The Graveyard Book

There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife. The knife had a handle of polished black bone, and a blade finer and sharper than any razor. If it sliced you, you might not even know you had been cut, not immediately.
The knife had done almost everything it was brought to that house to do, and both the blade and the handle were wet.

In seguito alla brutale uccisione della sua famiglia quando era ancora un infante, il giovane Nobody “Bod” Owens viene adottato ed allevato dalle creature soprannaturali che si aggirano all’interno di un vecchio cimitero.



The hunt was almost over. He had left the woman in her bed, the man on the bedroom floor, the older child in her brightly colored bedroom, surrounded by toys and half-finished models. That only left the little one, a baby barely a toddler, to take care of. One more and his task would be done.

Sono tante le minacce e le meravigliose avventure  che attendono Bod nel cimitero avvolto nella nebbia in cima alla collina. Ma è nella terra dei vivi al di fuori che si annida il vero pericolo, e colui che ha ucciso la famiglia di Bod tempo fa ha ancora un conto in sospeso con il ragazzo che vive in mezzo ai morti.



Owens knew what his wife was thinking when she used that tone of voice. They had not, in life and in death, been married for over two hundred and fifty years for nothing. “Are you certain?” he asked. “Are you sure?”
“Sure as I ever have been of anything,” said Mrs. Owens.
“Then yes. If you’ll be its mother, I’ll be its father.”

The Graveyard Book è uno scaltro e divertente rifacimento in chiave macabra de Il Libro della Giungla con fantasmi, vampiri, lupi mannari, mummie, streghe defunte e  ghouls al posto degli animali, i quali si prendono cura di Mowgli Bod, proteggendolo ed insegnandogli buoni valori e tutta una serie di abilità soprannaturali come lo Sparire, Svanire attraverso le cose, ed il Camminare attraverso i Sogni .



“He looks like nobody but himself,” said Mrs. Owens, firmly. “He looks like nobody.”
“Then Nobody it is,” said Silas. “Nobody Owens.”
It was then that, as if responding to the name, the child opened its eyes wide in wakefulness. It stared around it, taking in the faces of the dead, and the mist, and the moon. Then it looked at Silas. Its gaze did not flinch. It looked grave.

In questo modo, quando alla fine ci sarà la giusta resa dei conti, Bagheera Jack l’assassino scoprirà a sue spese che Bod non é più soltanto un ragazzino spaventato ed indifeso, ma un giovane uomo capace di difendersi e vendicarsi.



One grave in every graveyard belongs to the ghouls. Wander any graveyard long enough and you will find it—waterstained and bulging, with cracked or broken stone, scraggly grass or rank weeds about it, and a feeling, when you reach it, of abandonment. It may be colder than the other gravestones, too, and the name on the stone is all too often impossible to read.

Essendo un fan di Neil Gaiman da sempre ed avendo apprezzato parecchio il suo libro per bambini L’ esilarante mistero del papà scomparso, anch’esso nell’edizione splendidamente illustrata dall’artista Chris Riddell, a mia figlia é piaciuto così tanto che ne abbiamo due copie qui a casa, una in Inglese ed una in Italiano, ho acquistato anche questo e mi sono parecchio divertito a leggerlo, l’incipit e la sua frase di apertura sono semplicemente fra i migliori e più raccapriccianti di tutti i tempi a mio parere, godendomi parecchio trama, personaggi, e world-building, davvero parecchio e ben fatto per essere un racconto di sole 289 pagine.



Then she said, “It’s not that much to ask, is it? Something to mark my grave. I’m just down there, see? With nothing but nettles to show where I rest.” And she looked so sad, just for a moment, that Bod wanted to hug her. And then it came to him, as he squeezed between the railings of the fence. He would find Liza Hempstock a headstone, with her name upon it. He would make her smile.

Purtroppo questo libro è decisamente più orientato verso un pubblico di adolescenti piuttosto che di bambini a causa dei suoi temi e ambientazione più che paurosi, basti dire che il primo capitolo ed un paio di scene ad esso successive mi hanno fatto venire davvero la pelle d’oca, quindi la mia piccola Giorgia dovrà aspettare ancora qualche annetto prima di poterlo leggere.



Two hundred miles away, the man Jack woke from his sleep, and sniffed the air. He walked downstairs.
“What is it?” asked his grandmother, stirring the contents of a big iron pot on the stove. “What’s got into you now?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “Something’s happening. Something…interesting.” And then he licked his lips. “Smells tasty,” he said. “Very tasty.”

Un libro macabro, memorabile, avvincente e toccante.

The boy and his guardian stood at the top of the hill, looking out at the lights of the town.
“Does it still hurt?” asked the boy.
“A little,” said his guardian. “But I heal fast. I’ll soon be as good as ever.”
“Could it have killed you? Stepping out in front of that car?”
His guardian shook his head. “There are ways to kill people like me,” he said. “But they don’t involve cars. I am very old and very tough.”

Vorrei averlo potuto leggere quando ero più giovane, probabilmente lo avrei apprezzato di più e gli avrei dato anche cinque stelle.



She left the Worthington tomb, then, and she went looking for her son, whom she found, as she expected to, at the top of the hill, staring out over the town.
“Penny for your thoughts,” said Mrs. Owens.
“You don’t have a penny,” said Bod. He was fourteen, now, and taller than his mother.
“I’ve got two in the coffin,” said Mrs. Owens. “Probably a bit green by now, but I’ve still got them right enough.”