The Graveyard Book - Discuss Chapters 1 and 2

[Prof. Sky Alton]

Welcome to our discussion of Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard book!

Here we’ll be sharing our thoughts on chapters 1 and 2. I’ve provided some discussion questions below to give you a place to start but please feel free to do your own thing.

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Chapter 1:
The story starts ‘in medias res’ (right in the middle of the action). Do you like it when stories do this or do you prefer when an author eases you in more gradually?
If you were an inhabitant of the Graveyard, do you think you would have argued for or against Bod staying?
Do you have a favourite amongst the characters we’ve met so far?

Chapter 2:
Scarlett’s parents assume that Bod is a figment of her imagination. Did you have an imaginary friend (or several) growing up?
Do you think the sleer was a genuine threat or was it more like the blue man?
Do you find the Graveyard a weird or unsettling setting? Or did you adjust quite quickly?

[Louis Walles]

Chapter 1

I prefer when books start at the beginning of the story rather than in the middle but this beginning was quite clear from the beginning so I liked it a lot.

If I were an inhabitant of the Graveyard, I would be against Bod staying. He is alive and so he shouldn't hang around with dead, but instead live his life.

My favourite character is definitely Silas.


Chapter 2

I didn't have any imaginary friends when growing up but I was always creating stories with my toys.

I think the sleer was a genuine threat. I am honestly quite scared of it

I actually really like this book so I adjusted to it quite quickly.

[Harry Walles]

• Chapter 1

I prefer books that start right in the middle of the action. It makes the book so much interesting.

I would be for Bod to stay at the Graveyard, where he would be safer.

My favourite character is Mrs. Owens.

• Chapter 2

I did have an imaginary friend when I was growing up. His name was Stuart.

I agree with Louis on this one. The sleer is pretty scary.

I, as well, really enjoy this book and it is an amazing story!

[Prof. Kendra Givens]

Chapter 1:

I typically hate when the plot starts in medias res, because I typically get super confused. I don't enjoy the feeling of disorientation, because it makes me feel like I should know what's going on and makes my brain hurt. This particular intro I didn't mind that with, which surprised me. I do remember flipping a few pages wondering if I'd missed a few, but I was relatively comfortable with the setting. I read a disclaimer here or somewhere that the novel had some graphic nature to it, and I was surprised that the gruesome moment happened almost immediately.

Anyone who knows me knows I'd of course be completely fine with Bod staying in the graveyard. The more, the merrier! Silas is also my favorite so far. He seems like a good person and a great mentor.

Chapter 2:

I did not have an imaginary friend growing up, but I did make up stories with the shadows and/or with my stuffed animals. My mom always tells me how I'd be in my crib or bed for hours seemingly talking to myself. I also had a visit from my deceased grandfather a few years after he passed. I was too young to really remember him, but I described him to my mom perfectly the next morning. I can actually still remember that moment. Therefore, I will always believe in spirits!

And, interestingly enough, I never found it weird that the book is set in a graveyard. It just started there and it works, so it feels just like it's happening just as it would in any other story setting.

[Emily Spencer]

Chapter 1

Like Kendra, I prefer a book that starts at the beginning of the action and follows a natural progression. Blame it on my analytical brain or OCD tendencies, but I generally prefer something to follow a set pattern. It rather throws me off balance to have that flow interrupted and everything seems a bit off-kilter. This particular book does a good job of it, however, so it was a little easier to follow. I still rather feel I'm missing out on something, though

I would have definitely given a hearty "Yes!" to Bod staying in the graveyard. As was mentioned, by the Lady on the Grey, charity is also the business of the dead, not just the living. Bod was an innocent baby who needed protecting; it would have been tantamount to murder if he were to be turned out of the safety the graveyard presented. Besides, Mr. and Mrs. Owens had agreed to take him in, so it wasn't as if he was being left to his own devices.

Of the characters we have met thus far, my favorite would be Mrs. Owens. I have read this book several times before, however, so that is subject to change.

Chapter 2
I was a rather imaginative child, and I did indeed have several imaginary friends growing up. The ones I remember best were a young boy named Bruce (yes, after Batman) who was the brother I always wanted and somehow never got and a woman named Sara that I used to pretend was my 'other' mom.

I definitely believe that the sleer was a genuine threat. It seemed malevolent, and I have no doubt that it meant the children grave harm (pardon the pun).

As a lover of Gothic literature, I did not find it weird or unsettling at all. It seemed quite fitting, actually, and I could not imagine the story being set anyplace else.

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

Chapter 1:
I didn't think about how it was done, when I started reading. It's just 'this is the story and it starts here'. So being in the middle of action, without having a build-up to it, didn't bother me, nor did I think about 'how' it started. I did, however, have a definite desire in me that Jack meets karma.
I'd have said Bod stays. The Lady on the Grey has it right.
Of the characters I've met so far, I like Mrs. Owens and Silas the most. She, for choosing to help, and protect, the baby and Silas for deciding to be guardian.

Chapter 2:
As for an imaginary friend .... that means someone who doesn't really exist at all outside my own imagination? I don't remember having any imaginary friends, as such.
The sleer ... definite and genuine threat! Scary.
Oddly, after reading a bit and getting used to it, I find the Graveyard is just another place, another setting for a story. I'd not read any book with a graveyard as the setting, so yeah, it took me a bit to get used to it -- but not because it's a graveyard so much as it takes me a little bit to get used to any new-to-me setting in a book, whether it be Tortall, Pern, Hogwarts or the Graveyard.