I think I would rather be a man than a god. We don’t need anyone to believe in us. We just keep going anyhow. It’s what we do.

Finally done after 2 months! i was really sick one week of them, and really cold in other days that i couldn't read a physical book, but we are here!
I talked about Neil Gaiman on trains, in phones, in the streets, in chats, in goodreads messages, in college to dudes who didn't know what reading is!
I talked about The Sandman to anyone who would listen, and luckily for them at the time when the tales were fresh, i could really tell them tales really good, and they were happy to hear all of it, some even attempted reading it, but it's a really tough comic series to beginners with the English Language.

My fasting will be over in 30 minutes (First Atheist in history who fast with Muslims) so i won't be writing the Arabic Review now, But yes i read this in Arabic, it was the Author's preferred text, Extended but really good, he did really well in returning back to this novel and adding what he intended to publish before his publisher told him to cut the novel.
A guy like Neil Gaiman gives you a novel of 1500 pages, just publish it please? Don't make that mistake, Nagib Mahfuz was met with the same ask and he won a freaking Nobel prize for the same novel they told him to cut lol

Now to the Novel, not sure if this part will be full of spoilers.
Gods everywhere, next to the trashcan? a drunk god! In a shared apartment that looks dirty? 4 gods, but keep quiet one of them is sleeping!
In a prison cell? a deceiving god!
Up there a falcon in the sky? Not a falcon sorry, it's just another god

A man was swallowed by a woman's vagina - so my mom wrote me a note and now I don't have to review this book anymore.

I find it really weird how many American media products have the word "American" in the title. Obviously, this; a few weeks back I also read American Rust. You've got your American Beauty, American Ninja, An American Werewolf in London. American Psycho. American Sniper. American Pie, American Dad, American Graffiti. What is going on here, what are they trying to prove?? I really don't understand it. I mean you'd never get "British Beauty", "French Psycho", would you? That just seems completely laughable.

Anyway, I really didn't get this book. It made no sense to me at all. I mean it's a fun conceit, that gods are living among men in modern day America, desperate to regain the faith they once commanded, but I just felt like it wasn't thought through properly. It presents itself as being predicated on the idea that ‘America is a bad land for gods’ – this is something that characters keep saying to one another, moodily, that America is a really bad land for gods – and this is apparently why all the gods are now living hand-to-mouth existences as drifters or menial labourers.

Only – huh? Are we talking about the same America here? The one where 51 percent of the population think that humans were created by a divine being, and a further 40 percent think they were created by evolution which was set in motion by a divine being (leaving, as Tim Minchin said, a very small percentage of Americans who are right)? Is that the America that is supposed to be a bad land for gods? Do me a favour, it must be one of the most religious countries in the western world. I've driven through my share of rural Tennessee, where much of American Gods takes place, and one of the most striking things about these communities is the fact that there seems to be one church for every six or seven houses. God is invoked on the currency, on the news, by the head of state, and in schoolrooms every morning by little kids.

This is what is so frustrating about the book, because it seems like a brilliant chance to examine religion in the US in a cool and interesting way – but it doesn't. It either doesn't dare or it doesn't bother. I mean – if you're going to run with this idea that gods are walking around, with the more powerful deities being those who have the most believers, then where the fuck is Yahweh? I'm supposed to believe that Anubis is twatting around driving a hearse in fucking Cairo, IL. – despite the fact that no one in the history of America has ever worshipped Anubis – and yet Jesus doesn't make a single appearance? Somehow it's OK to play around with foreign gods that seem quaint or folkloric, but monotheism's off the table. It just didn't make any sense to me.¹

Instead, what we have to propel the narrative along is just a kind of comic-book war that we're supposed to care about. So although there were quite a few scenes that had me flipping the pages with engagement, there was always this nagging feeling that none of it really meant anything and that I didn't really care very much what happened to anyone. It doesn't help that the protagonist (with the dreadful name of ‘Shadow Moon’) is, for a central character, annoyingly passive and lacking in personality (although the goddesses he encounters still have a remarkable habit of wanting to have sex with him).

As for the writing style, well, it's fine, but it has absolutely no flair. There's quite an interesting bit in the Acknowledgements where Gaiman thanks many of his beta-readers and editors for spotting ‘stray and unintentional anglicisms’, presumably so he could remove them; this I think is something that contributes to the featureless blandness of his style. I'm not saying he is unentitled to this voice or anything like that – his wife is American, he lives in America, this is totally an authentic voice for him. It's just not one that has any character. It works in a kind of tab-A-into-slot-B way.

This is certainly not a bad book and it's quite readable – I think I'm just disappointed because I had unfairly high hopes, and I liked the concept, and I have a lot of friends who really enjoyed it. For me it was just a bit baffling and cartoony. In the same way that His Dark Materials is like a children's story for grown-ups, American Gods felt like an adult story for children. This is my third Neil Gaiman book (after Sandman and Smoke and Mirrors) and they have all been underwhelming; I think I'll just leave him alone now, since I'm sure they deserve higher ratings than I'm prepared to give them, but that's what you get when I try and squeeze in a review at 01:23 am in a foreign city when I still have another two hours' work to do before I can go to bed.


¹This "Tenth Anniversary Edition" includes in its appendices a brief section in which Jesus does, in fact make a brief appearance. This was cut from the original published version, and you can see why; it is very short and it raises more questions than it answers. The problem is, these are the questions the book should have been about.

I finished American Gods two weeks ago and I postponed writing a review as I was trying to come up with something smart to match the book. Obviously, as always when I struggle too much, nothing comes to min. I will just let my heart do the talking, then.

Neil Gaiman is a genius. There is something magical about his writing that enwraps me every time I open the pages of his creations. Maybe it is the way he combines action, mystery, mythology, mysticism, surreal, together with life lessons and harsh truths. His fantasy is different from everything else I read of this genre, weird, disturbing but amazing.

I was awed by the idea of the book. Gods being brought to America by the migrants who believed in them. As the next generations believe less and less in them, the Old Gods loose their power and are forced to live as ordinary people, struggling to make a living. New gods appear (technology, media) to replace the old ones but in the end, as America evolves, they will become obsolete as well.

Although people say that this is Neil Gaiman’s masterpiece I enjoyed The Ocean at the End of the Lane  more. One problem for me in this novel was that I could not connect with the characters, especially with Shadow. This was probably due to the way the character was constructed, breathing but not really alive, as Laura told him.

I will leave you with a quote that touched me deeply as it is so true, especially today when we experience so much tragedy around us.

“There are stories that are true, in which each individual's tale is unique and tragic, and the worst of the tragedy is that we have heard it before, and we cannot allow ourselves to feel it too deeply. We build a shell around it like an oyster dealing with a painful particle of grit, coating it with smooth pearl layers in order to cope. This is how we walk and talk and function, day in, day out, immune to others' pain and loss. If it were to touch us it would cripple us or make saints of us; but, for the most part, it does not touch us. We cannot allow it to.”

American Gods, a meandering tale of a book, took me at least two tries to get through, despite my gravitation towards urban fantasy.. The concept of "old versus modern" gods is an intriguing one, and I can always get involved in themes of belief, stories and myth. It didn't always work, however, and was completed at stuttering pace. Transitions can be rough, and it's not always clear where a particular chunk of narrative is heading. I feel like part of it is that we have indeed lost the old gods, and many people need a little background on Gaiman's creatures in order to appreciate the tale he's telling. Often it's well done, but at times it interrupts the flow of the narrative.

I often enjoy Gaiman's imagery, although occasionally it's self indulgent, seemingly for the sake of being shocking, like the woman that swallows a man through her vagina during sex, and a dead person vomiting maggots.

A few loose ends don't particularly seem pertinent,  such as the leprechaun that gives Shadow a gold piece, which Shadow then is moved to throw it into Laura's grave. I'm not sure of the point of that subplot either--the power of belief?

I'm never particularly moved by Gaiman's use of language, but he has a deft hand at characterization. Characters and ideas are clearly his strengths. I loved some of the old gods, and thought Mr. Nancy and the Chicago family particularly well done. The new gods were less well done, though the concept is a fascinating one. Most of the time is spent on the internet/tech and media gods, and they are done well enough to be immediately annoying. However, the pantheon gets a little fuzzy at this point, particularly in Gaiman's decision to largely leave out "modern" organized religion--as Anubis and Bast and such were worshipped by Egyptians, it seems fair to acknowledge Jesus as more than a hitchhiker in Afganistan. I wonder if he avoided it for complexity? Controversy?

The voice and tone is narrator is emotionally removed from the story, but I felt it suited the tone and scope of the novel well. I liked Shadow and felt he was a very believable character for a while. Emphasizing his numbness and distance helped explained how he could be so blase about the return of his dead wife and Mr. Wednesday's abilities. It's interesting that after his initial questioning and challenging of Mr. Wednesday and the leprechaun, he accepts the rest of the magic at face value.

I have mixed feelings about the ending.  I'm a little disappointed that Shadow chose to "rest," and wonder if it's inconsistent, as all along he's been Wednesday's man, paid to work and protect him. And the fact that the plot of the novel is a double con--well, I too feel more than a little betrayed. It seemed weak that both old and new gods took Shadow's announcement and popped back to reality, ready to abandon the fight then and there. Certainly their animosity had to be based on something, and removal of primary motivation doesn't remove built up antagonism.

Worth noting that I sold my copy to Half Price Books, because it's space on the shelf was worth more than the slim chance of re-read. Two-and-a-half stars, rounding down because my memory assures me I don't want to touch it again.

Every hour wounds. The last one kills.

I realize I’m in the minority here, so if American Gods sounds good to you, you should give it a try. So many people love this book that you should not let my review dissuade you. Seriously.

That said, I do not understand why American Gods is so beloved. The idea of new, “American” gods like media and technology is interesting. The idea of the old gods being forgotten, and that being remembered or forgotten is key to a god’s power, is also interesting. And some of the vignettes about various gods were good. But the sum of this book was less than the parts. The plot is painfully slow. And I don’t care if you’re a talented a writer as Neil Gaiman or if you’re a Stephenie Meyer: if you spend an entire book setting up two sides to go to war, there needs to be a war to pay that off. To do otherwise may be a triumph of diplomacy, but it makes for bad fiction.

In the end, American Gods felt like a very weak version of Stephen King’s  The Stand. I went in with high expectations, and was let down. Hopefully you’ll have a different experience.

In this unique love letter to the United States, Gaiman manages to celebrate its underground spiritual traditions, glory in the magnificence of its landmarks, landscapes, and bizarre tourist traps, and--most important--both mourn and venerate its pagan (often immigrant) gods in decline, battered and diminished though they may be by the shallowness and speed of our technological world. The gods are indeed the best part of this very good book: degenerate and threadbare, yet still gods, capable of inspiring both allegiance and terror.

Gaiman loves not only fantasy, but also mystery and horror, and here he has constructed a book which fulfills the genre requirements of all. The plot is complicated and crammed with marvels: the beginning promises pleasures and horrors, the middle disturbs the balance, and the ending surprises and yet satisfies.

This was the first book by Gaiman I read, and I instantly became a fan.

Gaiman is a "love-him-or-hate-him" author: either you will die for his prose, or you will be prepared to engage commandos to kill him. I think the reason for this extreme reaction is the way he writes his stories. It can be called fantasy, but actually it's closer to myth with its rambling style and narrative inconsistencies.

"American Gods" is the tale of Shadow and his part in the struggle between the traditional Gods from all over the world who have immigrated to the New World, and the Gods of America (those of media, celebrity, technology, and drugs). These Gods exist because people believe in them: and the new ones are engaged in an epic battle with the old ones for the mastery of the American mind.

The tale is very broad in its sweep and contains many subplots and side alleys, typical of any old-world mythical saga. I devoured the book ravenously, and was instantly hungry for more.

Valores Invertidos


Os deuses mitológicos estão associados a fenómenos naturais e outras coisas mais.

America: land of immigrants, a patchwork world built piecemeal from the scraps and dregs of a hundred others. Gaiman taps a vein of rich Old World mythology and what comes geysering out is astonishing, and the way he channels that gush of fountainous crude is even more so. The supernatural cozies up alongside the very human, and both are enriched by their interweaving dance together.

Gaiman is a world-class storyteller. His pages buzz with energy, and he portions out a grand and fantastical story with a light touch and dramatic poise. I was sucked in immediately and did not want to stop reading for a minute, for fear the spell he was weaving might be broken and the magic lost.

4.5 stars. Captivating and mysterious, alternating from playful to dark with ease. A good read, though not without some shortcomings. Still, the things it does well it does very, very well.

"I think I would rather be a man than a god. We don't need anyone to believe in us. We just keep going anyhow. It's what we do." (480)

i think my expectations were just too high

Great theme, great concept! The writing is the usual Neil Gaiman writing, engaging and alive. But after some point it slowed down a bit. I wanted things to run faster. I thought I should watch the tv series instead. But dang. Even the tv show is slow. But I still liked the book for it's concept.