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American Gods

Posted by Hemos on from the fiction dept.

I've been fan of Neil Gaiman's work for a long time, and so it was with gleeful abandon that I got an advance copy of his latest work, American Gods. Being an advance copy, there were sections that may receive a bit of editing, but it seemed that this was just about the final form of the book. I mentioned being a fan of Gaiman's work for a long time for a reason -- I may be a bit fanboyish. That's not to say that there were not a couple problems with it -- but those were very minor issues compared with the overall strength of the book. Those who have read Gaiman's work before -- from Sandman to Good Omens (with Terry Prachett) and Neverwhere -- are familar with his knowledge of mythology and the idea that stories are extremely powerful. For those who didn't read it, well, there you go. Mythology and the Old Stories are important and powerful. With that foundation in place, on we go.

American Gods author Gaiman pages 480 publisher Morrow, William & Co. rating 8.5 reviewer hemos ISBN 0380973650 summary A Gaiman-style (and therefore surreal) walk through mythic America.

The note that Gaiman makes on the cover of my book regarding the difference between this book and Neverwhere, his book about Underground London, is a good one.

"If Neverwhere was about the London underneath, this would be about the America between, and on-top-of, and around. It's an America with strange mythic depths. Ones that can hurt you. Or kill you. Or make you mad.

American Gods will be a big book, I hope. A sort of weird, sprawling picaresque epic, which starts out relatively small and gets larger. Not horror, although I plan a few moments that are up there with anything I did in Sandman, and not strictly fantasy either. I see it as a distorting mirror, a book of danger and secrets, of romance and magic.

It's about the soul of America, really. What people brought to America; what found them when they came; and the things that lie sleeping beneath it all."

American Gods is about the mythology of America, but also about its relationship with gods, stories and what America is about. I think that's the story of this book; the story of what America is and what it is about.

The characters, mainly, are Shadow and Odin. Odin has been an frequent character throughout Gaiman's works, and as someone who memorized Odin's stats in Legends and Lore, I've always enjoyed Odin, and think that Old One Eye is an interesting historical figure -- and one who is interesting to get to know a bit more intimately, albeit through a writer's eyes. Shadow's character, is the one character I liked the least. Well, that's not quite how I mean it -- I did like Shadow the character, and I think I'd like him as a person. But it feels sometimes like the Shadow's actions and dialogue are a bit stilted, but that's only a slight flaw in an overall wonderland of reading.

The two relationships I glommed most on to are the ones between Shadow and Odin, and (in a very different way) between Shadow and the other gods and goddesses that he meets. The other curious relationship, if it can be called that, is the one between Shadow and his dead wife. Trust me. It sounds wierd, but it works really well.

In a nutshell, this is the tale of what happens to old gods when they are brought, sometimes without the believers even knowing it, to a country that doesn't really hold a belief in gods - or rather, a belief in traditions. One of the most interesting parts about America, to be nationcentric for a moment, is the lack of traditions in things, compared to the rest of the world. But America has created its own gods, of a sort, and the main plot point is about the intersection of the old gods and new gods. And the most interesting part of the story is there, I think. Because that's where the meat of the book is, and where it transcends being just a story about "god hangs out with guy, creates havoc, guy has dead wife who talks to him, old & new gods want to fight, guy solves problems." (Well, I suppose that is a pretty cool story.)

American Gods delves into larger issues of what it means to hold on to our traditions and beliefs in a world that has dramatically changed, and in which our relationships with each other and what's around us has In summary, this is a book with a good story. More then that, it's a story about relationship to the world around us, and what being human means. It's good. Really good. If you've got even a [metatarsal] of philosphy, or a modicum of interest in reading good stories, buy it.

You can purchase this book at Fatbrain.

11 of 68 comments (clear)

  1. June 19 by Michael+K.+Johnson · · Score: 3

    $subj

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    -- "Ever wonder why the SAME PEOPLE make up ALL the conspiracy theories?"
  2. America: the country without a past... by Victor+Danilchenko · · Score: 3

    ...or at least wiothout a significant past for the majority of population, amerindians excluded.

    I was born in Ukraine. The thing that struck me most about USA when I moved here, is the lack of history. A couple of centuries is all there is -- the country feels to me to be almost rootless, just sprawling on the surface, without a deep connection to history. There is very little here-ness in USA, a distinct lack of historical and cultural sense of emplacement. This to me seems to be an almost tangible hole in the cultural farbic of USA, a rather nagging sense of absence.

    It's a strange feeling. Where americans do feel as if they possess an american identity (as opposed to the old-world national identity), it tends to appear almost artificial -- such people seem to be working very hard on figuring out what being an American is, culturally, instead of just being one.

    Oh well... give it a few more centuries, perhaps a few more wars and revolutions, and this will change.

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    Victor Danilchenko

    1. Re:America: the country without a past... by Saige · · Score: 3

      Principles that most people in the country are more than willing to throw away when the slighest discomfort comes their way. Why else would the public repeatedly elect people because of their promises to enact laws that contradict these principles? (for example, people willing to dismiss the 4th amendment for the war on some drugs, or willing to dismiss the 1st to eliminate a little discomforting speech)

      The more I pay attention, the more I realize why freedom has been so rare throughout history. Most people are unwilling to pay the price necessary for those freedoms - having to deal with things that you don't like. People will talk about how much they enjoy them, then give up bits of those freedoms left and right.

      America is getting close to changing from "The Land of the Free" to "The Land of the Willingly Unfree".
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      "You know your god is man-made when he hates all the same people you do."
    2. Re:America: the country without a past... by Saige · · Score: 5

      That's a big part of making America what it is. It makes it easier for people to immigrate here, since there's less of a cultural past to find a place in - they can bring much of their culture with them and not have it be so out of place as if it were to a place with a long, rich history and tradition that people feel they need to defend.

      There's also a strong sentiment at least among some of the people that they don't WANT a set of traditions, a common identity, that it takes away from individuality. Sort of a longer-term rebellion.

      There is one American cultural identity, one tradition... the extreme work ethic. That you are what your job is. It's not what you do for a living, it's who you are. You don't practice medicine, you're a doctor. You don't program, you are a software engineer. All the other factors that determine who you are come in as secondary considerations. Think about it - if someone were to ask you "who are you?" or "what are you?", what would you answer? Most Americans would state what kind of work they do first. Perhaps that's why there is so little else, because people are too busy working.

      There's also such an extreme variety of viewpoints, of opinions, that make it hard to get anywhere, when there are always groups out there who totally despise whatever it is you're trying to do...

      But you have a very, very good point, a great observation, that many of us don't think about.
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      "You know your god is man-made when he hates all the same people you do."
  3. Egads! by Levine · · Score: 3

    > from the fiction dept.

    I wasn't aware Slashdot had one-word, non-hyphenated departments anymore!

    Cheers,
    levine

  4. Unlimited Dream Company by J.G. Ballard by sphere · · Score: 3

    Another great book about divinity in the modern era. In this case, Ballard takes a small-time crook and gives him the powers of a pagan god. Imagine what the author of "Crash" would do with divine powers and you get the idea. Well worth reading.
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    "Deep in the ocean are treasures beyond compare,

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    Deep in the ocean are treasures beyond compare; but if you seek safety, it is on the shore.
  5. Why Fatbrain? by Galvatron · · Score: 3

    Just out of idle curiosity, why is /. so cozy with Barnes & Noble (owners of Fatbrain)? Is it just a straight marketing deal, are they the only ones with good prices and not Amazon, or what?

    The only "intuitive" interface is the nipple. After that, it's all learned.

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    "The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than that of whether a submarine can swim" -EWD
  6. The US Constitution... by dpilot · · Score: 3

    I think the US Constitution is a big part of what makes America what it is. Having Law is neat, but even the Law is made by men, and subject to whims of men, and their short-term (and long-term) insanities.

    As a response, everyone seems to want something Above The Law. In some countries, it's a King, in others, religion. These things become a core part of the Tradition of that country, which brings this back to topic.

    In the US, as we weaned ourselves from our European traditions, we attached it instead to the Constitution. With that Uber-Law behind the Law, we gained an extra element of faith in ourselves, which perhaps leads to the work ethic mentioned on another response on this subthread.

    Unfortunately, of late it seems that even the Uber-Law is powerless against Sufficient Application of Money, witness the RIAA and DMCA. The twisting of 'limited' in the Constitution, where it provides for patents and copyrights, is downright obscene.

    It casts a chill on my faith in America.

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  7. Book Review of the Week? by ackthpt · · Score: 4
    I kinda like these book reviews, and think it would be cool to fit at least something in every week. It would be a good thing to add a Books category for submissions, as well. Since Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, et al, aren't exactly what I'd call "Science"

    That said, as a result of the last book review I ordered £60 in Diskworld books from Amazon.co.uk. Hopefully this, worthy of getting too, will be far enough down the road for me to accumulate sufficient wealth to buy it.

    Summer reading I dreaded in H.S., now it's a long lost dream to sit in a park, under the shade of a tree, and read. Best I can do is 30 minute snatches during lunch. So much good fiction, so little time.

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    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  8. The difference between England and the U.S. by drew_kime · · Score: 5

    England is where they think 100 miles is a long distance.

    The U.S. is where they think 100 years is a long time.

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  9. Gaiman's American Gods Journal by NickFusion · · Score: 4

    Gaiman has been keeping an online journal during the creation of American Gods, it can be found here: http://www.americangods.com/journal.html

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    What were you expecting?