The Graveyard Book

The main character of The Graveyard Book, Bod, has brilliant circumstances that make up the entire book.  He himself, however, is a bit of a cliche.  I have been noticing that if somebody wants to really make a clever character in a book, they will make him or her quiet, observant, and full of questions, even though the first and last of those qualifications contradict each other.  Bod exemplifies these traits, just like all of the other characters that are like this in all the other books.  In The Graveyard Book, there seems to ten times the story if one is familiar with all types of mythology.  I am not, but it seemed to be there, just beyond my reach.  I liked the idea of the Jacks as well.  All in all, it has a good premise and has Neil Gaiman's standard wonderful prose, but the main character is a bit too stereotypical for my tastes.