the children weren't killed by the Other Mother — what if they just died of natural causes?
· What about the speaking cat?
· Did Coraline really win against the Other Mother?
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