The Ocean at the End of the Lane | Neil Gaiman | Talks at Google

Neil Gaiman stops by the Googleplex to discuss his latest book, "The Ocean at the End of the Lane." You can find the book on Google Play at: goo.gl/KFqZK . This talk was moderated by Chris DiBona.
From the book description:
A major new work from "a writer to make readers rejoice" (Minneapolis Star Tribune)-a moving story of memory, magic, and survival
Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.
Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie-magical, comforting, wise beyond her years-promised to protect him, no matter what.
A groundbreaking work from a master, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is told with a rare understanding of all that makes us human, and shows the power of stories to reveal and shelter us from the darkness inside and out. It is a stirring, terrifying, and elegiac fable as delicate as a butterfly's wing and as menacing as a knife in the dark.

[@gpeddino]

"Assume that you have a million words inside you that are absolute rubbish and you need to get them out before you get to the good ones." Gaiman rocks.

[@Shepsus]

He is completely correct too. I love it.

[@brianberek]

That says it ALL, great line

[@davidwright8432]

A bit like Michelangelo saying 'I take this block of marble, and just remove the bits I don't want, then there's the statue.'

[@Carcosahead]

i keep picturing him like the younger nice mood brother of Severus Snape.

[@princessthyemis]

Lol!! :D

[@berkhan1774]

Neil Gaiman actually has that messy hair of a Potter 😭

[@TheTowerDark]

Carcosa I'm currently listening to ocean at the end of the lane on audio book,and I swear,there are moments when I cannot tell his voice apart from Alan Rickmans voice. glad I'm not the only one.

[@taraharrison8381]

Alll the time! I was thinking, fluffy? Okay he wrote HP as a ghost writer...

[@lindsay8035]

How can I not be the only person who has ever thought this??? :)

[@josrodsedre5142]

"Go and sit down or something." THANK GOD.

[@D4n1t0o]

Oh bless, he was just nervous.

[@zakushii]

" I'm male ... And English ... A killer combination I don't do feelings" -Neil Gaiman, 2013

[@chriskibler3638]

Work Ephraime G was

[@tamsinlee6447]

i really like the ocean and graveyard books. They are very English, from my childhood. Tongue in cheek humour and characters/people I recognise. I had books, animals and the odd adult who understood a very shy person, forcing themselves to communicate.

[@NinjaofApathy]

I think the host did a unusually good job interacting with Neil. A few comments seem to disagree, but imo, the host did really well.

[@simplynin97]

I love Neil Gaiman, personally one of my favorite authors. He's like a modern Poe.

[@anthonyalvarez664]

I agree...

[@beckyann8389]

Meeting Neil Gaiman truly was a moment of my life that I will never ever forget

[@andrewg3768]

I meet him last week had dinner with him as part of a group.

[@Turbo9987]

i could listen to this man talk about writing all day

[@princessthyemis]

Neil Gaiman is THE BEST!!! He is so inspirational!!!

[@abigailchorley8118]

I read Ocean at the End of the Lane for the first time this week and then I read it again. It has quickly found a spot on my favorite book list. I love that I can be familiar with the story but not ever really know it because it is so layered and complex.

[@sinswept]

I first read Stardust while I was in high school and then American Gods a few years ago and I have always had a good measure of respect for Gaiman, but I kept hearing good things about OatEotL. So I ended up picking it up and it completely knocked my socks off! It's as if I have been wandering in the narrow, dark, winding corridors of his mind looking at little things hidden in corners or alcoves and then I open a door which leads into an impossibly vast space filled with everything.

[@squamish4244]

+Saga Efraimsson I think part of the book's power stems from the fact that you could tell Gaiman put a lot of his own childhood into it.

[@karuonline3294]

would you mind sharing the rest of your list ?

[@gl494]

I like how modest and humble he is of his talent and success. :) keep writing Mr Gaiman.

[@SleepFan771]

I just finished "The Ocean at the End of the Lane." amazing novel, it will be one of my favorites of Neil's now. Go get it, I strongly recommend it.

[@11679MRT]

The audio book is worth it just to hear Mr. Gaiman's narration.

[@mishasan7]

His advice on writing 34:50. Read a lot, and write a lot; it's working! There's definite improvements afoot. Might have to do his Masterclass, it sounds awesome, and he's just such a lovely, inspirational man.

[@Shmyrk]

mishasan7 did you read Sherlock Holmes? Lol

[@danaezevely4150]

Absolutely one of the most emotionally impactful books I’ve ever read.

[@greyforge27]

One of the most beautiful books I've ever read, because it's very real and deeply personal - and also because it uses magic in a way that cuts to the core

[@feralbluee]

"when myparents got home, i do not even think my kitten was mentioned." the expression on his face showed the memory of that loss. (what a horrible person that opal man was. you can tell by the way he reads him.)

[@nonemptystring7463]

I cried for Fluffy.

[@NateSean]

I'm looking at all of the videos on the side and I wonder if any other author has been so accessible to his readers.

[@hollywisniewski7576]

One of my favorite authors and the best book I've read this year. I have both that he read.

[@toogiesmom]

I actually just finished this book. And without hearing Neil Gaiman read this passage first, this is exactly how I heard it in my head. Well, from a younger voice of course, but Niel's voice nonetheless.

[@hollywisniewski7576]

Also, the story about why he started to write the book is heart warming.

[@trashleigh87]

I love Neil's personality and sense of humour.

[@meaninglessbark]

[Note to self: If you're ever in the position to introduce Neil Gaiman do it like this: "Ladies, and gentlemen, Mr. Neil Gaiman." Then get the hell off the stage.]

[@Y2M4444]

Na, they seem to get along well together

[@Elanel]

I LOVE how Neil reads children's voices.

[@taraharrison8381]

Must be nice to be read to by him to fall asleep, as child or grown up childlike slumber. Sigh. I love reading to kids. And anyone who's willing to both be tender, engrossed, and also use outrageous voices, oh lala. trifecta.🤤bellissimo 🍰

[@taraharrison8381]

I think i knew Amanda somewhat... if she was at museum school i was the girl called a feral cat by Collin, in the color photo 'overnight' hours. Lol. Weird times. 🙃 3am hrb radio dj friends, dan and jeremy 'entropy' on MIT radio, Anhedonia zine by another Dan... I'd see her when i was a nanny for phd students in Harvard Sq. as that white stilt bride painted white face, the painted bride, hmm... im in philly now. vegan fatday thanksgiving, emohardcore underground shows, Morphine albums, Sleater Kinney, falling in love, Converge, CaveIn, fedakin Jon Kozad rants of passion, prolific at art but no family foster care background slide into 0 $/no bottom safe to fall upon. Travelling, circusy days, pregnancy, poverty. Social justice, warmth and compassion, maybe to paint again or write one day soon I hope now that my son's 13 with a single mom who does it all by herself. "Where do you remember me reading up to when you fell asleep?, okay and read it again in the morning" sweet half smile, my favorite moment in this.

[@Validus241]

Some people are not born to be comedians. I'm almost three minutes in and I feel so sorry for Neil Gaiman.

[@sidgallup]

im also 3 minutes in and i don't understand why or when do you think he's trying to be a comedian... hes just talking like a writer, like every writer does, one methaphore every 10 seconds... so.. yeah..

[@andrewlivingston4495]

I think what Validus241 is talking about is the introduction by the guy who was not Neil Gaiman, which was indeed pretty cringeworthy.

[@Validus241]

Oh yeah, Gaiman is just trying to go along with it. He's too nice to be like "Dude... shut up." I would've, probably. Ugghh, what an idiot.

[@theotherlindsayrickman]

Thank you for posting! I love his simple advice for beginning writing stories. Love his humor, candor, all of his works. And he's handsome, too. He Amanda Palmer are a real magic couple.

[@codswallop321]

For future reference, the presenter needed to (a) state Neil's name (b) list some of his earlier work (c) mention his latest novel and its critical/sales success then (d) leave the stage. To omit a, b, c and then have the guest tell you to do d is painful viewing.

[@niveditan9020]

Very true!

[@MinuMathew]

Well said! All the while, I waited for the host to leave the stage.

[@NateSean]

In his defense, I don't think it killed his career.

[@Ichithix]

The intro was delightfully awkward.

[@jzzn985]

Everyone does it at some point, too. You try to make a joke, then one of them works, and then you unsuccessuflly try to do it again. Pretty sure he was much more uncomfortable than us when, long after, he saw himself in video.

[@KamarionDMiller]

Gaiman is a modern genius

[@WalterWWelle]

Pretty sure this solidifies Neil Gaiman as my favorite living author ever. @neilhimself

[@AnaCosta-sq7lo]

So... I ordered the book even before the end of the video.

[@TheKrazyLobster]

Neil's eyes... They are just so... So... Starry.

[@anamarie8]

so nice to put this up on youtube

[@dylanperry5242]

Thanks for the heads up.

[@sphinxtheeminx]

Portsmouth has a short road called The Ocean at the End of the Lane. It faces the sea.

[@63artemisia63]

This October, to set the stage for the most magical month, even when it’s 20-30 degrees warmer than it should be, I plan to read Ocean for the third time. Other October books include Second Nature, Alice Hoffman’s dark, dreamy fable about what happens when a man who was raised by wolves falls in love with a woman who was raised by humans, and The Daylight Gate, Jeanette Winterson’s take on England’s fearsome, infamous 17th century Pendle Witch Trials. Sitting here at the beginning of August in the Deep South, when the miserable weather makes walking to the mailbox feel like doing tai chi in chin-deep mud, I feel a delicious anticipatory chill just thinking about feeling those stories unfold. This year I may even start in September so I can read all three books twice, then reread The Historian by Elisabeth Kostova, a mesmerizing tour de force ten years in the making, that imagines Dracula is still on the prowl and always one step ahead of the protagonist.

[@lindy2]

Thank you for this list.❤

[@ElfHybrid]

Thank you!

[@TheCrimsonCat89]

4:30 for the real beginning of this video

[@loganarowland]

I'm so excited about the book he reads at the end.

[@loganarowland]

As a follow up to this, I have since read "Fortunately, the Milk" and it was just as wonderful as I could have hoped.

[@NightOwlReader2790]

+Logan Rowland It was a fun read, I read the whole thing at my local library! I didn't have a library card. It wasn't very long, so it wasn't some great achievement.

[@NinjaofApathy]

@@NightOwlReader2790do you have a library card now? :)

[@feralbluee]

"Books were safer than other people - anyway.'

[@squamish4244]

He doesn't normally do feelings? His last novel, The Graveyard Book, had major feels. Roger Lancelyn Green's 'Myths of the Norsemen' had a big impact on me too. Damn.

[@Gobbostopper]

+valinor100 He's a very good writer at subtly hinting at the emotions of characters. His book American Gods had a character in shock for a long period at the beginning, and whilst it made the character appear very flat, wwas pretty accurate for what shock is.

[@squamish4244]

CG News and Reviews It helps if you can identify with them too, of course. I was very much like the little boy in Ocean, not having any friends at that age and living in books or making up imaginary worlds in the forest behind my house. Unfortunately there were no immortal beings living in a farmhouse behind our property :)

[@Gobbostopper]

valinor100 You should probably check, though. To be on the safe side.

[@rogerkelly2827]

Shadows Dissolved in Vinegar. get mp3 version@ tinyurl . com \ nkywp5f . delete spaces.

[@feralbluee]

He is just wonderful :}

[@cgolden3621]

My fave NG book!

[@Elanel]

He missed his wife! "I love you. Making an album." It's nice to see that marriages can actually work.

[@TomorrowWeLive]

this comment didn't age well lol

[@kahlhertz]

Poor guy. The host was starstruck. A tech geek who probably knew of Gaiman from his comics. Can't say I wouldn't feel and stumble the same. Humour is a kind of clunky fight/flight response sometimes. But it's important not to meet your heroes. Bet tech guy grew a lot from this interaction.

[@cestmoi5702]

Excellent book. A pleasure to hear him read the entire book.

[@Persnikity-yv3nh]

25:25 I'm in my twenties and I'm fairly confident my parents could still recite Chicken Licken from memory. xD

[@kaigeddes]

I do have a question, whilst I am now on my third academic paper on your wonderful novel: the plunging scene and floating in the ocean, counterpoint?

[@blondemaverick]

Who decided Chris DiBona would be the PERFECT man to moderate this? Because they should be fired. UNLESS... they did it on purpose, knowing that it would frame Neil Gaiman's natural patience and charm... in which case, that person should be given a raise.

[@D4n1t0o]

Eh. I liked the intro and the host. Great talk.

[@TheCheesecakedeath]

I am laughing and crying at the same time.

[@veronica.theswamphag]

There's more Stardust?? Oh my little shiny heart :')

[@prisiv]

OMG.. possibility of a sequel to Stardust

[@AntshKhel]

I love this man. Def mancrush.

[@AntshKhel]

Regarding video games, it's actually (probably) happening now. Check out 'Wayward Manor'.

[@veronica.theswamphag]

"Oh okay it must be the feelings" :')

[@temiloluwaafopefoluwa6619]

The writing took Neil how many days?

[@sheenaanagnostopoulos3026]

The host is so awkward it's painful. Too painful...

[@mastod05]

he's one of the Endless you mean

[@WalterWWelle]

book was great and I wanted to know the answer about the stiching. haha

[@leviada]

He kind of reminds me of Tom Cavanagh as Harrison Wells

[@maybrennan2581]

I am of the opinion that Neil Gaiman is actually God.

[@veronica.theswamphag]

I could live happily with that as truth

[@NYCAustinNYC]

"Gazing at the naked screaming face of God." LOL

[@TheKrazyLobster]

Anytime

[@emmaphilo4049]

Marmite is so good 😋😋😋 love it or hate it

[@soulsniper43]

I thought it was Marc Almond ?

[@spookyboopuddleglum7435]

aw, he wrote it for amanda XD

[@numoonmystic7864]

Good God, the man just read the moving price, and these damn robots act as if they head a technical description. Fucking nuts.

[@res3tful]

Man that guy at the beginning was just the worst...let Neil just talk, he's pretty good at it :)

[@ebonstone2980]

I...never keep my composure when a kitten has been killed. Never.😢

[@Django44]

How does it happen at the world's most tech-advanced company, with overflowing coffers and access to some of the most creative minds on the planet, that Neil is encumbered with a huge, honkin' 1950s-style microphone, half the time obscuring his face?

[@wiktoriatluvi]

OOOH SHINY 😂💜💜💜

[@taraharrison8381]

Her question was what do you think about patents. She cited an example as part of the reason she asks, and mentions that people have told her the inflatable helmet was your idea. Wish the question had been addressed, the crowd had been forgiving, and by answering she hadn't been left as the fall girl who deserved no addressing due to an innocuous error which was an aside to the question by a jerky audience some of whom i still cant cleanse my palate of. Ugh. Sorry girl, no big deal you made that error and still waiting to hear his opinion on patents. Maybe it seemed like an unappealing debate but a great question.

[@Hegemon54]

innocuous? I mean, Gaiman is gracious and good humored but its a pretty big fuck up to ask a question of an author and their work, not realizing you're asking about a different author and their work. thats a big yikes

[@BenjoCovers]

He was so sad about the cat

[@jessehoward9478]

Goddamnit gaiman! Sequels!!!

[@jamesboyleii6332]

Can the first part, where Chris made everything awkward, be cut out?

[@NateSean]

Anyone whose phone goes off at this time should be permanently banned from any form of electronic communication.

[@dansemcabre]

< American who loves Vegemite!

[@dopilus]

...trying not to spoil the story, or give anything away: why did you decide to bring Sherlock Holmes back to life? O_o -- are you, kidding* me [?]

[@andrewg3768]

Vegemite yuck, Marmite yum, I'm a Kiwi! I lived in London in 2017/2018 and didn't find our marmite any different to the UK one.

[@jamescombs2118]

What is on his head?

[@jamescombs2118]

Very good speaker though

[@TheKrazyLobster]

Anytime! \o

[@mandysandy7406]

He looks like Ross

[@andrewg3768]

Vegemite yuck, Marmite yum, I'm a Kiwi! I have lived in London and didn't find our marmite any different to the UK one.

[@professorfarmgirl9662]

Am I the only one who thinks he is WAY to good for that girl?

[@peterbarker8249]

..think Q..

[@TheKrazyLobster]

SPOILER ALERT - At around 30:40 , a stupid creature asks a question that basically spoils the whole book. If you want to avoid that, please, skip that part.

[@littleripper312]

Good thing Neil Gaiman is good at public speaking because he was basically with no help from that host. You wouldn't want to do that to a guest who couldn't handle themselves as well on stage. It's okay the host is nervous but maybe they should get someone more comfortable at public speaking... Not good to have a guest start off shaky like that.

[@peterbarker8249]

. ..finnish'd🐟🎣🎏🐡🐠

[@HeathcliffeMcHarris]

Shameless second.

[@srbomachina]

Wow, what an awkward introduction

[@jassfleur2462]

I am terribly in love with you Neil. Let your wife know this :)

[@nellietorres4547]

M

[@canmoose3092]

only one tech company out of 7 makes $

[@peterbarker8249]

.. becalm an enfinn'd is...

[@squamish4244]

I feel like Ocean is better suited for a YA readership, and the adult scenes felt contrived to make it more 'mature' (and perhaps increase the selling price). It would have had much more of an impact on me when I was 11 or 12 and less familiar with the tropes.

[@jassimwood]

shameful first!

[@joyharmon1110]

At Google is like a cheap version of Ted Talks. Weird host, low tech, and mainly employees in the audience. The ten people asking questions seem to be the only ones who follow Gaiman's work.

[@6479993104]

The host is terrible.