This was excellent. Perfect level of creepy without going too far (i.e., without slipping into too-scary-to-be-enjoyable). Coraline herself is instantly engaging, and all the characters are unique and appealing (or fascinatingly horrible) and believable within the context of the story. Gaiman does such wonderful things with suspense and surprise and disturbing imagery, and there are nice little bits of humor throughout to help offset the horror elements. Coraline is both the (unintentional) source of her own troubles (her annoyance with her boring existence and her inattentive parents leads her to go through the door) and her own (and others’) savior, and even the help she gets from others results from her own actions/interactions with them. Her transformed attitude after her escape is earned and believable. My one complaint is probably just that at the very end, I had trouble believing that the trap Coraline arranged for the other mother’s hand is truly going to keep it trapped forever. I didn’t feel as safe as I think we are meant to by the very end of the story. ( )

Coraline has recently moved to a new apartment with her parents. Their apartment is one of four in a house that contains a kind older gentleman who lives upstairs and who is always talking about his mice and their soon to come show. Her other neighbors are the two older ladies who were once actresses and who have become somewhat eccentric. Coraline is lonely as her parents are very absentminded and sometimes treat her as a nuisance. But she has her neighbors and they are sweet and treat her well.

One day while exploring the apartment, she discovers a door way that opens unto a brick wall. Though this development proves to be unexciting, she on another visit discovers that the door rather than having the brick wall leads into a hallway. She follows the hallway and ends up in an apartment that looks exactly like hers with a few differences and most surprising of all is that the two adult inhabitants like exactly like her mother and father. In this version of her world, her parents are extremely attentive, cooking her delicious meals, allowing her lovely toys and a more beautiful room the one in her world. But Coraline is an unusually perceptive girl and though she is at first impressed with this new life, she wants to go home. Her look alike parents, "the other mother" and "the other father", try to bribe her with promises of all the good things that will be hers, but Coraline insists that she wants to return home. When she refuses all overtures her other mother somehow manages to kidnap Coraline's real parents. When Coraline returns home, she searches all over for her parents but they are nowhere to be found. She then realize what her other mother has done and she vows to rescue her parents.

I listened to this as an audio book and Neil Gaiman does the narration. Gaiman is a very good reader and I was immediately engaged. The story was quite creepy and there were moments where I was not sure how it would pan out for Coraline. Coraline may be a child but she was a very intelligent one who was not swayed by nice things realizing that though her parents were absentminded and sometimes careless of her feelings, they genuinely loved her. She rejects the offer of having whatever she wants and she tells her other mother that life is not supposed to be all about getting whatever you want because when you are denied something sometimes its for your own good. I really, really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read more by Gaiman.

I am not sure how appropriate this would be for a very young child as it may frighten them unduly. I think it is probably best for the 12 and above crowd. ( )

read this review and others at http://readingforsanity.blogspot.com/... ( )

Coraline gelangt in eine Parallelwelt, in der das selbst zubereitete Essen schmeckt, die Eltern sich um sie kümmern und alle Zeit für sie haben - aber irgendetwas stimmt nicht - und zwar mehr, als dass alle Personen Knöpfe als Augen haben. Nachdem dann auch ihre Eltern gefangen werden, macht sie sich auf, den bösen Zauber zu besiegen - und bleibt tapfer, auch wenn der kindliche Horror zunimmt. Die Geschichte ist spannend entwickelt, für junge Leser vielleicht etwas zu spannend - für ältere andererseits entwickelt sie sich zu schnell. Aber als Verfilmung im Tim Burton Stil sicher sehenswert ;)  ( )

Coraline, a vivacious and curious only child, has moved with her parents into a large old house that has been subdivided into four units. She has odd neighbors whom she occasionally visits, but she feels alone for the most part. Her parents, although home, seem always to be working, and there are no other children around. It is while following her father's suggestion of counting windows and doors throughout the house that she discovers a little locked door in the one room in the house that is rarely used. Her mother finds the key, but it opens only to a brick wall separating sections of the house - or so Coraline thought at first. What Coraline later finds in the dark and without her parent's knowledge is that this door leads to her other world. Coraline's other world is ruled by her Other Mother. At first, she is charmed by her Other Mother and Father even though their eyes are simply black buttons. They take great interest in her and make true home-cooked meals. While she might enjoy the attention, she soon discovers how sinister Other Mother is and she is forced to save herself and her true parents from the world through that little door.

Coraline was a much different reading experience for me than The Graveyard Book or Neverwhere. While Other Mother is a creepy, evil character, she isn't developed in the same way as Gaiman's other villains. Her edge comes from her physical presence, while the ghouls or Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemaar make themselves apparent through their dialog. I found more delight in the Vandemaars and Bishops of Bath and Wells, but writing the Other Mother this way did bring spunky Coraline firmly front and center. What wasn't there for me in the way of banter, Coraline made up with her bravery and ingenuity. She is not afraid to get up and chase a shadow through a strange house and, when push comes to shove, she puts others before herself. She takes responsibility for her own problems and throws a thrilling tea party, too. In those ways, she was very real to me.

Who can remember daydreaming about having the perfect parents? I most certainly can. The parents in this fantasy fluctuated from kings and queens to Luke and Laura (yeah, I’m dating myself here). While I never had a problem with my mother’s cooking like Coraline did, there were many things that my Other Mother would have done better and with more finesse. What Coraline points out so beautifully is that often the characteristics and actions we prescribe to our “perfect parents” would in fact prove detrimental to us, at least to some extent. One of the things I remember longing for in my parental dream team was the permission to stay up as late as I desired. Had my parents allowed me to do that, they wouldn’t have been parenting at all. There’s no possibility that I could have performed at my best at school if I was exhausted all of the time. Regardless, getting whatever you want eventually loses its luster precisely because it’s not what you really need. You need parents who love you, take care of you, and provide you with the discipline you need to lead your most healthy, productive life.

Coraline reaffirmed my preference for reading a novel before seeing the film. We rented and watched "Coraline" a couple of months ago. I enjoyed the movie a great deal and loved what Tim Burton did with the animation. However, there was a character in the movie that played a prominent role that did not exist in the book. I spent a third of the novel waiting for him to arrive on the scene only to realize that he would never come. It was a distraction and I wished that I had come to this novel with a clean slate. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this novel a great deal and read it in less than 24 hours. I look forward to the day when I can read this with my daughters - and not just to put the fear of the Other Mother in their hearts (hey, they probably think they’ve already got one… LOL!) ( )