Rating: 
Summary: On the Road with Odin
Review: Only the Gods are real. And in Neil Gaiman's "American Gods", they have been brought over from distant lands only to be cast aside and foresaken for the new symbols of progress; the modern worship of the profane.
Shadow is the nickname of our protagonist, whose journey through America is quite unlike any other committed to literature. It is a circus of road-side attractions (portrayed comically here as ancient "places of power") among fantastic but strangely believable characters who all originate from the old myths and beliefs of those who had come to America. Everyone from Loki to Johnny Appleseed gets at least a brief nod.
Shadow's metaphorical journey is a deeply personal tale, like seeing a man walk through his own dreams and make decisions based only on the reality of the dream. Every situation and bit of dialogue, despite it's frequent absurdity, feels deeply real and uncontrived. Indeed, "American Gods" succeeds as being a true fantasy novel in it's artistic aspirations and it's uninhibited sense of reality, without giving in to the silliness and formulaic versions of many post-Tolkien fantasy writers. It speaks to the imagination, while also speaking to the question mark that is America.
"American Gods" is like walking through your hometown with a tour guide, who can point out the things you didn't know and rebuke the things you thought you knew. It is a gem of modern literature.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a waste of time, but not what I had hoped for.
Review: I won't summarize the book, because that's been done. Overall, the book was good and I didn't feel like it wasted my time, however it wasn't everything I had hoped for in the novel.The characters were well done, and you felt for them -- that much I enjoyed. The biggest problem I had with the story was the choppiness in which the characters were introduced. Without trying to spoil the book, the characters are introduced in obscure ways in that I didn't even really know they were being introduced until they were finally fleshed out as the chapters introduce them by giving their general biography -- sometimes millions of years ago without letting you really know what character is being introduced. However, maybe it was my own problem that I didn't understand this device until later in the book, but it made me a little jaded. Overall, it is a good book and I do recommend it. Maybe it would be better after the second read.
Rating: 
Summary: OK book but not half as envolving as I thought it would be.
Review: I had read you couldn't put the book down, that it was insightful that the story was amazing and thought I didnt hate the book, I kept waiting for something interesting to happen and it never did.
I read the book To the Vanishing Point a few years ago and it was simular and I enjoyed that better.
Rating:
Summary: First book guaranteed to make my best-of-2003 list
Review: Neil Gaiman, American Gods (Harper, 2001) It is hard to tell, from the Gaiman resources on the net, exactly how many novels for adults Gaiman has written on his own. Two? Three? More? In any case, Gaiman spent the five years between his novel Neverwhere and this one very constructively, it would seem. All the many flaws of Neverwhere have disappeared, and we are left with a stunning achievement, perhaps the first (horror? fantasy? What is this, anyway?) novel of its ilk that can be called truly original since Kathe Koja unleashed The Cipher upon us over a decade ago. Shadow is a man just into his thirties who's spent the last three years in prison. He's released a couple of days early thanks to the death of his wife. While flying home to attend her funeral, Shadow meets a man who calls himself Mister Wednesday. Wednesday tells Shadow a storm is coming, the offers him a job. Things are all downhill from there. Well-drawn characters, a perfect pace, plots and subplots by the score, red herrings, masterful clue-dropping, double-crosses, triple-crosses, and of course, a plethora of gods, brought to America on the heels of their believers and left to be abandoned. The prose is more readable than that in Neverwhere, which was also a pleasant surprise; this one feels like it needs to be a movie, not like it was written from a movie script (which, in essence, Neverwhere was). There's nothing wrong with the book, save a minor editorial glitch (a barefoot Shadow at one point reaches down and takes off his shoes). It's somewhat ironic, but ultimately understandable, that a book that goes to the heart of America so well was written by a British author. As one of the other characters observes to Shadow early on in the book, no other country spends as much time looking for its soul as America. Perhaps we're better off letting others look for it. Gaiman has certainly done a more than capable job at finding it. The first of the year's reads to be a shoo-in for the top 25 of 2003. **** ½
Rating: 
Summary: Imaginative
Review: Gaimen is progressing as an author very nicely. Where he lacks in style he more than makes up for with an imaginative storyline and interesting characters. Not a classic in literature, but a very entertaining and fun read. I would recommend it anyone interested in suspending reality for a while.
Rating: 
Summary: How could this book win the Hugo?
Review: This book was waste of time. I read the first 210 pages and felt cheated. I kept waiting for the plot to develop and it never came close. How in the world did it win the Hugo? I may never read another Hugo winner.
Rating:
Summary: I could not put it down
Review: I feel this is an excellent book, perhaps the best I read this year. Gaiman takes an outlandish idea and runs with it, and it's actually a very interesting idea--when people came to America, did their gods come with them? Where are they now? Gaiman's plot is gripping, his characters crisp, likeable and (even in their most incredible moments) believable. It's smart, it's entertaining, it's even hard to describe. I would definitely take time to read this book. A word of advice, should you give American Gods a try: for maximum pleasure, trust Neil Gaiman. When a character says something that doesn't make sense, trust him. When the plot takes an odd meander away from the central storyline, trust him. If you think this book might be a little too weird for you a few chapters in, or that you're not really following everything, trust him. He doesn't spoon-feed you everything, and I think my favorite part of the book is the way you are gradually given more and more pieces of the plot, more clues to who characters are and how things will turn out in the end. Don't worry, pay attention, and enjoy. Lately I find myself rereading certain bits to see how all the details tie together in the end. Since reading American Gods, I've recommended it to everyone I know. And now I'm asking YOU to trust me. It is good, honest. ;)
Rating:
Summary: My kind of Gaiman
Review: I read good things and I read bad things about this book and I've read it twice myself. I read indictments such as "weak writing" and "meanders" regarding American Gods and I just don't get it. Almost every word and every line in this tale is just as it needs to be; this is truly a marvelous piece of storytelling, one that has held me a willing captive on two occasions now, and I have no doubt that the same will happen once again somewhere down the road.
Rating:
Summary: Good and bad
Review: Neil Gaiman has an original and interesting writing style, but this book meanders around. The pay off is not there. It's not worth the ride. Anti-climatic. Do not waste your time.
Rating:
Summary: Weird, Literate, Charming
Review: Neil Gaiman is awesome. He has a clean, crisp command of language and an economy of style...but best of all is his fertile, off-the-wall imagination! You will catch references to Joseph Campell, Carl Jung, Bradbury and Gods know who else, here. I'm usually a pulp horror junkie (Shannon and his 2002 "Night of the Beast" for example) but this is literate and involving stuff that you don't have to feel a little embarassed to be caught reading on your lunch break at work. Glad I finally got around to reading the sucker. Kudos to Gaiman! Well worth your money.
|
