American Gods: A Novel
by Neil Gaiman
|
List Price: Our Price: $4.89 You Save: $11.10 (69%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $2.23 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of American Gods: A Novel
Book Review: The Gods are Going to War
Summary: 5 Stars
I'd been wanting to reread The Last Six Million Seconds by John Burdett for a long time and last night I'd finally settled in with the book, planning to read in bed till I finished. But my Vesta had just come home with AMERICAN GODS and Anansi Boys and every few minutes or so she'd say something like, "You're not going to believe this." Or, "This is bloody great, let me read you this."
After listening to her first few interruptions, I found myself wondering how I'd missed this book. It's been out for five or six years. I read a lot, more than the average person, and this kind of story is right up my alley, so I was glad to have something to look forward to when I finished Mr. Burdett's book. AMERICAN GODS is a long book and I knew it would take Vesta a couple days, so the next afternoon I bought a copy and that night we were both reading the same story, which begins with Shadow in prison.
He'd been stupid, taken part in a robbery, committed assault and served three years of a six year sentence because of it. He's about to get out, looking forward to a job with his best friend Robbie and getting back with his wife Laura, who he loves. However, he has a sense of foreboding. Something is going to happen. He's keeping his head down, afraid he won't be getting out when he's supposed to. Then he gets called to the warden's office and he believes the hammer is going to fall. It does, but not in the way he'd thought. They're going to let him out two days early, because his wife has been killed in an auto accident with Robbie. They had been having an affair and when she died she had her mouth wrapped around -- well you can guess what she had been doing.
With nowhere to go, he decides to fly home and take the job with Robbie, not knowing Robbie's dead. He meets an old man who calls himself Wednesday on the plane. The man knows too much about Shadow and is strange. He offers Shadow a job, Shadow declines and gets off the plane at the next stop. He sees it depart with Wednesday still on it. However, in the restroom at Jack's Crocodile Bar, where he'd gone for lunch, he again meets Wednesday. This is impossible, but here he is, so Shadow takes the job and becomes Wednesday's man Friday. While in the bar he meets Wednesday's friend Mad Sweeny. Shadow does a coin trick, something he'd learned in prison, and Sweeny pulls a gold coin out of the air, which he gives to Shadow. Shadow goes to his wife's funeral and tosses the coin onto the coffin.
The coin had powers and Laura comes back from the dead, though warm blood no longer runs through her veins. She's back to watch over and protect Shadow, for Wednesday is much more than the con man, grifter he claims to be. He is Odin brought to America with the Vikings and he's trying to unite all the old gods, who are worshiped no longer, because a bad time is coming. The gods are going to war and Shadow's going to be right in the middle of it.
Neil Gaiman has written almost six hundred pages of non-stop, fantasy, suspense, noir that reads like Raymond Chandler on speed. He walks on characters, gives them a few lines, then moves them off the stage with a deft pen. However they leave you with the sense of real people who move the story along in the strangest, impossible to foretell directions. Strange and long though the book is, once started, it's impossible to put down, so good is Gaimen's storytelling.
Book Review: Great Story, but Sometimes Shallow Writing
Summary: 3 Stars
There are already many reviews that cover the story and characters, so I'm not going to waste our time with that. Instead I'll give my opinions on the actual writing and style of the story. Overall, I thought it to be good, with a lot of potential, but could have been much better. There were three things I didn't like, and which kept me from rating it as a 4 or even 5 out of 5 stars.
First, I thought the characters were way too shallow at times. I understand the two main characters are supposed to be secretive and mysterious. I am not talking about that. What I mean is that there are many points in the story where the supporting characters don't react strongly enough and the dialog is short and flat. The end climax of the story is an example of this, for anyone who has read it. There is good build-up, but then the characters just fizzle and puff, when there should be a lot more emotion, conflict, and dialog. Thankfully this problem doesn't seem to happen with Niel Gaimon's later book in this series: Anansi Boys, which I liked much more.
Next, The story slowed down and dragged on because of too much unnecessary detail and side stories. There was the large side story of Lakeside, and there were some times in that story that detail when it really wasn't needed. But overall I liked the Lakeside side story and thought it was a good addition to the main story. What I am really complaining about are the many "flashbacks" that try to give background information on some of the gods and spirits that the main characters meet. The flashbacks could have been useful and entertaining if they had just been much, much shorter. Do I really need to read page after page about a girl from the British isles who becomes an escaped convict and flees to America in order to learn that her people have brought Irish myths with them to the New World? One page at most would have sufficed.
Lastly, The use of sex was just too excessive and improper. Now, I must confess I am a bit conservative when it comes to sex, but not a lot. I'm certainly not a prude. My problem here is that I consider seemingly random, excessive use of sex by authors as a crude crutch that they rely on when they can't be creative enough, and that dilutes from the main story. It seems that many authors, including Niel Gaimon with this novel, just sat down after writing the story and thought "hm.. maybe I'll insert a vulgar scene with a prostitute here" or "ha! A really random detailed gay sex scene here would really shock the readers! How genius of me!". Don't get me wrong. If this sort of thing actually was part of the main story and development of the characters, I would be fine with it. But when these sorts of things are seemingly inserted at random, without any reason for character or story development, and inserted quite frequently (almost every chapter, it seemed at times), then it really distracts rather than adds. Again, thankfully this isn't the case with his later novel, Anansi Boys.
I would recommend reading this growing "world" that Niel Gaimon is creating, and therefore read American Gods. But I would actually suggest doing the same thing I did: read Anansi Boys first, then go back and read American Gods. You won't loose any information, and Anansi Boys is a better and easier read. Gift Idea: Because of the very graphic sex and violence, you may not want to give this to someone you are not sure is mature enough, just to warn you (18+ should be good enough, in my conservative opinion).
Book Review: Another Winner From Gaiman
Summary: 5 Stars
In a previous review I said that Neil Gaiman's writing style reminded me a lot of Douglas Adams and now I wonder if I was more correct than I originally thought. American Gods is a story about the Gods and mythical characters of various pantheons and folklores living in America, mere shadows of their former selves. Taking on the roll of semi leader is Odin himself who now eeks out a living as a con artist. `In Life, the Universe and Everything' Douglas Adams had Arthur Dent meet the actual Norse god Thor at a party and in one of his final books, `The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul' Adams explored the idea of Norse gods living in Britain in a greatly weakened state. Odin, in particular, had descended into a condition where he lived only for the luxury of a nice hospital bed and an attending nurse. So is it just a coincidence that Douglas Adams and Neil Gaiman wrote about nearly the exact same topic? There is also a tie-in with Gaiman's later book, The Anansi Boys, as Anansi the Spider is featured in this book as an aging black man with yellow gloves and wonderful stories. Regardless of whether this is an homage to Adams or merely some cosmic coincidence this is an absolutely fantastic book. You could also argue that American Gods is a continuation of the theme established in the 1984 film The Neverending Story where the power and ultimately existence of fantasy creatures are dependent on peoples beliefs or lack thereof.
Between Douglas Adams and Neil Gaiman, Adams had a much keener wit but Gaiman is a better storyteller, in fact he is one of the best storytellers I have ever read. Gaiman's first novel, Stardust, was a good but flawed effort but the other two I've read including American Gods' have been spectacular. Gaiman is one of those writers who makes it look effortless with a light breezy style. He manages to bring the reader into his world which is always just slightly askew from our own.
My biggest and perhaps only issue with the book is that it reads like the directors cut of a film with all the deleted scenes left in. At just shy of 600 pages I would say that trimming the book down to a leaner 400 or so pages would have tightened up the story significantly. There are even a few side stories completely separate from the main one that, although well written, could be jettisoned with no loss to main plot. If you just can't get enough of Gaiman's writing you may want every sentence retained but personally I found these occasional diversions unnecessary and even the main plot felt like it could have used some tightening. Still, I never found it ponderous despite its length.
I read this entire book during a two week trip to Asia saving at least a quarter of the book for the flight home and it definitely made the journey easier. This one is a page turner and I was more than pleased with the ending. From my experience endings are the hardest thing for a writer to pull off and after nearly 600 pages Gaiman had damn well better deliver. Although I'm giving Gaiman top marks its unlikely I will read it through a second time. It has neither the brevity of a Douglas Adams book or the grandeur of a series like Lord of the Rings but with some serious trimming might make an excellent film.
Book Review: A impressive, powerful exploration of the American soul
Summary: 5 Stars
One could draw parallels between Neil Gaiman's AMERICAN GODS and Alexis de Tocqueville's DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. Just as the latter was an analysis of the character of American politics by an outsider, so the former is an exploration of American spiritual beliefs by an outsider. Some might object to the novel's insistence that this is a bad country for the gods. This is, after all, a profoundly Christian nation and in the seven years since the book's publication we've witnessed an unprecedented intrusion of fundamentalist Christianity into national polity, as Bush appointees have structured policy around their own narrow religious beliefs (NPR only a couple of weeks ago broke the story of a highly praised, politically conservative Department of Justice official being fired because of suspicions that she is a lesbian).
But I think Gaiman is largely correct. In America the land itself precluded many of the beliefs that had been accorded to the various gods in predecessor cultures in Europe, Africa, and Asia. But also America has had a largely profane approach to life, even in many Christian arenas. I remember vividly a number of years ago attending as the guest of a dead friend a service at First Baptist Church of Dallas and hearing the minister state in his sermon "The American Free Enterprise System is the only economic system ordained by God" and that "Great Britain is under the judgment of God because it has socialized so many aspects of its government." If this isn't a bald attempt to make sacred the utterly profane, I don't know what is. It is impossible to imagine a Christian in any other corner of the world in any historical epoch since the time of Christ uttering a similar proclamation.
In one way this novel should have been impossible. A bald description -- that a recently freed convict would be hired as a gofer by the Norse God Odin in anticipation of a war between the old Gods and the new American Gods -- points to a book that is not only highly improbable, but simply beyond the ability of any writer to execute. Yet Gaiman not only wrote this book, but made it riveting and endlessly satisfying. He produces a string of memorable characters and situates them concretely in an America I both recognize and want to explore. I loved the conceit that many tourist traps were actually constructed because they were situated on places of great power. I'd like to think that there is some excuse for the horror that is Mt. Rushmore.
I highly recommend this. Though written by an Englishman, this is one of the best novels about America that I have ever read. He writes in his afterward that several people contributed in eliminating Anglicisms. They certainly did a good job because one will be hard pressed to find any. On a side note I was fascinated that the album I was listening to most frequently as I read the book was the Magnetic Fields' 69 LOVE SONGS, which in the same afterward he stated was the album he was listening to while he wrote it. But since the novel was about the gods and the magical it seemed somehow divinely ordained that I'd just happen to be learning to love that album while reading a novel written by someone learning to love it.
Book Review: Oh My god! One of the most extraodinary books I have ever read
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been lending this book to just about everyone I know. This is one of the most extraodinary, beautiful, funny, complex, thoughtful and amazing books I have read.
Gaiman looks at what happened to the gods which people brought with them to America - and then abandoned here - forgot to worship anymore. Where did they go? How did they feel?
The story is about Shadow, a man with a half life - in more than one ways. He is in prison for a crime he committed. He survives in jail because he has a cell mate. Low Key, who looks after him - teaches him the ways of jail - and because he knows his wife, Laura, is wating for him. He does his time - but when his wife dies just before he is released, there is nothing for him. He is let out to nothing - and then he meets Mr Wednesday. And there is more to Wednesday than meets the eye. In fact, it turns out he is the American Woden. Another God left behind by the original worshippers - he has become a grifter instead, ripping off banks and convincing young women to sleep with him. Not a great end for a god, but he has a greater purpose - to prevent a war which is about to happen. A war between the new gods of America, Media, Internet, Television - against the old gods - Woden, Easter, nameless ones brought by the first people, anansi, and other African Gods. It is a war, and it will be a dirty war.
In the background is Shadow's wife who might be dead, but she has dragged her body out of the grave - neither her or Shadow understand why - but she is there, and she is protecting him -looking after him, even killing for him.
So what would happen when the God's finally clash?
Neil Gaiman's story is a compelling intertwining of the story of the Gods, with the people who brought them to America. In between Shadow moves - like a shadow - through the landscape - it is though he himself exists in a half life - as though he himself is waiting to be born.
Gaiman has hidden so many messages and notes in this book that I have read it a couple of times since picking up more details along the way. He writes for the intelligent reader, one who is willing to enjoy the ride, but find the links as well. So there is a minor note at the beginning where you realise that Shadow's surname is Moon - Shadow Moon - a definite reflection on his character. There is also the complication of realising that the hero's of the Book, Wednesday and Low Key are not necessarily as clear cut as they seem. This is telegraphed in various sections of the book - in Shadow's Dreams, but it is interesting how our perceptions of who they are become affected by Shadow's perceptions - and so there worship and arrival in the country are ignored for a long time.
This is more than simply a fantasy book - it is a ripping good mystery novel, and underneath a great story it has enough intelligent writing to really appeal to just about any reader. This book has my highest recommendation!!!