It's remarkable, really, how long I was permitted to exist without reading Neil Gaiman. In retrospect, I suppose it's a good thing that I didn't read any of his books until college - had I been exposed to his work in high school, the result would have been a near-obsession filled with pages of awful fanfiction and an emotional meltdown when I learned that Mr. Gaiman is happily married.

But this didn't happen, thankfully. My first Neil Gaiman book was American Gods, and when my roommate (a much more dedicated fan than me) recommended it, she added that although the book was good, Anansi Boys was better. I started reading this one with some trepidation, as I was convinced that nothing could ever be as good as American Gods, but to my delight, I was proven wrong.

Sometimes, you read a book and know you're going to love it by the end of the first chapter. Sometimes you know after the first paragraph. With Anansi Boys, I knew at the dedication. It goes like this:

"You know how it is. You pick up a book, flip to the dedication, and find that, once again, the author has dedicated the book to someone else and not to you.
Not this time.
Because we haven't yet met/have only a glancing acquaintance/are just crazy about each other/haven't seen each other in much too long/are in some way related/will never meet, but will, I trust, despite that, always think fondly of each other...
This one's for you.
With you know what, and you probably know why."

Someone fetch me a fainting couch and some smelling salts, I need to swoon for a moment.

Ok, I'm back. Anyway, what I really liked about this book was it just focused on a small group of people. American Gods, this book's predecessor-but-not-exactly-prequel, was a sprawling epic with tons of characters and rules and the fate of the entire world and then some depended on the ending coming off right. Anansi Boys takes that same world, one in which the gods are still alive and living among us, and zeroes in on just a couple of characters: the trickster god Anansi's two adult sons, one of whom has grown up knowing his father is a god, the other who is unaware of this. The stakes are still high, of course, and battles must be fought before the end, but the scope of the novel wasn't as expansive and exhausting as American Gods. You don't necessarily have to read one before the other, but it certainly couldn't hurt.

I forgot to mark the good passages in my copy, so here are three random excerpts from the pages I remember off the top of my head:

"Like all sentient beings, Fat Charlie had a weirdness quotient. For some days the needle had been over in the red, occasionally banging jerkily against the pin. Now the meter broke. From this moment on, he suspected, nothing would surprise him. He could no longer be outweirded. He was done.
He was wrong, of course."

"Fat Charlie tried to remember what people did in prison to pass the time, but all he could come up with was keeping secret diaries and hiding things in their bottoms. He had nothing to write on, and felt that a definite measure of how well one was getting on in life was not having to hide things in one's bottom.
Nothing happened. Nothing continued to happen. More Nothing. The Return of Nothing. Son of Nothing. Nothing Rides Again. Nothing and Abbott and Costello meet the Wolfman."

"Maybe Anansi's just some guy from a story, made up back in Africa in the dawn days of the world by some boy with blackfly on his leg, pushing his crutch in the dirt, making up some goofy story about a man made of tar. Does that change anything? People respond to the stories. They tell them themselves. The stories spread, and as people tell them, the stories change the tellers. Because now the folks who never had any thought in their head but how to run from lions and keep far enough away from rivers that the crocodiles don't get an easy meal, now they're starting to dream about a whole new place to live. The world may be the same, but the wallpaper's changed."

A cool spidey alternative, not just special tinkling senses while silking and scuttling around, but doing some nasty stuff with his abilities and I don´t mean the bondage your dirty mind might imagine at the moment. Wait,… damn self irony.

There are 2 kinds of second parts, the one in series that usually get better because the exposition, and thereby dangerous lengths, infodumps, and losing the reader´s interest, are already behind the writer and she/he can now fully focus on pure entertainment.

And then there are the ones that are not lifting off, I´ve hardly seen this in one of Gaiman´s usually ingenious books, but this one seemed somewhat constructed, put together afterward, didn´t have the usual logic and inner stability, but that´s criticism at a very high level, it´s still a good work.

Anti heroes, such as Loki, in this case the not so well known Anansi, are always fun to read, because their enjoyable evilness opens up dynamic, fun, and vast lands of putting their deadly, crippling, and humiliating jokes into a modern or future setting. Often, there was even some educational purpose in the originals, something mostly getting lost in modern adaptations, where it´s mostly about using them for thrill, action, and fast paced cuts and jumps from character to setting. I´ve read some mythologies and they are, duh, kind of boring too, because creative writing courses weren´t that hip and fancy these days hundreds and thousands of years ago.

Because there is so much mythology and clever, hidden easter eggs and philosophy hidden in this one, it would be interesting to take a deeper look when reading or rereading it, because Gaiman didn´t just include a ton of classical motives, origin myths, and moralizing examples of how ancient cultures used to brainwash and indoctrinate their people by hiding secret commandos in their folklore, but some underlying, deeper meaning too. Or I just want to see them, whatever.

What is really strange, kind of prophetic, is that the potentially endless concept of creating new gods out of technology, epigenetic, and cultural change, didn´t work out as well as possible both as series and as book. Just thinking about what might be possible, not just in general, but specifically with the mythology and current state of affairs around the world, is immense. All fantasy elements of traditional tales could be continued in
a science fantasy comedy setting, filling it with innuendos and connotations to past, present, and possible futures, making it an extremely inspiring read.

I have to repeat and emphasize, that this is criticism at a very high level, the curse of all outstanding prodigy writers, that the fangirls and -boys immediately notice weaknesses that would be accepted in works of all the good, but not great, authors, and that it´s still an amazing, funny, mindblowing work. Just not as good as his others.

I am totally looking forward to an author who makes this dynamic the driving force of her/his series, using
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon...
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
and creating a never seen, mind blowing, crossover, letting genre conventions implode, über hybrid. Ahem, Mister Sanderson, may you please take over?

Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...

I love this book. No wonder it's been the One Book I want to Read. I couldn't find my autographed copy of it so I bought a paperback of it.
This book is full of things I love such as spiders, fedoras, and humour. It's kind of a loose sequel to American Gods only funnier and less dark focusing on Anansi and his sons.
It's a pure delight. The only thing better than this book would be a spider in a fedora and just try to get a fedora on a spider.

My review of Anansi Boys is published at Grimdark Magazine.

I stumbled upon a signed, limited-edition copy of Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman during lunch at a café/used bookstore a few months ago. I wish I could say I found the book, but I think the book found me.

Anansi Boys is the American Gods spinoff I didn’t know I needed. Although it’s been many years since I read American Gods, Neil Gaiman immediately caught me in this web of a tale, a contemporary low fantasy steeped in West African folklore:

“Stories are webs, interconnected strand to strand, and you follow each story to the center, because the center is the end. Each person is a strand of story.”

Why are there so many trickster gods? Whether it’s the Norse god Loki, the Greek goddess Eris, or the Monkey King from Chinese mythology, it seems like every pantheon has a resident trickster. While I’ve personally grown weary of this trope, Neil Gaiman successfully converted this unbelieving arachnophobe into a fan of Anansi, the West African spider god of mischief.

We already met Anansi as “Mr. Nancy” in American Gods. Unfortunately for Mr. Nancy, he expires quite quickly in Anansi Boys, and in a rather embarrassing fashion, leaving behind two sons who never knew each other:

“Of course, everyone’s parents are embarrassing. It goes with the territory. The nature of parents is to embarrass merely by existing, just as it is the nature of children of a certain age to cringe with embarrassment, shame, and mortification should their parents so much as speak to them on the street.”

Charles Nancy, dubbed “Fat Charlie” by his father, didn’t inherit any of his dad’s divine powers. He works at a boring job in a shady investment firm in London and is preparing, rather unenthusiastically, to be married to his girlfriend Rosie.

But Charlie’s life is shaken up when his brother, Spider, enters his life. Spider shares his father’s mischievous nature and magical powers. He assumes Charlie’s identity—just for fun—inadvertently ruining his job and stealing his girlfriend in the process.

Charlie must seek supernatural help to fight back against Spider and reclaim his life. However, the help he receives may be more than he bargained for, as a spider’s natural enemy threatens even his own life.

Neil Gaiman proves once again to be a master storyteller with Anansi Boys, a delightfully dark tale that is also full of heart. My only regret is that the story took this long to find me.

This book does absolutely nothing for me. I am sorry, I am probably reading this wrong. I struggled my way through 86 pages, it took me five days and I don't care for any of it. I chuckled a few times and some of the imagery was great, but mostly I am bored stiff and don't care for any of the characters. I thought if I held out until the point when Fat Charlie meets Spider, the story and my interest would pick up momentum. But no. Mea culpa.

I am galivanting between 1 or 2 stars, but will leave it without for now, as I read so little of the book.

I got this book shortly after it came out, but I think I waited so long to get around to reading it because I had heard it described as a "companion piece" to 'American Gods' - and that book was, unfortunately, probably my least favorite of Gaiman's works.

Happily (for me), I didn't find the tone of this book to be similar at all. It's a very clever, funny book - with serious ideas thrown into the mix. Stylistically, as well as in its sense of humor, it reminded me more of Terry Pratchett than anything else Gaiman has done [with, of course, the exception of Good Omens ;-) ].

O lectură plăcută. Merită citită

This was a wonderfully humorous read. Towards the end it became a bit so-so, therefore only 4 stars. But I had a lot of laughing out loud moments and crazy moments I loved a lot.

Despite having read Gaiman's American Gods multiple times, this was the first time I've read this spin-off or whatever you want to call it.

Mr. Nancy is different here. He's fallen in love with a mortal woman and has a son with her, Charlie. Charlie is quite shy and awkward. He's also gonna get married soon, though the wedding preparations look less than enthusiastic to me.
We get to know that he basically grew up without a father, but when Charlie hears about Mr. Nancy's passing, he nevertheless goes to his funeral.
From there, it's a jorney of (self-)discovery once a neighbor tells him that Mr. Nancy is no other that Anansi, the African spider god. Carlie also finds out that he supposedly has a brother who has inherited their father's divine powers.
Once Charlie and his brother meet, the world will never be the same again. Yes, I know how lame that sounds but if I told you about how Spider isn't really Charlie's brother but that he instead is an aspect of Charlie that got split from him by a witch when he was a child or that in truth Charlie very well DOES have divine powers, I'd spoil all the fun. ;P

Personally, I LOVE stories about the power of storytelling. And I LOVE American Gods. It's therefore no surprise that I wanted to read more about the arachnid deity known for shaping reality and connecting humans through stories. What are lives, after all, but stories?!

Nevertheless, this is definitely not Gaiman's strongest. I mean, it's still top notch or I wouldn't rate it this highly, but after reading so many of the author's others, this felt too ... different (in a slightly less impactful kinda way).

However, Gaiman is still fantastic on his worst day and almost godlike himself on his best day so I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the cluster of neighbors (especially Mrs. Higgler who was just a hoot) while I cringed about Charlie's awkwardness and flat-out growled at Rosie. The gods, once we encounter some, were a wonderfully colourful array of old and familiar tales that were (re-)presented in just the right light that combined the old with a bit of a modern twist.
On a personal note, having seen over 25 sparrows descend on my garden today and having seen Hitchcock's The Birds, I get why Bird Woman poses such a threat. *lol*

A nice little side quest / adventure that couldn't quite capture me as much as Shadow's but which was still highly entertaining.

2018 -
This is still one of my favorite stories. I like it even more than American Gods because this one is more gentle, slow, and, in the end, very, very sweet.

2009 -
This was such an entertaining read! This is only the third Gaiman I have had the pleasure of, but I want to read everything he's written! He really knows how to pull you in and make you feel for the characters! You can't help but love some, even hate others, but no matter how you feel about them, you can't wait to see what they do next.

Despite his shenanigans, I couldn't help but want to know Mr. Nanci. Who wouldn't want to be cheered from their deathbed by a jazz band playing their favorite song in the hospital hallways? Fat Charlie was so sweet and accepting. He took everything that came his way with patience and a sigh. And Spider...I think everyone would like at least one date with Spider.

What I found most amazing about this book, didn't even occur to me until the last few pages. Even if you removed every bit of magic, mysticism, and folklore, it would still be an excellent read. I don't want to give anything away, but twins instead of split, long lost instead of banished, and a simple falling out followed by reunion with a bit of crime, high jinks, and coincidence thrown in. The love stories could still have occurred and the ending would have satisfied me just as much.

It seems that at times an author has an idea and then works it from many different points of view. Sometimes this works sometimes not. In this case it seems to have worked. Neil Gaiman at some point came up with the idea of "old gods" or "god beings" or possibly "godlike beings". I wasn't really bowled over by American Gods, nor for that matter by the follow up novella he wrote based on it later. This however is an excellent read.

We follow "Fat Charlie" (you see Anansi, Charlie's father was a "god" and when he named things, the names, stuck. He'd called Charlie "Fat Charlie when he was young and though Charlie was no longer fat, people still called him that) on a journey to sort of "reclaim" his life after years of..well, not fully living.

The mystery of Charlie's brother (whom he never knew he had) comes into this along with...well, it's worth reading and I believe you'll enjoy it without my spoilers, try it.

Note" Anansi or Anansi the Spider is a West African character found in many traditional stories.

Anansi Boys (American Gods), Neil Gaiman

When Fat Charlie's dad named something, it stuck. Like calling Fat Charlie "Fat Charlie."

Even now, twenty years later, Charlie Nancy can't shake that name, one of the many embarrassing "gifts" his father bestowed -- before he dropped dead on a karaoke stage and ruined Fat Charlie's life.

Mr. Nancy left Fat Charlie things. Things like the tall, good-looking stranger who appears on Charlie's doorstep, who appears to be the brother he never knew.

A brother as different from Charlie as night is from day, a brother who's going to show Charlie how to lighten up and have a little fun ... just like Dear Old Dad.

And all of a sudden, life starts getting very interesting for Fat Charlie.

Because, you see, Charlie's dad wasn't just any dad. He was Anansi, a trickster god, the spider-god. Anansi is the spirit of rebellion, able to overturn the social order, create wealth out of thin air, and baffle the devil. Some said he could cheat even Death himself.

تاریخ نخستین خوانش

عنوان: پسران آنانسی؛ نویسنده نیل گیمن؛ مترجم رحیم قاسمیان؛ ویراستار لیلا اوصالی؛ تهران، انتشارات پریان؛ 1400؛ در 452ص؛ شابک9786007058343؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان بریتانیا - سده21م

پدرش او را «چارلی چاق» صدا میکرد؛ «نیل گیمن» در این کتاب تا ژرفای یادمانهای کودکانگی غوطه ور و در کابوسهای شبانه به خود میآید و داستان خیال انگیز بی‌خوابی شبانه ی یک پسربچه ی تنها را باز میگویند؛ «گیمن» که در بیشتر آثارش به پسربچه ها و تلاششان برای پیوند با زندگی میپرداختند، در رمان «پسران آنانسی» نیز که نخستین بار در سال 2005میلادی منتشر شده داستانی را باز میگوید که چکیده آن را خواهم نوشت

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 15/07/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی