Anansi Boys

2.5 stars
I should have known better than to try another book by Gaiman after too many disappointments from him in the past. But I've read just enough good work by him to keep me coming back, hoping to strike gold again. Unfortunately, all I found here was fool's gold. Maybe that sounds harsh, considering the story was very imaginative, rich in details stemming from a myth originating in an African folktale. But here's why I think this book glitters only on the surface.

The character from the above folktale takes the form of a spider and is the spirit of all knowledge of stories. This spider--Anansi--often takes the form of a man, and that's where this book begins, with the death of Mr. Nancy, a seemingly carefree and crafty fellow. He has a son he referred to as Fat Charlie, even though Charlie had only been a bit plump for a few years before adolescence. When Mr. Nancy dies, Charlie discovers his father was the god, Anansi, whose powers were inherited by his son--not Charlie, though, but Charlie's brother, Spider, whom Charlie never knew existed. With the help of some magic, Charlie wishes to meet the brother he never knew, which is a case of being "careful what you wish for" as chaos ensues.

So far so good, with what seemed like a family drama rich in myth with magic unfolding. But despite an explanation for his behavior given later, Charlie was a bit too wimpy for a main character whom I'm supposed to root for. He has a fiancé who controls him and a boss who pushes him around and demeans him, and then a newly met brother who challenges him in other ways, and Charlie takes this treatment as his due, along with a nickname he outgrew long ago. And to make matters worse, this is about all the character development Charlie or any other characters get as this story turns into a mish mash when combining a family drama with a crime story on top of multiple fantasy elements. With so much going on, instead of the story racing forward, it crawled sideways like a crab, weaving this way and that, until eventually it tired and reached its destination. So many details, which added nothing but length to this story, bogged it down, the resolution a missed opportunity when a twist at the two-thirds mark had me hoping for more.

Did I like anything about this book? The thing I liked best which allowed me to get through it was the audiobook's narrator, Lenny Henry, who reeled off a dozen voices with ease, the pacing of his reading zipping along faster than the actual story, yet easy to understand. His performance earned five stars. I also enjoyed the myths and the twist in the story. If only the story hadn't had as many arms as Shiva, and the characters hadn't been one dimensional, it might have had a chance to come together with the characters developing into beings I could truly care about.

I really wish I could say I enjoyed this book more than I did since the author is so popular, his books and writing adored by many more people than I have fingers and toes. But I found it tedious, and I found it to be aimless too much of the time when I was aiming to be entertained by a story with depth. It is a companion book to American Gods, but can be read as a standalone. If you enjoyed other books by Gaiman, you'll probably enjoy this one, too. And I will be happy that you did, but it wasn't for me.

As with his American Gods, we are served a romp with gods among the humans. In the process we get a rich farce while a tale is spun of a mythic quest taken up by Fat Charley, set in motion by the blundering of newly discovered gods in his family. The spinning of tales and causal threads in the world is a key attribute realized for the spider god featured in this new rendition of a widespread mythic figure. The absurdities gets almost as bad as the capers attributed to Greek and Roman gods. Kafka references and comparisons with the perils of Promethius are made with a smile. We get a good dose of ghosts in the tale as well, hearkening as much to Shakespearean specters of note as to Gaiman's Coraline and Graveyard efforts. Both the gods and ghosts in the end are pretty hapless, leaving it to our human hero to clean up after their messes.

This was so much fun, and very funny in some parts. Lenny Henry's reading is outstanding and worth hearing. My favourite characters, which Henry reads perfectly, are the three elderly Caribbean ladies, nowadays weaving their spells and roasting turkeys in Florida, who operate something like the three Fates: Mrs. Callyanne Higgler, Mrs. Dunwiddy, and Mrs. Bustamonte. Highly recommend to anyone who enjoys Gaiman's sense of humour and way of telling stories.

It's the 20th century & Anansi appears to die, leaving a very confused son, who didn't realise that his dad was a god…or that he had a brother, Interesting concepts as ever, but also as ever, I struggles to stay the least bit interested in the story.. despite blazing through it in 2 days, which in hindsight might be part of the problem.

(B+) 76% | Good
Notes: Gets too diffuse (it's focus-loose), a lot of story-slacking, a waggish work if over-quirked, it’s fun but magic's lacking.

*Check out progress updates for detailed commentary:

Progress updates:

08/10/2023 (1) - Preamble
(1) I've just finished "American Gods," so I'm jumping right in with the sequel.
- The audiobook had no holds at my library, so there wasn't any reason to wait.
(2) Coming off a full-cast, this one's back to a single narrator.
- I think a full-cast may have spoiled me on audiobooks, but at least I can play this at 1.50x or 1.75x speed again, not needing a normal pace to identify and appreciate multiple voices.

08/10/2023 (2) - Chapters 1-7
(1) "[His mother's] postcard from Nanking told him that she certainly didn’t like what passed for Chinese food in China, and that she couldn’t wait to come back to London and eat proper Chinese food."
- This seemingly trivial quip is actually keeping right in line with "American Gods." The idea that concepts, recipes in this case, move to new countries and evolve to fit the palate of the people who live there.

08/11/2023 - Chapters 8-11
(1) I recall this not being my cup of tea the first time I read it. I haven't really changed my opinion. Though, I will say the narrator's excellent, and makes this a more entertaining experience.
- In particular, Lenny Henry's Caribbean patois really brings a lot of flavor and liveliness to the proceedings.
- His American accent isn't exactly seamless, but better than the usual British actor playing American.

08/12/2023 - Chapters 12-14
(1) There's a running joke about a lime that I didn't get when I read this years ago, and I only sort of get now.
- Best I see it, the lime represents something entirely mundane that is seen as special and significant on the fictional island of Saint Andrews simply because the locals treat it as such. Belief equals reality.
- The problem is the lime is manifestly not special, someone just picked it off a tree.

Fat Charlie learns that not only was his father a god but he has a brother named Spider and the story take of. Eh well it was an okay book to listen to, liked some parts more then others but have a rather lukewarm feeling towards the book and feels rather forgettable. Already forgetting some of it even though I finished it earlier today.

Ναι, ο Gaiman μας μεταφέρει και πάλι στον κόσμο του American Gods όμως εδώ σταματούν οι ομοιότητες στα δύο βιβλία.
Όσο κι αν μου άρεσε το American Gods, το Anansi Boys κέρδισε στα σημεία. Είναι απίστευτα ανάλαφρο και κεφάτο βιβλίο, το οποίο κυλάει νεράκι.
Η υπόθεση μου άρεσε πολύ, είναι έξυπνη, σπαρταριστή με πλοκή γρήγορη και έξυπνες ανατροπές. Ο ήρωας είναι σκέτος goofy και αξιολάτρευτος. Επίσης ναι, έχει και φαντάσματα τα οποία λατρεύω στις ιστορίες. Όποιος διάβασε το Αmerican gods και δεν του άρεσε, ας μην βιαστεί να απορρίψει το Anansi boys, είναι από τα βιβλία που δεν αφήνεις εύκολα από τα χέρια σου.

(B+) 76% | Good
Notes: Little transition between its real-world first half and its magical second half. Its story gets all wishy-washy at the end.