Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Anansi Boys
Book Review: A great and very fun read
Summary: 4 Stars
No need to recap what it is all about or the other things that Neil has managed to crank out these past few years as the others have already done an outstanding job at doing that.
The book takes you out to the edges of a giant spider web and slowly draws you in as the characters run about and find themselves drawn to the center, the heart of the thing if you will.
The characters are very well developed and done so with a minimum amount of words used to do so. The story goes from sad to outrageous to absolutely adorable in less than 400 pages.
Take a step into another world that is not quite like our own where mortals, gods, and other things live, play, and sometimes compete. Just be sure to do it with a song in your heart and rhythm in your step.
Book Review: A great read!
Summary: 4 Stars
I have enjoyed all of the books I have read by Gaiman but this one in particular, I found exceptional. His style reminds me a bit of Christopher Moore with his subtle tongue in cheek humor. This story is about a "God" who dies and unbeknownst to his son Charlie, leaves him a portion of his godly powers. Charlie is a plain man with a bland life and no aspirations. He is getting married to a equally bland and uninteresting woman. This is how he comes to find out his father has died. His bland bride insists he contact his estranged and thoroughly embarrassing father and invite him to the wedding. Upon doing so he hears of his recent death. After his fathers death Charlie meets his brother, whom he was never aware of having. Spider is the exact opposite of Charlie, he is exciting, outgoing, carefree and careless. He seems to have a undeniable allure for women and in general Spider tends to get what he wants. What he wants most is for his brother to liven up and join him in his party lifestyle. Charlie just wants Spider to go away but complications he had never foreseen arise when he finally does. This is fantasy at it's best. I don't read a lot of fantasy but I know quality writing, so while not all fantasy fans will necessarily agree with me, because I am sure there are more fantastical books in the genre, I would highly recommend this to fantasy fans and those new to but open minded enough to enjoy the magical.
Book Review: A page turner; with something to say
Summary: 4 Stars
On its surface, Gaiman has written a compelling story of a young man's introduction to the world of fantasy--in this case, several worlds, actually--as he comes to terms with the fact that his father was a god (albeit, a minor god), and that he has a long lost brother (Spider), who (Charlie is told) inherited all of their father's power. Charlie, the central character, embarks on a journey to discover his past, motivated by his desire to straighten out the mess he creates when he invites his demi-god brother into his rather mundane middle class life, following the death of his father. As the plot pulls us along, Charlie discovers that he too has god like powers, and struggles coming to terms with himself, his brother, his love life, and his lifelong bitterness towards his now deceased father.
However, Gaiman has also written a book about writing. As Charlie (and we, the readers) learn, central to the god like powers of Charlie's father and brother is the power of the story. As Charlie's brother puts it, his magic consists of bending realty--not much, just a little around the edges. And after all, isn't that what novelists do--bend reality a little around the edges to make their stories more real than reality? Novelists create an entirely new world, with obvious connections to our physical world, but also completely separate.
He who controls the story, controls the world. Charlie's father understood this well--he controlled the story of his entire family, and all he met. Spider, Charlie's brother, uses the power of the story in an entirely selfish way--to bring himself pleasure--until he realizes that when he actually cares about someone, it is much harder to bend reality, without destroying the very thing you care about. In other words, he matures as he realizes that the world does not revolve around his pleasure and entertainment, but is instead made up of other people, each of whom has his (or in this case, her) own equally valid needs and desires.
Of course, on a different level Gaiman controls the story--not only for his characters, but for the reader as well. He therefore exercises even more powerful magic than either Spider or his father.
This is the same thing that King has been writing about in most of his recent books--at least since Needful Things. Gaiman uses the form of fantasy, while King uses the form of horror, but both authors are really writing about writing--and doing it very, very well.
Enjoy. It's a great book.
Book Review: A well spun story
Summary: 5 Stars
No one gets me righteously indignant over what happens to imaginary people like Gaiman. He is a true master of "the schmuck with the unexpected something extra". Written in the same universe as American Gods this is a much gentler story which I rather enjoyed.
A story of the painfully self-conscious Fat Charlie Nancy, his embarrassing father, and his infuriatingly cool brother who is preternaturally good at charming the pants off of everyone; this is a tale of unlikely heroes, getting what you want and realizing that it couldn't be farther from what you need, epically dysfunctional families, pretty (and competent) girls, personal growth, ancient grudges, and as always (and probably most importantly), it belongs to Spider.
Book Review: A wonderful ride! Enjoy!
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm not going to go all into this with an extended review, just get it and enjoy!! I have read several Gaiman books and this has been the best ride so far. What a great read!!