American Gods: A Novel by Neil Gaiman Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of American Gods: A Novel
Book Review: A shambolic, shamanistic trip thru the USA and mythology
Summary: 4 Stars
Remember how ornery the Norse, Greek or African Gods are in mythology? How petty? How vengeful and selfish? Neil Gaiman portrays them just that way, and the comparisons to America's new "Gods" (and American folk in general) are very insightful and pretty amusing.Neil Gaiman is a storytelling genius when working in comics. In Sandman, he was able to sum up eons of myth or contradition in the span of one or two panels of a comic page. In the print medium, the pace is a little slower. The digressions that made his comics work so thoughtful and enjoyable are a little more frustrating here. Plus, there are numerous sub-plots involved. The fact that everything gets cleared up at the end is satisfying and if there's a few "deus ex machinas" along the way, well what'd you expect? It's about Gods after all.
If you've ever felt like the desires of "American culture" are at odds with people's spiritual needs, you should enjoy this book. I think that's what Gaiman's getting at here, and the answers aren't nearly as highfalutin' as one would think. They're discomforting -- sometimes mundane, sometimes horrifying -- in short, the way "Old World" Religions probably actually were when they were still taken as literal truth.
Book Review: A storm is brewing...
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been dying to read American Gods since I saw an interview with Neil Gaiman in the local paper. The premise of the book sounded really intriguing, and since I am a Gaiman fan from the Sandman comic series, I figured I'd give it a try. I've been waiting desperately to get my hands on it. Last week, I finally did.Was it worth the wait? You betcha. This is a truly marvelous book dealing with compassion, loyalty, relationships, deities, and how one man is affected by it all. This man is Shadow, a man who is in prison for assault. He is ready to be released and get back to his life when he gets word that his wife has died. He later finds out that the job he has waiting for him when he gets out is no longer there as well. Shadow is approached by a mysterious figure, Mr. Wednesday, who knows a lot about him. Wednesday offers Shadow a job as a driver who may have to do other "dangerous" things as well.
Thus begins a long journey that will span the entirety of Midwestern American. At times, American Gods feels like a travelogue, at other times, like a road movie. Then, there are quieter times where it is a mystery of sorts. Some people may have trouble with the conflicting "styles," but all of these sequences fall under the overarching theme of the novel. As Gaiman mentions in his acknowledgements, he is attempting to "find America," and the representation in this novel is stunning. You really get the feel for small, middle America town living, where every town is the "home of" a semi-famous athlete or a state champion in some sport.
The basic concept of the book is that immigrants to the United States (or North America in general, considering one of the interludes deals with immigrants from a few thousand years ago) bring their gods with them in their minds. Unfortunately for them, belief in them has been faltering for many years, and it's almost gone. It's been replaced by other gods: technology, media, Internet. Wednesday wants to fight back by gathering together the older gods and starting a war with the new ones. He brings Shadow along for a lot of these recruiting missions, and thus we meet some of the older gods.
The characters in American Gods are just wonderfully portrayed. Even the minor characters are well-rounded and three dimensional. My favourites have to be Ibis and Jacquel, two characters that Shadow meets in Cairo, Illinois. They're undertakers, but they offer him a unique perspective on this whole thing. Then there are some Native American gods who are also quite interesting.
Curiously enough, the most under-developed character throughout the book is Shadow himself. You don't find out a lot about him until the end of the book. You get snippets of information, but most of things you find out about him are through his actions in the book. You see a compassion that's hidden beneath the tough exterior. You see a loyalty to his friends, a sense of honour that even death can't destroy. I find him the most interesting character in the book, which is good because he's the central character.
For me, there really isn't a flaw in this book. I've seen reviews that complain about the interludes or the sequence of events in Lakeside (a small town in Wisconsin), and how they don't "have much to do with the plot of the book." I think that's missing the point. The book is more than the war of the gods. It's about finding values. It's about moving beyond beliefs. It's about one man and how he reacts to these things. I think the Lakeside sequence is actually the core of the book to some extent. The ending of the war is a bit anti-climactic, but I didn't mind that for the same reasons.
If you have any interest in mythology, run out and get this book. Even if you don't have an interest, I think you'll still value the experience.
Book Review: AWESOME!! My first Gaiman experience, but not my last.
Summary: 5 Stars
What a great book. I had heard and read so much ABOUT Neil Gaiman, but never read anything by him. So I decided to give American Gods a chance. I was blown away, literally. Shadow is such a likable character, with a good heart, strong, but full of flaws. This goes along with all the supporting roles. Every one is wholly unique and perfect in their designated areas, from Wednesday to Easter, to Mr. World and Mad Sweeney. Anybody looking for a really good book to read over a couple of days or a weekend, I highly recommend this. Beware, you may not be able to put it down, so if you are supposed to be keeping an eye on small children, don't read this. It will keep your undivided attention from start to finish. Now, onto the next Neil Gaiman book I can lay my hands on....Book Review: All right
Summary: 2 Stars
I was intruiged by an artical in EW and so I read the book. The book was a huge dissapointment thought. There where some times that I found the book good, but it seemed to drag. The intial plot was good but I felt no empathy for Shadow. If you read this book and like it great, it's just that I didn't.Book Review: Ambitious Writing
Summary: 4 Stars
This is the first work by Mr. Neil Gaiman that I have read. From this point on he will be an Author that I will read when he again publishes, further I will backtrack to read his earlier work. The concept of, "American Gods", is incredibly sweeping in both breadth and depth, and had he chose, he could have used a few hundred more pages to tell his tale. I wish that he had, as there are so many religions and mythologies that participate, the book is a bit overwhelming.When an Author creates a new world from whole cloth or conjures a variant on the world we know, the reader has to be given enough reference points and background to fully get immersed into his book. This is the only issue that I had with what is otherwise a thought-provoking, literate, and intelligently crafted book. It was mentioned that one reader used a book on mythology as a guide, and when I read this again I will use the same type of assist. There are literally dozens and dozens of, "Gods", that are a part of the action. A few will be familiar and understood, a few more will be recognized with some general knowledge, and others are totally unknown unless the reader has studied the fields the Author clearly studied himself. Even when some of the characters are thought to be familiar, they turn out to be infinitely more complex than the traditional view the reader probably has.
If the Author gave more background on his characters the book would have substantially increased in length. He is a skillful writer so I don't see why that would have been an issue. There are other young writers creating massive works of fiction, and they have demonstrated that it can be done without losing the urgency that keeps one up most of the night flipping pages.
As I said earlier this Author can create and execute on the page. Maybe I am in the minority when it comes to expansive knowledge of cultural lore. I do know that if I had the understanding or was given more information in the book, I would have gotten even more pleasure from what is already a great book.