American Gods (2001) is a fantasy novel by British author Neil Gaiman. The novel is a blend of Americana, fantasy, and various strands of ancient and modern mythology, all centering on the mysterious and taciturn Shadow.
I listened to this for the first time three years ago. When I started my second listen a few days ago, I couldn't really remember much about it at all, except how much I enjoyed it.
I truly had forgotten so much that, many times, it was like listening for the first time. I loved it. I will read it again, too. So very good.
I listened to this for the first time three years ago. When I started my second listen a few days ago, I couldn't really remember much about it at all, except how much I enjoyed it.
I truly had forgotten so much that, many times, it was like listening for the first time. I loved it. I will read it again, too. So very good.
Review of 'American Gods (en español): American Gods (Brainstorming)' on 'Storygraph'
2 stars
This book was a kind of a disappointment to me, meaning, it was not as good as I thought it was. For many years I've heard wonders about this book and how it was amazing. It was on my "to-read" for at least a couple of years and I purchased because of a Kindle deal, and last month I decided to give it a try.
Well, I think the book starts pretty well, telling us about the situation of Shadow, his time in jail and how he is mysteriously released from prison one day earlier than expected. I enjoyed that first part of the book up until how Shadow met Wednesday. Then, many parallel stories start to come up in the middle of the narrative, Shadow's errands becomes uninteresting, and for me the road trip became quite boring from the middle of the book forward.
There are many references of …
This book was a kind of a disappointment to me, meaning, it was not as good as I thought it was. For many years I've heard wonders about this book and how it was amazing. It was on my "to-read" for at least a couple of years and I purchased because of a Kindle deal, and last month I decided to give it a try.
Well, I think the book starts pretty well, telling us about the situation of Shadow, his time in jail and how he is mysteriously released from prison one day earlier than expected. I enjoyed that first part of the book up until how Shadow met Wednesday. Then, many parallel stories start to come up in the middle of the narrative, Shadow's errands becomes uninteresting, and for me the road trip became quite boring from the middle of the book forward.
There are many references of American culture, religion, ancient and modern mythology from around the globe, which is inherently interesting, but the way all these elements were put together in the story didn't work very well, in my opinion.
I read the 2011 version (tenth anniversary edition), that one with additional 12,000 words, and maybe that was one of the reasons I thought there were whole chapters of the book that seemed not be essential to the story. So the rhythm of the story is irregular, there were great chapters and then a couple ones that simply dragged and I couldn't wait for the narrative to get back on track.
All in all, the premise of the book is great, I enjoyed the "weird fantasy" aspect of the story, but for me it was not executed very well.
Well, I dunno. This was kind of a mixed bag. Maybe good fiction, like life, is a mixed bag?
Was this good fiction? It won the Hugo, Nebula, Locus and Bram Stoker Awards. Good credentials all so I figure it must be good fiction but in reading it I was more impressed with the accolades then the substance of the book.
I sort of liked a couple characters. The build-up was a little boring and the resolution of the main conflict was a let down.
Hugely entertaining book, full of weirdness and references - not only the gods themselves but I could see enough subtle little literary allusions to realise there must be many more there. Also some that I suspect may just be looking too hard, but oh well - they didn't detract anything from the book....
I love the broad ambition of this story, the multiple levels it runs on, and the ease with which Gaiman can switch between those levels. It suffers a little from trying to pack too much in. By the end I was a bit tired of new characters being introduced without development, and wishing a few of the subplots had been explored better. It's both telling and a good move that when Gaiman wrote a ~sequel (Anansi Boys) he picked up one of the second-tier characters from American Gods, fleshed him out beautifully, and told a much more …
Hugely entertaining book, full of weirdness and references - not only the gods themselves but I could see enough subtle little literary allusions to realise there must be many more there. Also some that I suspect may just be looking too hard, but oh well - they didn't detract anything from the book....
I love the broad ambition of this story, the multiple levels it runs on, and the ease with which Gaiman can switch between those levels. It suffers a little from trying to pack too much in. By the end I was a bit tired of new characters being introduced without development, and wishing a few of the subplots had been explored better. It's both telling and a good move that when Gaiman wrote a ~sequel (Anansi Boys) he picked up one of the second-tier characters from American Gods, fleshed him out beautifully, and told a much more focussed story with him. Anansi Boys ends up being a stronger book as a result.
A few references I'm wondering about:
About halfway through part one, there seemed to be a subtle allusion to Eliot's Journey Of The Magi. I'm not sure if it's either intended or real, but read or listen to the poem: www.poetryarchive.org/poem/journey-magi - it seems to fit, eh?
One thing I was left not understanding at the end was why Wednesday needed Shadow. It seemed that he could have orchestrated the whole con at less risk without Shadow involved, which was the one thing I found unsatisfying about the otherwise very clever ending. I read somewhere that Monarch Of The Glen explains more about who Shadow is, so I'm looking forward to reading that.
The two-man con idea feels like a wonderfully biting allegory about US politics. If so, then Gaiman was pretty prescient - it's a thing that has become much more obvious since.
The two-man con and its motivations also feels like an allegory about the "Clash of Civilizations" nonsense that has potential to be so self-fulfilling. I'm pretty sure this on my mind because I happen to have read the book in a week when anti-Muslim attacks in the US are more prominent in the news than usual, but I wonder if it wasn't also an intended message, given that the book was first published in 2001. But then... that crap didn't get much airtime until 9/11, and this book must have mostly been written before that.
And finally, I really want to learn more about Sammy Black Crow. I was expecting her to be more significant in the end.
Hugely entertaining book, full of weirdness and references - not only the gods themselves but I could see enough subtle little literary allusions to realise there must be many more there. Also some that I suspect may just be looking too hard, but oh well - they didn't detract anything from the book....
I love the broad ambition of this story, the multiple levels it runs on, and the ease with which Gaiman can switch between those levels. It suffers a little from trying to pack too much in. By the end I was a bit tired of new characters being introduced without development, and wishing a few of the subplots had been explored better. It's both telling and a good move that when Gaiman wrote a ~sequel (Anansi Boys) he picked up one of the second-tier characters from American Gods, fleshed him out beautifully, and told a much more …
Hugely entertaining book, full of weirdness and references - not only the gods themselves but I could see enough subtle little literary allusions to realise there must be many more there. Also some that I suspect may just be looking too hard, but oh well - they didn't detract anything from the book....
I love the broad ambition of this story, the multiple levels it runs on, and the ease with which Gaiman can switch between those levels. It suffers a little from trying to pack too much in. By the end I was a bit tired of new characters being introduced without development, and wishing a few of the subplots had been explored better. It's both telling and a good move that when Gaiman wrote a ~sequel (Anansi Boys) he picked up one of the second-tier characters from American Gods, fleshed him out beautifully, and told a much more focussed story with him. Anansi Boys ends up being a stronger book as a result.
A few references I'm wondering about:
About halfway through part one, there seemed to be a subtle allusion to Eliot's Journey Of The Magi. I'm not sure if it's either intended or real, but read or listen to the poem: www.poetryarchive.org/poem/journey-magi - it seems to fit, eh?
One thing I was left not understanding at the end was why Wednesday needed Shadow. It seemed that he could have orchestrated the whole con at less risk without Shadow involved, which was the one thing I found unsatisfying about the otherwise very clever ending. I read somewhere that Monarch Of The Glen explains more about who Shadow is, so I'm looking forward to reading that.
The two-man con idea feels like a wonderfully biting allegory about US politics. If so, then Gaiman was pretty prescient - it's a thing that has become much more obvious since.
The two-man con and its motivations also feels like an allegory about the "Clash of Civilizations" nonsense that has potential to be so self-fulfilling. I'm pretty sure this on my mind because I happen to have read the book in a week when anti-Muslim attacks in the US are more prominent in the news than usual, but I wonder if it wasn't also an intended message, given that the book was first published in 2001. But then... that crap didn't get much airtime until 9/11, and this book must have mostly been written before that.
And finally, I really want to learn more about Sammy Black Crow. I was expecting her to be more significant in the end.
I read [b:Coraline|17061|Coraline|Neil Gaiman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327871014s/17061.jpg|2834844], [b:Neverwhere|14497|Neverwhere|Neil Gaiman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348747943s/14497.jpg|16534], [b:Stardust|16793|Stardust|Neil Gaiman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328433738s/16793.jpg|3166179], [b:The Graveyard Book|2213661|The Graveyard Book|Neil Gaiman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1303859949s/2213661.jpg|2219449], [b:The Ocean at the End of the Lane|15783514|The Ocean at the End of the Lane|Neil Gaiman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1351914778s/15783514.jpg|21500681] and [b:Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch|12067|Good Omens The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch|Terry Pratchett|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1392528568s/12067.jpg|4110990] before [b:American Gods|4407|American Gods (American Gods, #1)|Neil Gaiman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1258417001s/4407.jpg|1970226] and, definitely, this one is the best. Its similarities with Sandman make this book even better than I expected, full of sophisticated discussions that I missed in his other books. I enjoyed a lot the use of Mythologies, one overlapping the other, showing the complex tapestry that is the human mind.
I read [b:Coraline|17061|Coraline|Neil Gaiman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327871014s/17061.jpg|2834844], [b:Neverwhere|14497|Neverwhere|Neil Gaiman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348747943s/14497.jpg|16534], [b:Stardust|16793|Stardust|Neil Gaiman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328433738s/16793.jpg|3166179], [b:The Graveyard Book|2213661|The Graveyard Book|Neil Gaiman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1303859949s/2213661.jpg|2219449], [b:The Ocean at the End of the Lane|15783514|The Ocean at the End of the Lane|Neil Gaiman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1351914778s/15783514.jpg|21500681] and [b:Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch|12067|Good Omens The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch|Terry Pratchett|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1392528568s/12067.jpg|4110990] before [b:American Gods|4407|American Gods (American Gods, #1)|Neil Gaiman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1258417001s/4407.jpg|1970226] and, definitely, this one is the best. Its similarities with Sandman make this book even better than I expected, full of sophisticated discussions that I missed in his other books. I enjoyed a lot the use of Mythologies, one overlapping the other, showing the complex tapestry that is the human mind.
He de decir que el libro me gustó mucho, y lo hice sin saber nada de él. Creo que así he podido disfrutarlo muchísimo. Sobre todo de la primera parte en la que a Sombra vuelve al mundo después de haber pasado una temporada en prisión, y tiene que lidiar no sólo con el estigma de haber estado preso, si no que además tiene que afrontar la vida sin su esposa que recientemente acaba de fallecer. Así que no tiene nada que perder cuando accede trabajar para el "loco" del señor Wednesday.
La verdad que leyendo esta novela sentí, creí por momentos que hubiese cosas que pudieron ser. Es una sensación rara, aunque muy parecida a lo que he sentido con pocas obras. Era como si debajo de todo Gaiman te estuviese susurrando un secreto.
He de decir que el libro me gustó mucho, y lo hice sin saber nada de él. Creo que así he podido disfrutarlo muchísimo. Sobre todo de la primera parte en la que a Sombra vuelve al mundo después de haber pasado una temporada en prisión, y tiene que lidiar no sólo con el estigma de haber estado preso, si no que además tiene que afrontar la vida sin su esposa que recientemente acaba de fallecer. Así que no tiene nada que perder cuando accede trabajar para el "loco" del señor Wednesday.
La verdad que leyendo esta novela sentí, creí por momentos que hubiese cosas que pudieron ser. Es una sensación rara, aunque muy parecida a lo que he sentido con pocas obras. Era como si debajo de todo Gaiman te estuviese susurrando un secreto.
Review of 'American Gods (en español): American Gods (Brainstorming)' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
This was good, but it was not gripping. I learned a lot reading the book, but most of the time I had no idea where the story was going, not did I care about it's protagonist. I'm not entirely sure what all the hype is about. It's a perfectly fine read, but not one I'll clamber to recommend.
This was good, but it was not gripping. I learned a lot reading the book, but most of the time I had no idea where the story was going, not did I care about it's protagonist. I'm not entirely sure what all the hype is about. It's a perfectly fine read, but not one I'll clamber to recommend.
Read for discussion here. A picaresque tale about a man who encounters gods from various cultures liviing in mufti in America who are threatened by new gods of consumerism and technology. See Rock City! Where the gods clash - and the House on the Rock where ... well, you kind of have to be there. A strange and entertaining hero's journey through tacky American tourist spots and creepily idyllic small towns.
Read for discussion here. A picaresque tale about a man who encounters gods from various cultures liviing in mufti in America who are threatened by new gods of consumerism and technology. See Rock City! Where the gods clash - and the House on the Rock where ... well, you kind of have to be there. A strange and entertaining hero's journey through tacky American tourist spots and creepily idyllic small towns.
This was a reread for my book club, I indulged myself and purchased the 10th anniversary edition for the reread. Loved it. On this round I gave myself leave to google the mythology, but it was difficult to abandon the story once I got into it. I have a list of characters to look up. Looking forward to our discussion, this is waaay out of the box for a couple in our group.
One of the most amazing books I've ever read. Perfectly written and the character of Shadow is wonderfully crafted an fleshed out over the course of this monumental story. Bravo Neil Gaiman!
One of the most amazing books I've ever read. Perfectly written and the character of Shadow is wonderfully crafted an fleshed out over the course of this monumental story. Bravo Neil Gaiman!
Roadtrip durch die USA mit nordischen Göttern im Kampf gegen die neuen Götter der Moderne. Das Verschwimmen echter und fantastischer Welt, so wie man es von Gaiman kennt.
