neilgaiman.com
Summary:
On the way home from a three-year stint in prison, Shadow meets a man who calls himself Wednesday. Wednesday seems to know a lot about Shadow— things he shouldn’t know— and he offers him a job. Shadow declines, wanting nothing to do with him, but he soon realizes that life will lead him right back to Wednesday regardless. The job soon becomes much more than a job and changes everything Shadow thought he knew about himself and his world. It is an adventure where Shadow will meet old gods and new gods, seek the truth, and find out that true things are not always so simple.
Comments:
My husband had this book lying around for a while, and I’d always been curious, but it was Farah’s post about this book at her blog, Spasi, that reminded me to read it. And I’m glad I did, although it took a while to convince me of that. The book is a mystery and it’s a complicated one at that; it begins a bit slowly. But the writing is interesting and thorough, and Gaiman presents a lot of very unique and original ideas throughout his storytelling. This was my introduction to Gaiman and I was impressed. Not in love, but definitely impressed.
The Point:
It was a fun, thought-provoking, twisted ride, and I recommend it.
Related articles
- American Gods – 10th Anniversary Interview with Neil Gaiman (annetteholland.com)
- Quote of the Day: Neil Gaiman on writing (trickygirl.wordpress.com)
- Neil Gaiman talks AMERICAN GODS and DOCTOR WHO (geektyrant.com)
Like this:
Tags: American Gods, Books, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Mythology, Neil Gaiman, Science Fiction
American Gods is my favorite Gaiman. but I’ll happily admit that I wasn’t sure what to make it the first time through as well. Over the years I’ve probably read it 3 or 4 times, and I get more out of it everytime.
Rumor is HBO bought the rights to do a miniseries of it.
I definitely see the reread potential. As I read it, previous parts gradually made more and more sense. I’d imagine the reread would highlight some of the genius of the story.
I saw that, about the series, when I was browsing related links. Could be interesting.
Interesting. I’ve been thinking about reading a Neil Gaiman book for a while. I have a friend who really likes his writing style. Maybe I’ll give this one a shot.
Gaiman receives a lot of accolades. He’s written some very diverse material- from comics to Children’s stories. I think his skill is showcased in American Gods, definitely, but it wasn’t what I expected. Of course, the unexpected is often good stuff.
I hope you enjoy it. I’m going to check out Gaiman’s novel, Neverwhere, next… a story that had my husband hooked.
Oh, Alexis i haven’t finished yet! (i have only read 1/3) Yes the story a bit slow… Very different with other intense-thinner novel he wrote Coraline, but still interesting…
I read two other books along with this one now ( Jumpa Lahiri: Accustomed Earth & Meg- Cabot: Queen of Babble. I’m so random ^_^ ) i hope i could finish this soon and write my review..
I’d guess Gaiman’s writing varies a lot depending on genre and audience (Coraline being a children’s story.) I’ve never read Coraline, but I did see the very adorable movie in 3D. The next Gaiman novel I intend to check out is Neverwhere (although I did check out the miniseries based on it… briefly, and was not impressed… my husband swears by the book, though.)
I love Jhumpa Lahiri. My review of Unaccustomed Earth is here: http://blackbirdbookreviews.wordpress.com/2011/07/27/unaccustomed-earth-by-jhumpa-lahiri/
What was Queen of Babble like? Did you review it?
I feel like I see the name Gaiman everywhere nowadays. It’s probably because, like you said, he’s involved in so many areas of writing—comics, movies and so on. A friend recommended Neverwhere to me when I was a kid but I still haven’t read it. I liked the movie MirrorMask that he wrote, though. It was produced by Jim Henson’s company, so it’s filled with weird animated/claymation-type characters.
MirrorMask sounds very cool. I’ll have to check it out. Thanks for letting me know about it. I’m a fan of Henson and clay-mation.
Neverwhere is on my TBR list. I’ve seen a bit of the series it inspired but I was not impressed. Despite that, the hubby loves the book and highly recommends it. I’ll read and review it eventually.