Favorite Quote

"A woman stood in the kitchen with her back to Coraline. She looked a little like Coraline's mother. Only...

Only her skin was white as paper.

Only she was taller and thinner.

Only her fingers were too long, and they never stopped moving, and her dark red fingernails were curved and sharp.

'Coraline?' the woman said. 'Is that you?'

And then she turned around. Her eyes were big black buttons."

-Neil Gaiman, Coraline (27-28)

This spine-tingling description is something that is characteristic of Gaiman's story. This is the first time that Coraline sees the "other mother" when she wanders through the locked door. One of the things that Gaiman does successfully is to take the familiar and make it unfamiliar. By doing this, the familiar, in this case Coraline's regular mother, becomes frightening because she is

changed. At first Coraline does not realize the "other mother's" sinister intentions for her because she is lulled into complacency by the parts of the "other mother" that are the same. Over time, she looks closer at the "other mother" and realizes she is a horrible copy and not her mother after all. I also think this quote is important because many of us just glance at things in our lives and don't look at them critically to realize the danger that lies underneath.

Visual Representation

I chose an hourglass to represent the book Coraline because initially in the book, Coraline wastes time. She wanders around the house and complains that she is bored. She doesn't view time as valuable. I think this is common for small kids because they have a lot of time ahead of them and don't realize how fast that time will go once they start to get older. Later in the book, once the evil "other mother" makes a deal with her that she must find the souls of the stolen children or be forced to stay with her forever, Coraline realizes that time speeds up quickly. She doesn't seem to have enough time to rescue the children and her parents. She worries that time will run out and she will have to stay in this weird new reality forever with her "other family" who are mean and spiteful. If there were a moral to this story, I would say it would be that people must be content with the time they have. Once Coraline returns to her home successful, she is far more content to stay with her parents in their slow, boring life.

Character Connections

All of the characters in this book are a little odd, but I felt a connection to Coraline because in the beginning of the book, she is bored with her life. She moves to this new house, mopes about the house, complains to her parents about dinner, and doesn't seem to have any friends to play with. I remember being in elementary school and being bored on the weekends and during the summer because we did not live in a neighborhood with other kids. My brothers were much older than I and often did not have time to play. I read a great deal and made up bizarre stories in my head which were often scary and frightening like Coraline's adventures through the door. These stories made life a bit more interesting and sometimes I would write them down. While Coraline is not a reader or writer in the book, I feel that her imagination helps to create this other world where things are interesting but also dangerous.

Further Reading and Viewing

This is the only book by Neil Gaiman that I have ever read, but many of my friends have recommended his book American Gods which follows modern day superheroes. He is most famous for his comic books called The Sandman, and there are several of those. I also have heard that his book Stardust is pretty fabulous. I saw the movie adaptation and was most amused by Robert Deniro's portrayal of an unconventional pirate and the unique storyline about a hero in pursuit of his true identity.

Most of Neil Gaiman's books are sort of bizarre and scary, so I would recommend Stephen King's books as well as the movies directed by Tim Burton.

I have also heard that there is going to be a movie done of this book. I plan to check it out and report back on the movie's progress. Of course I could be behind, and the movie has already been released.

Summary of Coraline.

Coraline is a book by Neil Gaiman. In the book, a young girl named Coraline has moved into an unsual house that has been divided into several flats. Most of the neighbors are quite peculiar. The two ladies downstairs are obsessed with their past as stage actresses and the man upstairs has a pet rat which he speaks to as if it understands. One day Coraline discovers that this new apartment has a door that leads to nowhere. Her mother opens the door and behind the door is nothing but a brick wall.

Coraline's mother leaves the door unlocked, thinking that nothing bad can happen. The next day, Coraline comes to the door to discover that now it leads down a dark hallway. She goes through and finds herself in an alternate reality. In this new reality, she has a new family called "the other mother" and "the other father." They are sinister beings with buttons for eyes and sharp teeth. They want Coraline to stay with them forever.

At first Coraline does not think that this new family is anything to be scared of. They make better food and allow her to do what she wishes. But a talking cat assures her that she should not be so complacent. She soon discovers that this "other" family is frightening. The "other mother" has kidnapped several children and trapped their souls into objects. She has also abducted Coraline's real parents. Coraline aggrees to stay with the "other mother" if she cannot release the trapped children and her parents from their prisons.

SPOILER ALERT: Keep reading at your own risk.

Once Coraline agrees to the bargain she and the talking cat search this new universe. Now that she knows the "other mother" has ill intentions, Coraline sees this new place for what it is. The man upstairs has thousands of talking rats that hunt Coraline. The ladies downstairs have horrible creatures that threaten to kill her. She searches for the souls of the children and finds them trapped in marbles. Once she has them, the only other thing she must do is release her parents from a snow globe in which "the other mother" has trapped them.

Coraline is a successful hero and she returns back to her normal, blissfully boring life.