American Gods: A Novel by Neil Gaiman Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of American Gods: A Novel
Book Review: A bad land for gods
Summary: 5 Stars
A wonderful modern fantasy, Neil Gaiman turns the genre on its head with this book. No false heroics or quests for rings or captive maidens. This story is about today's values and how they impact tradition. Gaiman adds a further novel touch by locating this tale in America's Midwest, the final stop for countless immigrants. Small towns, flat country, constrained people, far from the rush and bustle of cities. A perfect site for a cosmic battle.Gaiman has written before of the last battle - Armageddon. Good Omens, written with Terry Pratchett, pictured an angel [good] and a demon [evil] reassessing their roles before the final confrontation. American Gods is likewise a departure from the traditional, with ancient gods rising to confront the new American god - Technology. Odin, whose believers brought him across the Atlantic, conscripts Shadow, an ex-con, into acting as a cup-bearer. Having lost his wife and the possibility of employment in a stroke, Shadow takes on the role. He's not a believer, for him it's bed and board. He grows attached to the idea that there may be something in helping the old duffer - a near-faith hardened by encounters with acolytes of the modern creed. Odin, known to Shadow as Wednesday, is hardly the epitome of "good." Technology's adherents, while not evil, are cold, harsh and power driven. As it turns out, they are typically American - practical.
Shadow's role grows from mere go-fer for Wednesday to something more significant. After all, why does Shadow's wife Laura return from the grave [and are there ever some grim scenes in that regard!]? Why sequester a go-fer to a "perfect town" in northern Wisconsin for his protection? Why do the Technology deities, especially the Media Goddess, work so hard to woo him to their cause? Shadow dreams with such intensity it would put a normal person in a room with soft walls. What keeps him sane? What keeps him going against what appear to be insurmountable odds? The answers aren't readily anticipated with Gaiman's skillful plot, darting and weaving as it builds. It's not obscure, but neither is it predictable. Gaiman's prose holds the reader's attention throughout. With many threads of story line kept under tight discipline, Gaiman weaves a tapestry incorporating the real and the fantastic, the mundane and the bizarre. The emerging picture makes compelling reading.
Gaiman's research for this book stands out everywhere. The gods standing with Odin are nearly all Norse deities, but there's a sprinkling of others. The Greek and Roman pantheons are ignored, perhaps because their adherents were suborned by the Eastern Mediterranean Mob, J.C. and The Boys. Norse mythology has a comforting appeal, and "good" and "evil," "sin" and "grace" had no place. Besides, in the confrontation with technology, there seems little room for compromise, and a warrior deity to lead the host seems fitting. Shadow, who has no religion, is gently educated in these northern gods as he encounters them. They are his collective mentors, helping and encouraging him. The reason for this attention is finally revealed at the end. It's worth going there to find out.
Book Review: A biscuit away from perfect
Summary: 4 Stars
I have always admired Gaiman's take on the gods from his Sandman days. They are often amusing, frequently diabolical, and always very, very cool. The gods in this novel are no different, but the context in which they appear here gives them a sharp little sting: every one of the gods in the book is, in the end, self-serving, and thus they are perfect gods for Americans. Even Jesus has been reduced to a god called on before football games--ouch! That hurt a wee bit. Thanks, Neil, we needed that.My only criticism is that the protagonist could be a bit more developed. Shadow's history is somewhat neglected, especially the impetus for the assault and robbery that landed him in jail. But, to be fair, perhaps Gaiman intended Shadow to be a bit flat: even his wife comments that he takes up space, but there's nothing really there. If Shadow is meant to be the token American here, then the commentary becomes even sharper, and so I can excuse the lack of development as the price paid to make a point--but I still am left wanting to know more about Shadow.
Assume that my rating is 4 and 7/8 stars. What we have here is a juicy mythological buffet, a veritable cornucopia of literary ambrosia; its minor flaw is no reason not to belly up and feed. Enjoy, gentle friends!
Book Review: A book like an onion-- layers and layers the further you go.
Summary: 5 Stars
American Gods is about, well, american gods. And american myths, and the infinite variety of people and places that "america" encompasses. This is also Neil Gaiman, so along the way there are significant coincidences, and coincidences-that-aren't, and coincidences-that-REALLY-aren't, and plot twists that seem meaningless at the time but suddenly slot into place so seamlessly that you can't see how you missed the significance the first time around. Misdirection is a major theme of the book, from Shadow's coin tricks to Wednesday's con games and beyond-- another characteristic of America (and of course gods). And then just when you think Gaiman's exhausted his bag of tricks, the epilogue (set outside of the U.S.) throws a whole new light on the events of the book.If there's a problem with American Gods, it's that you'll have to read it three or four times to get everything-- and it will be a different book each time.
Book Review: A book to cherish
Summary: 5 Stars
Neil Gaiman's latest is spectacular, complicated and wholly original. When someone sitting next to me on the train was curious about the title "American Gods", I was hard pressed to come up with a concise description and resorted to describing it as an apocalypse/resurrection myth. I won't recap the plot, since many of these reviews have already done that. Besides, you'd never believe me.There are novels I read greedily, staying up all night to finish them because I can't wait to see how they end. This one absolutely had to be savored, and I tried to make it last as long as possible. I seldom re-read a book (feeling there are too many books I haven't read ONCE to spend precious time repating!) but I WILL read American Gods again, and again.
Book Review: A book you live...
Summary: 5 Stars
Quite honestly, I found this novel to be both amazingly beautiful and beautifully amazing. From start to finish. If you are too busy reading these reviews and not the book, well, then you will never understand. Thanks, Neil, for a truly moving experience.