Mirkat Always Reading

Some authors should not narrate their own books.  But Neil Gaiman is not one of those authors.  Neil Gaiman should narrate everything:  His books, my shopping lists, your GPS directions.  Listening to Gaiman's narration of The Ocean at the End of the Lane, I just kept thinking "delightful," not just for the story itself (even though that fits), but also for the way Gaiman narrates.  After the story was over, I listened all the way through the acknowledgements, despite Gaiman's helpful comment that "You don't need to listen to this part; it's mostly names."  I would listen to him reading poorly translated instruction manuals.

The story is framed by the protagonist's return, at age 47, to his childhood neighborhood, for a funeral.  He visits a neighboring farm, and remembers fantastical things that happened when he was seven, and his neighbor Lettie, at age 11, went to great lengths to protect him from unbelievable adversaries.  I don't want to say more--just give it a listen!