Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Anansi Boys
Book Review: A Tale of a Trickster
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is my second foray into the world of Gaiman, and I am now certain I'm a HUGE fan!!
"It begins, as most things begin, with a song. In the beginning, after all, were the words, and they came with a tune. That was how the world was made, how the void was divided, how the lands and the stars and the dreams and the little gods and the animals, how all of them came into the world. They were sung. "
"Fat" Charlie Nancy was an unexciting man living in London in an unexciting flat, working at an unexciting job while planning an unexciting wedding with his fiance Rosie. And he was fine with that, until one day it all changed. Fat Charlie's father died in a horrible Karaoke incident, once again causing Charlie major humiliation. When he flew to Florida to the funeral, he once again met up with old neighbors and friends of the family. And Charlie found out a secret....his father wasn't just any of man. He was a God.....the human form of the trickster Anansi. And not only that.....but Charlie had a brother who inherited all the God "stuff" from good ol' Dad. All he had to do was whisper to a spider, and his brother would come. Now to Fat Charlie, this was all too much. He didn't really believe any of that nonsense. Of course, that didn't stop him from whispering to a spider one night in London after a few too many glasses of wine. From here, the quest to find out more about himself begins for Fat Charlie.
What I loved so much about this book is Gaiman's sense of humor. Where American Gods was more of a serious book, this one showed his sense of humor. This definitely falls in the folklore category of the Once Upon a Time Challenge. There were a lot of stories about Anansi, the Trickster. Since ALL stories are Anansi's! Gaiman wove a tale, like that of a spiderweb. All things are tied together somehow. And when Charlie opens the Pandora's box by whispering to a spider, it's really kind of a coming-of-age story. Gaiman sucks you in immediately and all you have to do is enjoy the ride!!
Book Review: A Trickster story
Summary: 5 Stars
Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys has been pegged by some as a sequel to his Hugo-winning American Gods. It's not, really, though it shares some characters with the earlier novel. But that's about it. Anansi Boys carries a considerably lighter tone. It's not that it's played for laughs, just that Gaiman's approaching his subject with a bit more humor. It's a trickster story. It's the story of a person reconnecting with his heritage. It's somewhat similar to Christopher Moore's Coyote Blue, but of course Gaiman does his own thing with it. Highly recommended.Book Review: A Wonderfully Modern Myth
Summary: 4 Stars
Anansi Boys is a marvelous example of how to take something classic, and infuse it with just enough of a twist to make it modern and exciting. Gaiman uses many of the themes that readers with even a casual familiarity with mythology will recognize; like the power of love to change a life, the effect of family on one's existence, and the need to undergo a quest in order to embrace one's destiny. Instead of simply rehashing those themes, he infuses them with both a strong narrative and characters that are whimsical, yet memorable. The result is a book that is both familiar and new. Anansi Boys is further proof that Gaiman's reputation as the best current "re-interpreter" of myths is well deserved.Book Review: A funny, compelling read
Summary: 5 Stars
In Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman has sung us a terrific tale. It dips into his enormous stockpile of myth and folktale--in this case, African Anansi lore, with a nod to god-tales and creation myths of all stripe--and blooms with imagination and humor.
Fat Charlie Nancy, a well-meaning young bumbler living in London, flies back to his native Florida for the funeral of his father, a charming old Island-born drifter and erstwhile Karaoke singer who also, unbeknown to his son, happened to be a minor god. There, through a network of old crone former neighbors, Charlie discovers that he has a brother. All he has to do to meet him, after a lifetime apart, is "ask a spider." What happens when he does, and how he nearly ruins his life in the process and must set about to right his world, is the stuff of a classic "trickster" quest, updated into an engaging, exciting and very entertaining novel.
This book hit all the marks I so relished in Gaiman's illustrated novels. His gods are deliciously human, and while he doesn't shy away from necessary violence, he treats his characters kindly and his readers with respect. I found myself laughing aloud at several points, and when I put the book down for the last time, I felt a little lighter, a little more care-free, a little more able to contend with the craziness of reality.
Thanks, Mr. Gaiman--and a tip of the old cheeroot-stained fedora to your ability to spin a story.
Susan O'Neill
Author, Don't Mean Nothing: Short Stories of Viet Nam
Book Review: A good read, but not quite as great as Neverwhere
Summary: 4 Stars
I read Neverwhere before digging into Anansi Brothers. The two books have different settings, but reside firmly within the realm of fantasy. The story is beguiling, especially in the beginning, but flags toward the end of the novel. I think the pacing is a tad slow toward the middle of the book, and some descriptions of characters feel repetative. However, Gaiman does masterfully tie together all the tails woven throughout the story in the end. Neverwhere is a better story, but Anansi Brothers isn't bad.