Rating: 
Summary: Good dark fantasy
Review: American Gods is the story of an ex-con with the single name of Shadow who is reluctantly recruited to participate in a war of the gods. The ancient gods are fading as they are being forgotten, and new gods, representing television, computers and other modern objects of worship, are coming into power.Gaiman, more well-known for his critically acclaimed comic book writing does a good job here. At times the story does drag a little and at other times he is a little unclear, but overall, he has written a good novel. The obvious influence for this novel seemed to be Harlan Ellison's Deathbird Stories (with its tales of the gods of modern life), and I was pleased to see Gaiman acknowledge this influence in the afterword. In style, however, this book is more reminiscent of Clive Barker at his peak. As dark fantasy, this is a good work, and although there is some room for improvement, I'd be willing to read more by Gaiman.
Rating: 
Summary: The Gods Must Be Crazy...
Review: The Gods Must Be Crazy.... When I picked this up, I vaguely thought it was some kind of murder mystery -- I read the back, which said something about man just released from prison finding out his wife has been murdered. That's only the beginning of a long and delicious story told by a master storyteller. A mixture of a hip road trip across America, along with magical rides with mystical creatures, the eternal external and internal battle 'twixt good and evil, Christlike sacrifice and suffering, human and godly greed, wit, trickery, violence, poetry and much more. Set in the US in our time, the main character, Shadow, looks forward to reuniting with his wife Laura after serving 3 years in prison. Instead, he finds out she's been killed in an accident. He's released early and flies home next to a man named Wednesday, who knows everything about Shadow and shows up in the most unexpected places until Shadow agrees to be sort of a bodyguard to Wednesday. He has dark and mystical dreams; the lovely, but slowly decaying Laura, pays him wistful visits. He meets some ancient foreigners as well as some younger and more stylish folks on separate sides of an escalating disagreement. This is the classic story with a contemporary twist. The old Gods men used to worship and sacrifice for (virgins and the innocent) are battling the new gods humans worship and sacrifice for (time, original thinking and more) -- TV, consumerism and technology. Gaiman's satire runs deep. How about a modern goddess named Media -- 'isn't she the one who killed her children?' one god asks. Another answers "Different woman. Same story.") Though it doesn't always help to compare one writer's style with another, there are shades of Stephen King's The Stand with a touch of Bukowski and Kerouac. Since reading this book, I've read two more of his and am searching for more. All were excellent, managing to be similar, but very different. Gaiman is clearly a gifted storyteller -- whatever I read by him leaves me wanting to read more. Thought provoking, riveting, humorous, wonderfully written.
Rating: 
Summary: Ragnarok Around the Clock Tonight!
Review: Shadow is released after three years of his assault sentence for good behavior, only to find his wife and best friend died in the same car accident immediately before his release. His friend's widow tells Shadow that the two of them were engaged in flagrante delicto, at the time. Shadow can't ponder his losses, however, because an enigmatic con-man named Mr. Wednesday has hired him to be his personal driver and bodyguard on an unstated mission for an unstated duration. It isn't long before Shadow is surrounded by former gods now down on their luck, who Mr. Wednesday is busy recruiting for an all-out final showdown with the new gods who supplanted them - the gods of Media, Fast Food, Shopping Malls, Computers, and the like. Shadow's dead wife keeps coming back to him, gradually looking and smelling less pleasant, and he gets abducted and beat-up a lot by Men In Black with names like "Mr. Wood" and "Mr. Stone," who are out to vanquish Wednesday. If any of this sounds intriguing or amusing, then this is the book for you, because technically, that's about all that happens in this novel. It has a story with a reasonable conclusion, but - like Lord of the Rings - its destination is the journey itself, and it never really arrives anywhere. What this book is, essentially, is a Jack Kerouac road trip across America, filled with bizarre characters, humorous perceptions and anecdotal stories. It has less of a plot than a point, and as such is pretty much a one-joke show with variations on a central theme. The characters are entertaining, but pretty superficial. But, most importantly, it's just plain fun. It tells numerous funny stories and jokes, with the familiarity of an old friend. It isn't really deep at all, despite appearances to the contrary, though it might sufficiently lull you with laughter to accidentally slip an interesting idea or two into your head for later mulling-over. Most recommended for travelers - especially those undertaking a long road trip.
Rating:
Summary: An intriguing concoction that never truly gels
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Literature of the Gods
Review: Having read Neil Gaiman's Sandman graphic novel series, along with his novels _Stardust_ and _Neverwhere_, how could I resist snatching _American Gods_ from the library shelf the moment I spotted it? Of course I couldn't. And now that I've stayed up far, far too late for two nights in a row to finish this dark and lingering masterpiece, I'm ready to say without reservation that it's thus far my favorite of all Gaiman's text novel-format works. This is truly an ambitious story: like Sandman, it deals with issues vital to humanity, and though the natures of religion and belief are its gist it's by no means limited only to those things. It prompts one to consider what it really means to be alive, what price people might be willing to pay for peace in a chaotic world, whether anything in life is truly what it seems... and despite a number of historical (or faux-historical) anecdotes told as asides to the main story, it never really takes on the tone of a lecture. Gaiman's art and skill keep the novel compelling and alive, and it can be appreciated both as a philosophical text and as a sheerly entertaining work of modern fantasy. Its size may also work in its favor. While I've enjoyed the other Gaiman novels I've read, neither of them seemed quite as epic or grand as the Sandman series--of course, neither of them were likely meant to. _American Gods_ isn't quite on Sandman's scale, but it has a very satisfying sense of depth and weight to it. Its conclusion was relatively satisfying and for once didn't leave me wishing Gaiman had gone just a little while longer. I would absolutely recommend this book, particularly to those who've read and enjoyed Sandman; however, familiarity with that unrelated series is by no means necessary to understand _American Gods_. I feel obliged to caution, however, that it does contain scenes with explicit sex, explicit gore, and occasionally explicit disgustingness. Though such passages generally contribute to the atmosphere of the novel and serve the purpose of the plot, those who are particularly repelled by such things might wish to choose a different Gaiman tale.
Rating: 
Summary: Doesn't draw reader in
Review: The basic flaw of this book was that the inherent disinterest that the protaganist, Shadow, has in the events happening around him gives the reader the impression that this aren't really amazing events and sho There's a plethora of fascinating characters in this book, but there's no glue that binds the whole story together because the main character doesn't give a damn about anything. I was more interested in when the clunker was going to fall through the ice than anything else. If the protaganist doesn't find interest in anything else in the book, why should I?
Rating:
Summary: Rich, Clever, Captivating
Review: Neil Gaimon has interested me since I first bumped into him as co-author (with Terry Pratchett) of Good Omens. I awaited this novel with a great deal of anticipation.
It was nothing at all that I expected and a great deal more. Rich with cultural references, mythology, symbol, and signifiers, the novel doesn't just hold your attention. It grabs you by the frontal lobes and shouts PAY ATTENTION! Do. If you blink you'll miss something vital.
His prose is like a blending of Sherman Alexie and Terry Pratchett with a dash of Douglas Adams, but make no mistakes: Gaimon is anything but an imitator. What many authors waste 200 pages on he snaps into being with a turn of phrase or a seemingly casual reference.
I loved the landmine references to various mythologies. The characters are rich, well developed, and different. His understanding of America and Americans was a delightful surprise. READ IT!
Rating: 
Summary: Would have been an interesting short story....
Review: I think Gaiman's story concept was interesting, but lacked real character development, and the flow of the story was mired in clunky plot twists. Had this been written as a short story it could have potentially held my interest, but as a novel? I couldn't even finish it. Why was Shadow never surprised, shocked, or at all emotional in response to the numerous surreal circumstances he encountered? I never felt engaged me in the story... who the hell cares what happens to Shadow?
Rating:
Summary: I know you're not supposed to do this...
Review: ...but I had never read Gaiman before and judged this book on the cover (and, of course, the excerpt I read here). Needless to say, the cliche was wrong! Putting aside all bells and whistles, this book was wonderful. Even if you don't necessarily enjoy it, you'll find something to enjoy in this novel. I heartly recommend "American Gods" to anyone who enjoys the English language, as Mr. Gaiman has a wonderful command over it. The only problem with this book is finding a prominent enough space on my bookshelf for it.
Rating:
Summary: Road Side Attraction Masterpiece
Review: Gaiman pulls off a near perfect mixture of American road-trip, kitch, mythology, and fascinating characterization in this novel. This book is witty with a wry sensability and above all a really likeable character who just happens to be an ex-con on-the-run who really just wants to be left alone. I loved this book and can't wait to read other Gaiman novels.
|
