Customer Reviews

American Gods

5 star:		(199)
4 star:		(95)
3 star:		(69)
2 star:		(40)
1 star:		(28)

 

 

I've read this novel over and over again. Upon reflection, the reason for this is because I like the world that Neil created here. My reaction to Shadow is similar to what the characters in the book think of him. He's smart yet dull - too accepting of things at times but also a man who's only ever tried to be a shadow in his own life. The story unfolds beautifully. At first, I found the ending to be disappointing, but I've since come to really appreciate it. I highly recommend this to anyone who has an interest in writing. This novel teaches you how to create an entire fictional world and keep your reader engaged in it far beyond the last page. I'll also add that it teaches you what excellent writing is all about. I don't think anyone does it better than Neil Gaiman.

This novel was an odd thing for me to get through. For a few pages, the book would have me in its claws. After that, however, something would shake me out of my trance and I would struggle to regain my enthusiasm for a chapter or so. It's hard to put my finger on exactly why this book fell short for me. The characters were entertaining and the story moved at a decent pace. One thing I noticed that Gaiman does in this book is he describes someone getting shot in the face with the same intensity as he would someone sitting in a cafe with their legs crossed, sipping a cup of stale coffee. While the words are undoubtedly well chosen, the mood is somehow stifled. No exclamation points, no terse wording to suggest the rapidity and urgency of the situation. Maybe that's what held me back a bit.
Overall, American Gods proves to be a good read. I hate using the word 'good', but it's the only worthy word that comes to mind.

Neil Gaiman's "American Gods", an intentionally oxymoronic title, is about the impending battle between the old gods (pick your poison: Odin, Loki, Vishnu, etc.) and the "new" (junk culture: TV, advertising, gambling, etc.). Stuck in the middle waiting to find out his destiny is a mortal man named Shadow. Soon to be released from jail, Shadow looks forward to a reunion with his wife Laura. Sadly, this reunion is not to be (or, it is not to be in the way Shadow envisions it). Shadow, stricken by grief, is thus enlisted in a battle, one that may decide the fate of the world, by a mysterious man named Wednesday.

Similar thematic territory was covered, with much more panache and verve, by Douglas Adams ("The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul") and by Neil's "Good Omens" writing partner, Terry Pratchett ("Small Gods"). Both books took a sidelong glance at the subject of modern deities and found an awful lot of humour there. Gaiman treats his subject with solemnity, and to my mind this is one of the reasons why the book suffers.

Fortunately, the story begins with a dramatic bang. Gaiman sets up his characters well, and then proceeds to create the universe in which they will live. He never betrays the beginning, but at times he lets the narrative (or, to describe it more accurately, the loose assemblage of scenes) get away from him. "I feel like I'm in a world with its own sense of logic. It's own rules," Shadow notes at one point early on. "I'm just going along with it, you know?" This is true, and it begins as a wonderful creation in Gaiman's hands. But later Shadow becomes more frustrated with the direction his life has taken: "Nobody tells me what [the rules] are. You keep talking about the goddamn rules, I don't even know what game you people are playing." This kind of frustration seeps into the reader's thoughts as well. Gaiman takes great care in hiding his motivations from both his character and his audience. You keep expecting a payoff, where the rules are explained, at least implicitly. But that rarely happens, and when it does it is quite unsatisfactory.

He also neglects to assemble a unifying narrative. What we have, instead, is an extended version of 'variations on a theme'. Shadow's adventures, although different and interesting every time, still follow the same basic formula. It becomes tiresome after a while. And what narrative it does have goes on for far too long. "Not only are there no happy endings," someone says near the end, "there aren't even any endings." Too true in this case. Further complicating things is the fact that this book has both an epilogue and a postscript. Gaiman may not have wanted to leave the world he's created, but the reader can't wait for it to finally be over.

All that being said, there are moments here that carry a tremendous amount of stark weight. One scene, at an odd boarding house, has Shadow losing a game of checkers only to face a frightening punishment: a sledgehammer to the head. Thankfully, he's able to put it off. Or is he? Later, we see Shadow in a moment of extreme sacrifice. Gaiman's descriptions of the broken man's thoughts in this chapter are heartbreaking, and believably authentic. The scenes in Lakeside, a small-town safe haven, if taken on their own (with some obvious re-working) might have made a wonderful self-contained short story. I just wish that Gaiman had found a way to string these events together in a unifying manner. Out of nowhere, you find Shadow talking to Lucille Ball, as Lucy Ricardo, on an old black-and-white TV. Or, apropos of nothing, Gaiman's narrator barges in to admit to the fictionality of the story he is telling: "None of this can actually be happening. If it makes you more comfortable, you could simply think of it as a metaphor." These are all great bits of writing, but they don't fit together to make a cohesive whole.

"American Gods", for me, is a very frustrating read, for just these reasons. It has boundless potential, but at every turn Gaiman fails to reach the high levels he's aiming for. It makes for a powerful work, one that's often boring, at times quite frustrating, but in moments quite exhilarating. At nearly 600 pages, anything is going to be hit or miss. I was just hoping for a few more hits from Gaiman, a writer I've admired in the past. I admire him here, too. I just didn't enjoy him that much.

This is an absolutely fabulous book, and a must read for all fans of mythology and meta-mythology. It absolutely blew me away, and stayed in my thoughts for many, many days after I was done reading it.

This book was my introduction to Gaiman, and I still think it is his best (although his other stuff is great too).

I, personally, adored this book. I loved the descriptive art Gaiman used throughout the story, whether he was describing a character or an atmosphere... he made you feel it. This is by far, one of the most intriguing, and fascinating books I have ever read, and I loved every minute of it. :)

The book gets off to a good start introducing a very cool idea and some pretty cool characters. The problem is that for the bulk of the book nothing much happens to them. There is little character development and the plot drags on at an awful pace. I found my self liking this book in theory but not in actuality. Read it if you want to but be prepared not to like it as much as you want to.

This book is a delight to read. The story never drags and the reader is pulled into the story. The main character, Shadow, is released from prison only to find out his wife was killed in a car accident just before his release and not only that she was killed with her lover who was Shadow's close friend. After his release, Shadow meets Mr. Wednesday who is actually the old God Odin. As the story progresses, the reader is informed that the old gods such as Odin and other gods from the various panthoen of religions are going to war with the new gods in America such as Media and Internet. Shadow is caught between the warring factions. The rest of the story is the gods planning the war and Shadow trying to figure out what is really happening to the gods.
This is a hard book to put down. The character development is well defined and the plot never drags even though it is a rather lengthy book. "American Gods" is full of twists and turns and the ending is not what I was expecting which is a joy. Recommended.

Before picking up "American Gods", I had only read one other book by Neil Gaiman, "Neverwhere", which I had loved. "American Gods" is completely different, but mind-boggling and amazing. I spent all weekend at home reading it; I simply couldn't put it down for more than hour without compulsively going back to it.

It is a rather complicated story to recap, but in essence, it follows the taciturn character of Shadow, as he is released from prison and hired my the mysterious Wednesday as a bodyguard. Wednesday travels all over the United-States to talk to other similarly strange people, who turn out to be the gods of the Old World, brought to America by immigrants and kept alive through belief, sacrifice and faith. But the New World is bad for them, and they are loosing power to the newer gods of the Western World: money, media, technology...

The meticulous research that went into producing this amazing novel is impressive. The writing style can be slow, but it is always compelling, sending chills down your spine and the compulsive need to turn the page and see what will happen next in this clash of old and new gods.

I read a lot of books, and few books have impressed me and kept me on edge until the last line as "American Gods" did. I believe it to be Gaiman's finest work. People with interest in mythology and history will love this, as will fans of strange sci-fi/fantasy works, and ultimately, anyone who enjoys good literature and amazing writing. I can't recommend it enough.

Well-known among comic book readers who like their comics dark and brainy, Gaiman is finally making himself known among the mainstream. Though he's written and co-written some half-dozen novels (and nearly as many children's books), "American Gods" is arguably his masterpiece (so far). Shadow has just been released from prison when he is recruited by the mysterious Wednesday to act as gopher and bodyguard. In reality, he has been drawn into an oncoming war between the mostly forgotten and often neglected gods of the Old World and the upstart gods of modernity. Nestled within the engaging plot is a cock-eyed examination of American culture conducted by a transplanted Brit.

This book had me hooked right away, and was hard to put down. It's the only Neil Gaiman novel I've ever read so I can't compare it to his other work, but it was pure fun to read.