American Gods - A Novel - by Neil Gaiman - 2001- tenth anniversary edition 2011 with a new introduction - 425 Pages
Winner of The 2002 Hugo Award for Best Novel,Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel and The Nébula Award for Best Novel
My feeling on American Gods is a mixture of delight and boredom. The premise of the novel is that immigrants to America brought with them the Gods they believed in back home. Gods require worshippers to thrive or even much endure. As time went on the grandchildren of the immigrants lost all interest, the priests of the old Gods died. By the 21th
century, where the plot is set, Americans have new Gods like TV, cell phones, and the internet. The old Gods had to figure out How to live.
The plot is structured as a journey across America by an ex-convict, who goes by ‘Shadow, out after three years for a bank robbery. Just before he is released his wife is killed in a car accident in the company of his best friend who was going to hire him at his gym. He meets a strange man who knows all about him, he calls himself “Wednesday”, who offers him a job. It turns out Wednesday is an ancient Norse God. I found the journey across America to fade in interest as it dragged on. I was fascinated by the descriptions of all the old Gods from Europe, Asia and Africa stayed on after their followers lost interest in them. For this I was glad I read American Gods.
Parents should know there are several x-rated sex scenes between the living and the dead as well as with dieties and spirits.
“Neil Gaiman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty books, including Norse Mythology, Neverwhere, and The Graveyard Book. Among his numerous literary awards are the Newbery and Carnegie medals, and the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, and Will Eisner awards. He is a Professor in the Arts at Bard” . From Amazon
"a mixture of delight and boredom" sums up my experience with Neil Gaiman to be honest. His books always sound like fun, always. I've enjoyed a couple. The Graveyard Book is a favorite. But so often I end up basically kind of bored. I have tried this one and even enjoyed a few episodes of the television series. Have you checked it out yet?
ReplyDeleteI've enjoyed some of his books, too, but find that I need to be in a certain mood. I'm always in the mood to read him when he's writing about reading/writing though.
ReplyDeleteThis question of reminding readers how many deities have been forgotten comes up in one of my favourite books by Tom Robbins, Jitterbug Perfume. I recently came across my battered old paperback copy of it and have been seriously thinking of rereading (the god forgotten in that one is Pan).