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Book Review
Aug. 7th, 2016 10:20 pmAmerican Gods
by Neil Gaiman
American Gods follows Shadow, a man recently released from prison and mourning the sudden death of his wife Laura, who finds himself accepting employment as a bodyguard and attache to the mysterious Mr. Wednesday. Thus Shadow finds himself on a winding road trip all over America and caught up in a power struggle among and between the incarnations of old gods and new. Along the way, Gaiman explores the relationships between myth and reality, the power and value of belief, the search for redemption, and how all this might play out in the physical and cultural landscape of America.
The characters were all very well-written, especially the gods. They all had a shabby magnificence, a run-down grandeur that made them both awe-inspiring and magical and earthily real at the same time. I also liked the way Shadow starts out pretty much muddling along and gradually gains clarity and purpose in what he's doing.
As one would expect, the writing is amazingly good. So good, in fact, that after reading a segment set in a Wisconsin town during a severe winter cold snap, my subconscious became convinced it actually was winter and I felt chilly for the rest of the afternoon even though it was a hot day in late July. It wasn't that Gaiman spent paragraphs lovingly describing the cold or the snow, because he didn't. It was all in the little details - Shadow making sure to put on a heavy coat before going out, the light on the snow, etc.
by Neil Gaiman
American Gods follows Shadow, a man recently released from prison and mourning the sudden death of his wife Laura, who finds himself accepting employment as a bodyguard and attache to the mysterious Mr. Wednesday. Thus Shadow finds himself on a winding road trip all over America and caught up in a power struggle among and between the incarnations of old gods and new. Along the way, Gaiman explores the relationships between myth and reality, the power and value of belief, the search for redemption, and how all this might play out in the physical and cultural landscape of America.
The characters were all very well-written, especially the gods. They all had a shabby magnificence, a run-down grandeur that made them both awe-inspiring and magical and earthily real at the same time. I also liked the way Shadow starts out pretty much muddling along and gradually gains clarity and purpose in what he's doing.
As one would expect, the writing is amazingly good. So good, in fact, that after reading a segment set in a Wisconsin town during a severe winter cold snap, my subconscious became convinced it actually was winter and I felt chilly for the rest of the afternoon even though it was a hot day in late July. It wasn't that Gaiman spent paragraphs lovingly describing the cold or the snow, because he didn't. It was all in the little details - Shadow making sure to put on a heavy coat before going out, the light on the snow, etc.
