February Book of the Month: American Gods by Neil Gaiman

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I will probably get some heat for this, but this book bored me to tears. Perhaps I am just not the target audience for it, but I wanted it to be done so badly at times. Some of the interludes, in particular, I just wanted to end. I get that they were there to show how some of the gods made it to America, and some of them were halfway decent. Like, I didn't mind the one with the chick that put the milk out every night for the piskies (sp) and when the one mythical creature showed up he basically took her life force or whatever. But the one with the twin brother and sister brought over as slaves, and the girl taught some half-white girl about magic...bleh, that one made me shake my head and wonder wtf I was supposed to get out of that.

The main story itself was ok, but it didn't excite me or make me want to keep reading to find out what was going to happen. The "big reveal" didn't shock me or surprise me. Loki surprised me...a little...but at that point I wasn't super-startled or anything and it didn't really matter to me. Odin's rebirth was completely expected, Shadow's part in things no big deal, the "double cross" I truly didn't care about. The tacked on story of the missing kids could have been removed completely and it would have made zero impact on me, or the rest of the plot.

It just seemed like the entire book was an exercise in trying to cram as much mystery and symbolism and literary "stuff" into one book, with little regard for actually being interesting. It certainly wasn't the worst book I've ever read, but I have a friend that typically reads the same books I do, and when all was said and done I had to tell him that he probably shouldn't bother reading it. I got no real excitement or enjoyment out of reading it, so clearly it wasn't the book for me. I liked Old Man's War *significantly* better, because the characters were interesting, the plot engaged you early on, and there was a sense that I wanted to keep reading to find out what happened. American Gods never truly interested me, and things just *were* with very little explanation. His wife is a zombie, apparently because he gave her the coin that he was mistakenly given. While I don't need things spelled out in detail, if the coin was ever truly explained other than just that it *was*, then I guess I missed it. What would the coin have accomplished if it hadn't been given to Shadow? Would I have even cared if I knew that answer? Probably not, to be honest.

I could name several dozen things that just did nothing for me, or seemed to merely be thrown into the story so he could say, "Look, another god living in a decidedly un-godlike manner!" The cat-god-chick at the funeral parlor. The three sisters, one of which gave him the moon coin/liberty head. It seemed like all of that should have culminated in something majorly important, but it didn't. The god that he could never remember the name of. Hell, the hitchhiker girl that ends up being his neighbor's sister, where did that take me story-wise? I won't list everything because I'd be here a long time, but you get the point. So many things that seemed like they should be important in some way, but really didn't matter one shit-pot full. You could have distilled the actual important plot elements down into maybe 50 pages max, and conveyed much the same story in my opinion, because all the extra stuff really didn't matter one bit. I get that it was about the journey, but I never got any sense of that journey. His wife told Shadow he was "empty" and I sensed that from the emptiness of his existence, and he finally found "purpose" hanging on the tree, but I quite literally didn't give a fuck by then. I was bored and just wanted it over with. I felt like I was hanging from the tree through the entire book, and I would have gladly chosen emptiness as well.

I realize that every single one of the things I have a problem with might simply be me not "getting it," but if I have to work that hard to understand a book, I'd rather not read it. Maybe I'm dumb, or shallow, or too worried about instant gratification. But for being such a hugely acclaimed novel, in a genre that I like, and somewhat related to mythology (which I've always loved), I was extremely disappointed.

Commence the lynching (pun intended)!
 

Smocca_sl

shitlord
26
0
You're not alone. I hated this book. It was so unbelievably boring to me.

I couldn't find any interest in the countless god stories. I guess I'm just not into that. They seemed pretty much inconsequential to the story and since I wasn't finding them inherently interesting I found myself slogging through them painfully. Every time a chapter would start with a heading to signify a side story I found myself groaning.

But even the main plot was really underwhelming. From the start I just couldn't get behind Shadow. The emotional detachment angle just wasn't fleshed out enough to make up for how boring his character and behavior was. It was like this whole long and tedious story was told through the eyes of a guy who didn't give a shit, so I didn't really give a shit. So the overall impact of the story ended up coming down to his realization that he "wasn't living a life" and that just didn't reach me very well. It just felt tacked to explain his earlier unquestioning and unrealistic behavior.

I've read stories with protagonists that are emotionally dead/detached/depressed and loved them, but that's because it's usually done with purpose and the character is almost always made to be sympathetic.

There were some parts I did really like. I really liked when Shadow was dying on the tree and looking back over his life and at the life of his parents. Little moments like when Shadow was talking to characters on the TV were nicely done. But those moments were too few and spread out between too many bland characters.

I think my problem in the end is that I didn't care much one way or another for the characters in the book. And I didn't really care about the outcome of the war. New gods win, old gods win, no gods win, storms coming; who cares. I never really had a vested interest in any of them.

/shrug oh well I've definitely read worse books. I'm really curious to hear from everyone who loved it.
 

Wintermute_sl

shitlord
61
1
I actually liked about 80% of this book. Some of the interludes dragged on a little long and it seemed to meander around the plot sometimes and not quite get to it but I enjoyed seeing the characters and I liked the modern mythology. The emotional detachment didn't really bother me. I felt like Shadow had to be somewhat stoic with all these strange myths and personalities orbiting around him. If he'd been a character given to being emotional and excited I feel like we would have spent too much time just processing his emotional reaction to the outlandish scenario's he'd been put in. That was my take on it but I can see how that kind of apathy would keep you at arms length from your protagonist. I didn't like the ending though. The reveal was okay but after all the build up to this great battle he just walks out and says, "Okay, show's over guys. Everybody just go home," and they all just sort of...wander off. It's like he didn't know how to resolve all the elements he'd put into play. All in all I thought it was a cool concept but the follow through was underwhelming.
 

chaos

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I like the book, I like the symbolism and the gods smattered throughout the story, and trying to figure out from my meager knowledge of mythology who is who. BUT...

This was my second time rereading this book. Both times I didn't manage to finish, I got to about the part when he becomes Mike Ainsel and lives in the town for a winter and then I just drift to other shit. I don't read as quickly as a lot of you guys so it just gets to me after a while, especially when the mystery is gone and I know exactly where it is leading. I don't generally mind rereading, I've read The Hobbit and LoTR and even the Silmarillion so many times I lost count, I've read and treread Clive Barker and Stephen King books, and even some Gaiman books. But this book just defeats me on reread. Too much slog I guess. I would recommend the book once just to experience it and so you can read the (arguably superior) sequel Anansi Boys. That's about it though.
 

Zodiac

Lord Nagafen Raider
1,200
14
I love this novel - maybe it's because I studied comparative religion and mythology and got all the little references to the different gods and mythical figures. As far as it being compared to last months book "Old Mans War", that book read like a young adult novel to me so it was kind of off putting from the start.
 

Superhiro

Silver Knight of the Realm
439
43
Overall I liked it. There were some parts that dragged a little bit and some of the interludes made me put the book down and take a break before picking it up again, but otherwise I didn't have any major complaints. I loved the Loki/Low Key surprise, and the foreshadowing of it through Shadow's questions about 2-man jobs and stuff. It also made a lot more sense when I read wiki entries about Odin and Loki and the suspicions that they were aspects of the same god. I also really liked Shadow. Some people have complained about his disconnected nature, but I thought it was really well done and made sense. I definitely sympathized with him and was really pissed off that he wasn't able to start a new life in that small town he was staying in because of that scene in the bar. I was a little disappointed about what happened between him and the girl though.

Overall, not one of my favorite books, but it was an enjoyable read.
 

chaos

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If you liked it, you should pick up Anansi Boys. I like that one better. It focuses on Anansi and his sons.