The Ocean at the End of the Lane begins with a middle aged man going back to his hometown to attend a funeral. While there he decides to visit the place where he grew up. When he gets to his old home (which is no longer there) he continues on to the pond at the end of the lane. There, he reminices about when he was seven. The events just seemto be pulling themselves out of the woodwork. Things he hasn't thought about in a very long time just seem to sring to his consciousness. Things that seems almost fantastical. 
 I think this is a difficult book to review in that it deals a lot with perseptions. How we perceive something as a child and again how we perceive the same event as an adult vary greatly. Understanding and experiece along the way shapes how we remember certain situations. 
 Neil Gaiman has crafted a very beautiful story. At times it's very subtle in the message it's trying to conveye and other times, very clear. 
 It's not a lengthy novel by any means, but the story itself is very big in scope. I already want to open the book again and start over, but I'm going to try to wait. I want to give myself a little time before I read this book again to see new meanings and things I may have missed this first time around. 
 Great book, highly recommended.