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American Gods

 
 
Burning Man
12:27 / 12.10.01
I just finished reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I thought it was stellar. It wasn't that I though the idea of Mythological Gods walking around to be new or original, but his writing style and characterization blew me away.

I heartily recommend it.

Burning Man
 
 
Ganesh
12:38 / 12.10.01
If you dig around in the Books archives, you should find a lengthier discussion of Neil Gaiman's stuff in general, and this book in particular.
 
 
Jack Fear
13:10 / 12.10.01
Hither:
http://www.barbelith.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=11&t=000025
 
 
Ganesh
13:14 / 12.10.01
Thanks, Jack. Laziness overwhelmed me before I was able to dig that out.
 
 
Mr. Whisper
14:47 / 12.10.01
his writing style is certainly enjoyable to read. and it lends itself well to his form of creativity. i like how the "meta" cosmology that seems to run through all his works is a little bit more fleshed out. i was a little disappointed by the ending, kind of anticlimactic. i felt like he was building up to something but it just petered out. but that doesn;t detract from the fact that this is a good book. (my facorite is still good omens)
 
 
Captain Zoom
09:21 / 13.10.01
I kind of felt like the last bit was just tacked on there. It didn't seem to develop the plot or characters in any discernable way. But then, Gaiman writings are few and far between, so I oughtn't complain.

Zoom.
 
 
Clavis
23:45 / 13.10.01
I dunno. I realized around the time of "Stardust" that Gaiman is an excellent storyteller, but a curiously afflicted writer. He seems to have a single dominant thread that runs through his work, and perhaps I'm only frustrated with it because I'm not from the UK. That thread is this: his protagonist always seems to get shoved, manipulated or dragged around in the story without ever exhibiting much control. Oh, eventually it will become clear that our hero is the hero because of his remarkable capabilities, but emotionally and mentally, they remain passive, directionless and often -- whether literally or figuratively -- completely in the dark.

Think about how naive and puzzled Morpheus was, most of the time. Think about poor dumb Shadow, probably figuring everything out long after we did. Think about the kid (whatever his name was) who goes after the star, hardly even noticing his maturation into a cliched sword-and-sorcery brick. And, of course, Mayhew in "Neverwhere"... I liked the world, but I'd've appreciated a hero who actually got a fucking grip sometime before, I don't know, the END OF THE FUCKING BOOK?

Anyway, that's my gripe with Gaiman. I understand how writers write themselves "into" their work, but I can't imagine that someone as successful and well-regarded as Neil Gaiman is as big a pussy as most of his main characters.


Clavis

[ 14-10-2001: Message edited by: Clavis ]
 
 
invisible_al
20:14 / 18.10.01
Well I don't know, I'd say all the protagonists you mention there get a clue by the end of the book.

Morpheus can be argued to have been manipulating everyone from the start to the conclusion of 'The Kindly Ones'.

The kid in Stardust by the end of the book he actually says 'sod this for a game of soldiers' and goes off on adventures rather than be king.

Shadow isn't really given to long speeches but he does get a clue by the end of the book, 'Secrets in the trunk' and all that.

Ok yes Richard Mayhew is wet throughout the book but he does choose to go back.

Neil Gaiman does do this story a lot but it is possibly more interesting than what happens next. The whole nitty gritty of what happens once you've won the kingdom isn't really as interesting as the battle to win it in the first place.
 
 
Sharkgrin
03:52 / 23.10.01
I sadly agree with Clavis.

The one lasting creation of his that I still enjoy to date is his characterization of Lucifer.

I'm not personally down with thrones and dominons, but Lucifer is Morpheus with teeth and an agenda (a yuppie Morpheus?).

I agree that the struggle to power is damn sexier than the grip of power.
 
  
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