Week 8 Mythic Fiction and Contemporary Urban Fantasy

I have been egger to finally read one of Neil Gaiman’s novels. I am a fan of his writing for graphic novels, and have always wanted to read some of his novels. For week 8, I read The Ocean at the End of the Lane. The story of a man returning to his childhood home and recollecting his forgotten childhood adventures. I really got swept up in this read. I know I might be young to say this but I really felt a connection to the narrator. How he was searching for his identity as an adult and his disconnection with his childhood. Now entering my mid twenties, I have started to get feelings of nostalgia and trying to find my identity as an artist. I often find myself starring off into space, as the narrator did on to the ocean and remember things differently then I thought I had remembered.  How we want different thing at different points in our life. I find a great example is a song written and performed by Neil’s wife Amanda Palmer, “In My Mind”

In my mind

In a future five years from now

I'm one hundred and twenty pounds

And I never get hung over

Because I will be the picture of discipline

Never minding what state I'm in

And I will be someone I admire

And it's funny how I imagined

That I would be that person now

But it does not seem to have happened

Maybe I've just forgotten how to see

That I am not exactly the person that I thought I'd be

And in my mind

In the faraway here and now

I've become in control somehow

And I never lose my wallet

Because I will be the picture of of discipline

Never fucking up anything

And I'll be a good defensive driver

And it's funny how I imagined

That I would be that person now

But it does not seem to have happened

Maybe I've just forgotten how to see

That I'll never be the person that I thought I'd be

And in my mind

When I'm old I am beautiful

Planting tulips and vegetables

Which I will mindfully watch over

Not like me now

I'm so busy with everything

That I don't look at anything

But I'm sure I'll look when I am older

And it's funny how I imagined

That I could be that person now

But that's not what I want

But that's what I wanted

And I'd be giving up somehow

How strange to see

That I don't wanna be the person that I want to be

And in my mind

I imagine so many things

Things that aren't really happening

And when they put me in the ground

I'll start pounding the lid

Saying I haven't finished yet

I still have a tattoo to get

That says I'm living in the moment

And it's funny how I imagined

That I could win this, win this fight

But maybe it isn't all that funny

That I've been fighting all my life

But maybe I have to think it's funny

If I wanna live before I die

And maybe it's funniest of all

To think I'll die before I actually see

That I am exactly the person that I want to be

Fuck yes

I am exactly the person that I want to be

As for the story, I loved it. The story had such a dark whimsical feeling, a contemporary urban fantasy.  The story felt so familiar but different at the same time.  Like a story or movie I might have seen as a kid.  A story that sticks with you even after you’ve read or seen it. The feeling of repulsion as the narrator pulls the worm out of his foot that was soon to be Ursula Monkton. At times the surreal and rich fantasy puzzled me, but also interreges me. Parasites living longer then man himself.

I think that we all in different ways have our own ocean at the end of the lane in our childhood. I really loved how this novel was also written from Neil to his wife, which makes it feel every personal, how he is sharing his childhood with her.