January 27, 2016

Book Review: Coraline

Title                : Coraline
Language       : Indonesia - terjemahan
Author           : Neil Gaiman @neilhimself
Publisher      : Gramedia
Genre             : Children, fiction, mystery

Do you still read children books? Well at least I still do! This is the first children book I’ve read in 2016. Finished in just two days between my working and sleeping hours hehe J. After reading few pages I keep finding time to reading it till the end.

I’ve heard Neil’s expert in writing fantasy children story and some reviews said that this one is quite tense. I should say that this is the great fiction fantasy scary children book. I think this book is spooky, too scary for children. Maybe I’m a coward but Neil doesn’t have to create vampire, werewolf, and the walking dead to make this story frightening.

It all starts when Coraline moving to the new old flat. She and her family are not the only one who’s living there. There are also an old man with his white mice and two other ladies. There are 14 doors in the house and the 14th door is locked with the big black ancient key. Her mother has opened the door once and showed her that there is nothing behind the door except brick wall that separates her flat to other side of flat that is still empty.

Coraline feels bored one day. Her mother doing shopping and she still curious with that deadlocked door. Her curiosity makes her took that black key, which is feels colder than other keys. Once she opened it, she doesn’t see any brick wall, instead only darkness which smells old and damp. She step to other side and surprisingly find herself in a flat just like her flat; same paintings, same rooms, and same furniture.

But she’s not alone in that flat. She heard her parents voices and runs to them. Shockingly they are not her true parents. Part of face that should be filled with eyeballs had been replaced with buttons. These person are her OTHER parents.

Full of promises, her other parents keep luring her with more delicious food, better toys, better bedroom and better life so Coraline want to stay there. Not just for a while but forever. But she insisted in going back.  

Strange thing happen when she got back. Her parents don’t come back for two days, that’s when she realize that her other parents have kidnapped her true parents just to get her back to the other side of that door again.
 
Having no other choice, Coraline must open that door once again to save her parents and she hope she can find her way back through that darkness and her other parents that seems nice but full of secrets and deceits.     

Neil creates this brave little girl character that show us you are brave not because you’re not scare. But you are brave because you are scare and still keep moving forward. I should say that the illustrations are quite creepy.

The book was on big screen in 3D animation back in 2009 with voice over by Dakota Fanning and Teri Hatcher. I haven’t watch the animation movie but by watching its trailer I think it less scary than reading the book itself. (***)




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