For a confused minute (or a week really if I can be truly honest with myself), I tried typing power overwhelming using my Kindle Paperwhite. Now kids, power overwhelming is a Star Craft cheat that made ones' troops god-like or invincible. I wanted god-like powers so I'd have the power to read through and like American Gods, but alas, I am only human and cannot smite Neil Gaiman for my disappointment.

I have to hand it to Neil Gaiman for coming up with this fantastic concept, a Battle Royale between the old and the new gods. What's not to like? Plenty as it turns out. I know I am not alone in my disappointment with American Gods.I buddy read this with my friends Vane and Evelyn (who hasn't finished yet), but Vane and I have pretty much similar gripes. On the bigger scale though, we're probably the odd ducks as this is such a popular and critically acclaimed novel.

One of the biggest issues I have with American Gods is its main protagonist, Shadow. He's a lug with a penchant for coin tricks and is dull. I'm not sure if he's really meant to be that way to contrast with the bigger-than-life deities or he's just an underdeveloped character, either way it worked against the narrative of the story. The old deities were just a little better written than Shadow, while the new gods were laughably undeveloped. I didn't care for any of them at all.
Early on in the book the end-goal is discussed at some length, so I was filled with anticipation as to whom will join their fight, but that anticipation withered as the story dragged on to anywhere but the fight. I had to read 10% each day as per our buddy read contract (emoji filled gchat really, but who cares), but most days I was just like



At around 80%, I was all



It's a shame really as the plot was really good, but the execution was just TOO tedious.

I'm sure the word weird has been thrown a lot when talking about American Gods. Oh, it is plenty weird, but the world itself is not weird as much as muddled and poorly incorporated. I guess when gods walk among men, everything else is fair game, it doesn't matter if mortals can grasp it or not. It certainly takes Deus Ex Machina to a different level.

This is my first Gaiman and I'm not impressed yet.Normally, I'm a fan of the weird, the strange and fantastical, this is not one of those times.

America is a melting pot of cultures, languages and traditions. People of many backgrounds and beliefs have learned to coexist - and so have the gods that they brought with them.
And, if co-existing and competing with other gods is not hard enough, they must now contend with new and authentically American Gods......media, technology, consumerism.
This dark story of self-discovery is filled with as much fantastical imagery as bleak reality. Through an impossible story about gods and men, Gaiman tells a story that is unmistakably human, and far more terrifying for that reason.
This master storyteller makes the ordinary extraordinary and the extraordinary ordinary. I would highly recommend this book to fiction and non-fiction readers alike as it transcends genre and contemplates humanity and belief through the deceptively simple guise of telling a fantasy story.

Terminada la relectura y preparada para la serie que necesito NOW NOW NOOOOW

Había leído este libro hace exactamente 14 años así que no me acordaba prácticamente de nada, pero recordaba que el principio era muy lento. Y es cierto. Mi yo 14 años más vieja sigue pensando que la primera parte del libro es quizás demasiado lenta... y Sombra: ACELGA DE LA VIDA. Pero a partir de la mitad es magia pura del señor Gaiman haciendo lo que mejor sabe hacer :)
#Laurateadoro

"Many things prove to me that the gods take part in the affairs of man." - Herodotus

In Gaiman’s story, the converse is equally true: the very existence of the gods depends on the affairs of mankind, specifically, that people believe in them. Like mortals, they need to be loved.

Gods from cultures around the world travelled to the US in the minds of immigrants. The indigenous people already had their own gods, and now (2001) there are new gods as well: internet, capitalism, media etc. In a material, synaptic, digital world, the immaterial, synoptic, analog beings struggle to survive.

This fantastic concept is wrapped up in a disorienting road trip through the wonders of small town USA. Shadow, a young man recently released from prison, is taken on as driver and assistant for the mysterious Wednesday. They go to places on the cusp of the corporeal world, where they meet strange characters with stranger histories, as a growing sense of something ominous looms. Towards the end, there’s a series of forked paths, difficult choices: “Hard truths” or “fine lies”? Be wise, whole, or dead?

It blurs dreams and reality; gods and mortals; the living, the dead, and the inbetween. The main narrative is interspersed with chapters about historical settlers and the gods they brought. The second half is infused with ideas about identity, faith, mortality, and reality. But overall, I was slightly disappointed – though 3* isn’t bad.

Identity

“Nobody’s American… not originally.”
“Lady Liberty… like so many of the gods that Americans hold dear, a foreigner.”
“This is the only country in the world… that worries about what it is.”

Gaiman is a Brit who has lived in the US for many years. Britain is often portrayed as a nation of eccentrics, and Gaiman is drawn to the eccentricities of his new homeland. In an interview at the back, he says the chief difference between England and the US is that “England has history and America has geography”, but his story credits the US with both.

He fondly caricatures the bizarre and often anticlimactic roadside attractions, built at mystical sites where previous civilisations would have built stone circles or temples, and he paints the idyllic town of Lakeside with hues of Stepford and Twin Peaks. He points out that the signs for small towns always state the population and usually have an obscure claim to fame, often sport-related, such as the town’s Under 14s team was the third runner-up in the interstate Hundred-Yard Sprint.

Road Trip

A couple of weeks after reading this, we did an eclipse road trip in the US (which I blogged, with photos, in a GR review HERE). I looked out for strange signs: the printed (the smallest population I’ve seen previously is 79), the primordial, supernatural kind - and roadside attractions. On the crest of a hill in the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon, you can spot Stonehenge. It's a supposedly full-scale model (it's between half and 2/3), built as a memorial to US troops who died in WW1. The idea came from a man who visited the original at a time when it was thought to have been used for pagan human sacrifice. WW1 was a different, more worthy, type of human sacrifice.





https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryhil...

Dead or Alive?

“Call no man happy until he’s dead.” - Herodotus
But as Shadow points out, that doesn't mean the dead are happy, but rather, that “you can’t judge the shape of someone’s life until it’s over and done”.

Gods abound, from a variety of times and places, including Norse, Ancient Egyptian, Hindu, central African, Asian, Irish, and central European. But the monotheistic God of the Abrahamic traditions does not feature. Not directly. There are strong parallels with the New Testament, though.

“There’s power in the sacrifice of a son.”
“Belief without blood only takes us so far… In the god business… it’s not the death that matters. It’s the opportunity for resurrection.”
And the goddess, Easter, has a central role.

“You’re not dead… but I’m not sure that you’re alive, either.”
“Now, dying on the tree, [x] was utterly alive.”

This idea of the living not being fully alive is also a recurring theme, but in a very different, non-spiritual sense, in The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, which I recently reviewed HERE.

“You people talk about the living and the dead as if they were mutually exclusive… As if you cannot have a river that is also a road, or a song that is also a color… Life and death are two sides of the same coin.”

Stories, Islands, and Pearls

“Lives are snowflakes - unique in detail, forming patterns we have seen before, but as like one another as peas in a pod”- which, of course, are not very alike when you really look.
“We need individual stories… the statistics become people.”

Like most writers of fantasy, Gaiman venerates the power of stories: ancient myths, but also the quotidian lives of ordinary folk. That’s the driving force here, and the life force for the gods. I guess it’s also the driving force of my reading, reviewing, and inner life.

It’s also why people respond to the recent tragic story of an individual like Charlie Gard, while ignoring larger scale tragedies, even if the latter are more solvable than the former. It’s not mere hypocrisy, but a specific sort of compassion fatigue, as Brian Resnick explains HERE. Anecdote isn’t evidence, but it is a powerful force.

But mostly, we prefer to protect ourselves from true but tragic stories. Gaiman claims Donne was wrong: we are islands, and therefore “we are insulated... from the tragedy of others, by our island nature, and by the repetitive shape and form of the stories”. Thus “we build a shell around it like an oyster dealing with a painful particle of grit... This is how we walk and talk and function... immune to others' pain and loss.”

Perhaps this passage subconsciously prompted me to read Steinbeck’s The Pearl (which I reviewed HERE) immediately after this, though I only noticed the connection when writing this review - days after writing up The Pearl.

Personally, I think Donne and Gaiman both have pearls of truth: we are islands, but we have bridges and rescue boats at our disposal. We are connected if we care and dare to venture on the seas to those we love.

Quotes

* “To be a god... means you give up your mortal existence to become a meme: something that lives forever in people's minds... You barely have your own identity any more. Instead, you're a thousand aspects of what people need you to be... Nothing is fixed, nothing is stable.”

* “His smiles were strange things… They contained no shred of humor, no happiness, no mirth… Like he had learned to smile from a manual.”

* “Ideas are more difficult to kill than people, but they can be killed, in the end.”

* “Chicago happened slowly, like a migraine.”

* “The moonlight drained colors into ghosts of themselves.”

* “Eyes, the dangerous blue of a sky when a storm is coming.”

* “American history… is fictional, a charcoal-sketched simplicity for the children, or the easily bored… The American colonies were was much a dumping ground as an escape.”

* “Like banana peel, only with bad taste and irony thrown in.” (A condom on the sidewalk.)

* “It’s easier to kill people when you’re dead yourself… You're Not prejudiced any more.”

* “Ice sheathed the winter-black bushes and trees as if they’d been insulated, made into dreams.”

* “It smelled of people who had gone away to live other lives, and of all they had eaten and dreamed.”

* “His anger seemed to have dissipated, or perhaps to have been invested for the future.”

* “There were stars overhead hanging like frozen spears of light, stabbing the night sky.”

* “Kansas was the cheerless gray of lonesome clouds, empty windows, and lost hearts.”

* “People gamble to lose money. It’s a sacrifice of sorts.” Coin tricks rely on cupidity and greed, thus, it’s harder to scam an honest man.

* “Since her death, Laura had not thought in metaphors; things were or they were not.”

* “All your questions can be answered, if that is what you want. But once you learn your answers you can never unlearn them.”

* “No longer scared of what tomorrow might bring because yesterday had brought it.”

* “Not only are there no happy endings… There aren’t even any endings.”


Flaws

This was my first encounter with a proper Gaiman novel. I loved his collaboration with Terry Pratchett, Good Omens (which I reviewed HERE), and his children’s novella, Coraline (which I reviewed HERE). In comparison, I felt this was lacking:

* It was too long before anything obviously significant happens, or there are meaty ideas. The first half was both vague and detailed, thus confusing. But after that, as the strands came together, I started to appreciate it more. It needed to be shorter and taughter, imo.
* Misdirection, especially coin tricks, is an entertaining constant. I thought following the coins would be key. They mattered, but the plot is disappointingly straightforward. There’s a huge cast, but few big surprises.
* A detailed confession being accidentally overheard near the end is an easy cliché.
* It's like Good Omens without the jokes.
* The whole premise is that the gods will perish unless people believe in them, but:
** If the gods travelled to the US, presumably versions stayed behind, so why is their survival in the US so crucial?
** Towards the end, there is a neat exception: “It doesn’t matter that you didn’t believe in us… We believed in you.”

With hindsight (and discussion in comments on other people's reviews), I realise I probably didn't pay enough attention to some of the historical chapters of people and gods coming to America, in part because I was frustrated with the vagueness of the first half. It's slightly like Atwood's The Blind Assassin (which I reviewed HERE): with that, I was too focused on the main narrative, so didn't give quite enough attention and admiration to the fictional story within the overall fiction.
.

(A-) 81% | Very Good
Notes: A build to war, too long (can bore), but tons of food for thought, on truth/belief, it's godly beefs: a pagan melting pot.

*Check out progress updates for detailed commentary:

Progress updates:

07/30/2023 - Preamble

(1) Back when I did my reread of adapted Neil Gaiman books, I skipped this one because the TV series wasn't over. I wanted the full gamut of video clips to use for status gifs. Well, the series was cancelled and so I must make do with what's available.
(2) I don't really care for full-cast audiobooks. I prefer a single narrator. However, that one's unavailable to me.

07/31/2023 - Introduction

(1) This 10th Anniversary Edition, as mentioned in the introduction, features the author's "preferred text."
- Meaning the 12,000 words Gaiman was originally forced to cut were fished out of the trash and polished up.
(2) Usually I listen to audiobooks at 1.75 or 1.50 speed. But, being a full-cast narration, I'm treating this like TV and listening to at normal speed.

08/01/2023 - Chapters 1-3

(1) First big difference I noticed between the book and the show is the flaming buffalo man is now just a flaming buffalo.
- Possibly it'd look cheesy in live action.
(2) "Shadow worried about the whole e-ticket business ... Anything electronic seemed ... liable to evaporate at any moment. He liked things he could hold and touch."
- I feel the same way about e-books.

08/02/2023 (1) - Chapters 4-5

(1) Not to talk about the show too much, but the errand shopping scene isn't in small-town America, it's at the Canadian Tire near my house.
- Living in Vancouver, it's tough losing yourself in TV.
(2) In the book, Bilquis lures men as a hooker, in the show she uses a dating app.
- The victim's a lot more sympathetic in the show and, in turn, Bilquis seems more evil.

08/02/2023 (2) - Chapters 6-7

(1) I watched the TV show first, and there's a gay sex scene that I thought must just be Starz being Starz—gratuitous and provocative for the sake of it. To my surprise, I find out it's in the book.
- So, either it's part of the "preferred text" I never read before, or I simply forgot.
- Doesn't seem like something I'd forget. Sex scenes in general make me squeamish.

08/03/2023 - Chapters 8-9

(1) I'm at that stretch past the House on the Rock, and its aftermath, where there isn't much plot movement.
- Stuff happens, but mostly you get miscellaneous musings about small-town America, historical grifts, "Coming to America" tales (of varying value and quality), meetings with townsfolk, etc.
- I look back at my original review and think, "Yeah, I was spot on."

08/05/2023 (1) - Chapters 10-11

(1) Hinzelmann: "You want a video rental card? Eventually they’ll open a Blockbuster here, and then we’ll soon be out of business."
- Ironic statement, considering how Blockbuster would soon be out of business itself.
(2) I'm at the long Lakeside portion. Feels like a lot of navel-gazing.
- Unlike the show, the book feels no need to be periodically exciting/eventful.

08/05/2023 (2) - Chapter 12

(1) Chapter 12 features three "interludes" back-to-back-to-back: short scenes involving Bilquis, Marguerite Olsen and Laura.
- Bilquis and Laura play major roles in the show, whereas here they only show up briefly a couple times each.
- As well, why is this an "interlude" when Bilquis' mini-story before was part of the "Somewhere in America" segments? No consistency!

08/07/2023 - Chapters 13-14

(1) Shadow: "But [Alviss]’s not a dwarf ... He’s what, 5'8"? 5'9"?"
Czernobog: "Which makes him a giant among dwarfs ... Tallest dwarf in America."
- Being the world's tallest dwarf/shortest giant is such a dad joke.
(2) Czernobog: "All the dwarfs talk and talk and talk. And sing. All the time, sing, sing, sing."
- Indeed. "Heigh-ho-heigh-ho, it's off to work we go."

08/08/2023 - Chapters 15-17

(1) Shadow hangs from the World Tree, suffering for three whole chapters so far.
- The obvious symbolism is it's analogous to Jesus. I'm sure Gaiman would say it's actually from traditions preceding Jesus by thousands of years. But he knows the immediate implication, and that's the point: like Easter previously, it's a pagan thing people now assume is 100% Christian.

08/09/2023 - Chapters 18–Appendix

(1) It's been a while since I first read this book but I remembered it very well, all except for the ending scenes, which didn't ring a bell at all.
- When I watched the show I'd assumed those scenes were created for the show.
(2) There's a deleted Shadow and Jesus scene in the Appendix.
- I agree with it being deleted. It's there to be there and doesn't add a thing.

American Gods isn’t for everyone. I first heard of this book when the TV series came out in 2017. It sounded like an interesting premise. I started to read the book and it was incredibly difficult. I’m not a big allegory and symbolism person. I had to stop about 180 pages in.

Since the second season is coming up, I decided to give it another shot. But this time I read it with a spark-notes companion. It’s the kind of book that some readers may have to study the first read and read a second time for enjoyment.

It’s a sprawling allegory that is part mythology encyclopedia and part love letter to the Midwest mixed in with possibly the best hero’s journey story I’ve ever read. If you’re not wired for allegory and symbolism beware, you’ll need a little grit and determination to get through this. It’s rewarding once you get through the other side though. Neil Gaiman has a lot to say, not only about American culture, but also about personal growth and the resistance to change.

This is a review of The Annotated American Gods edition

I love love love Neil Gaiman’s audiobooks, which he frequently narrates himself, so I listened to American Gods. Shortly after, I started watching the series. When I was sent The Annotated American Gods, I was in awe. This is a gift-worthy book, stunning in its presentation. The annotations added to my experience of this masterful work, particularly when they offered insight into Gaiman’s creative process. I highly recommend this one if you are a fan of American Gods or Neil Gaiman’s work in any form. It’s absolutely a treasure.

I received a gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader

Страхотна книга за стари и нови богове, че и за обикновенни хора - техни маши, жертви или съюзници.

Когато я препрочета за пореден път, а това ще е сигурно много скоро, ще напиша по-подробно ревю. ;)

Сериалът е много добър, чакам втори сезон! Позатъпя обаче доста в среда дата на втория сезон и го зарязах…

P.S. Има и корав леприкон!

Update: (17.11.2024 г.)

„— Въртележката не е, за да се возят на нея — най-малкото хора — обясни Уензди. — Тя е, за да ѝ се възхищават. Тук е, за да съществува.“


Завръщането към „Американски богове“ ми донесе още по-голямо удоволствие от първия прочит... Шеметното преплитане на митологии във въздействаща американска атмосфера и разнообразните препратки към други творби са се получили изключително успешно! Великолепният роман неслучайно е посветен и на Роджър Зелазни, от чиито книги определено се е вдъхновил Нийл Геймън. Мистичното пътешествие на Шадоу и Уензди дава на читателите си качествено литературно преживяване и силни философски размисли!



„— Именно — каза гласът на Уензди от мрака. — Беше нагласено. Но това е единствената игра, която се играе в града.“




Първоначално ревю:

„Американски богове“ е прекрасен фентъзи роман! Нийл Геймън е сътворил доста мрачна, но и завладяваща атмосфера, в която умело преплита много различни митологии...

Главен герой в книгата е Шадоу, който ми е много любим образ. На него му остават броени дни до излизането от затвора, когато разбира, че съпругата му е загинала в автомобилна катастрофа... След като е пуснат на свобода, Шадоу среща загадъчния Уензди, който скоро става негов работодател. Двамата тръгват на вълнуващо и опасно пътешествие из САЩ, като всъщност се забъркват в предстоящия грандиозен сблъсък между старите и нови богове в Америка...





„— Извинявайте. Американец ли сте?
— Да.
— Тогава честит Четвърти юли — каза сервитьорът. Изглеждаше доволен от себе си.
Шадоу не помнеше, че е Четвърти юли. Денят на независимостта. Да. Мисълта за независимост му харесваше. Остави на масата парите и бакшиша и излезе от ресторанта. Откъм Атлантическия океан подухваше хладен ветрец и Шадоу си закопча якето.
Седна на тревата по брега, загледа града, който го заобикаляше, и си помисли, че някой ден ще се наложи да се върне у дома. И някой ден ще се наложи да си направи дом, където да се връща. Запита се дали домът е нещо, което след известно време се случва с мястото, или е нещо, което накрая намираш, стига да си вървял достатъчно дълго, да си чакал и да си го искал силно.“

Nothing engaging about the way this is written so I'm abandoning it at pg 220. If there's no artistry in the writing any story will just thump and blunder along in heavy mud-caked boots.

i think my expectations were just too high

I have a lot to say about this book because it is one of my ALL TIME favourites so bear with me please! It's been around two years since I last read this book, I remembered adoring it it but I definitely didn't remember it being so bloody mind-blowingly awesome! I love love loved the whole concept of the story and the idea of old versus new. And if you think about it, it really does apply to today's society. The things that we worship and cherish as a culture have so drastically changed from just 15 years ago to now that as crazy as it may sound, I can actually see this story being plausible.

A huge part of my enjoyment of this novel is most definitely the wild and crazy cast of characters. There are so many epic characters all throughout the book but my favourite remains Shadow. I love how there's two sides to him, he's incredibly flawed but he's also incredibly dedicated and loyal. I do wish that some characters had been developed a tad more, but their lack of development didn't negatively affect my enjoyment of the story so I can't really complain!

My favourite part of this book would definitely have to be the snippets telling us how the old gods came to America. Despite being a little heartbreaking, they were so detailed and absolutely fascinating to read! I thought they added a really interesting aspect to the story.

Every time I read this book I feel like I’m experiencing the crazy ups and downs of this book like it was the first time. And does it ever get crazy toward the end! I'm still in total shock from that insane twist that was revealed during the final battle three reads later. And I still think the ending is ABSOLUTE perfection!