Book Review: American Gods

Author: Neil Gaiman
Date Originally Published: 2001
Start Date: March 28th
Completion Date: April 4th

I'm aware that, like The Book of Lost Things, I am one of the last people in the book blogging world to read this book. I finished this morning and knew I had to write something about it right away. It's one of those books that I have to immediately discuss, probably because it's one of the most unique novels I have ever read.

I'm not too sure if I can give a good synopsis of the story because there is a lot going on and a lot of references to Gods and Goddesses that I have not previously studied. I've been told that he puts a twist on some of these deities, so maybe that's a good thing. American Gods tells the story of a convict named Shadow, who is serving a jail sentence at the beginning of the story for a robbery. He is released a day before his sentence is up because his wife, Laura, was killed in a car accident. On the plane ride home, he sits next to a man who knows his name and offers him a job, as he no longer has one in his home town. Shadow wants nothing to do with the man, yet he is persistently pursued and offered the job. After Shadow seals the deal by drinking three glasses of mead, he finds himself working for the man, named Wednesday, and basically chauffeurs him around the country and completes odd jobs and meets even more odd people, alive, dead, and ethereal. Shadow's role in Wednesday's plan is much more important than Shadow initially realizes.

I honestly can't say much more about the book without giving the entire plot away, nor can I adequately describe it. I didn't know what to think at first, because I found the mood dark and gloomy, at times creepy, and I just wasn't in the right state of mind for that. But as I kept reading, I became enthralled. I have always liked mythology, but the addition of the Americana was definitely cool for me. I kind of like our cheesy road side attractions, many of which Shadow and Wednesday visit. They make me think of days long before I was born, and remind me of road trips both from when I was young and even from now (drive anywhere near South Dakota and you'll start to see the signs for Wall Drug.) I have always preferred car travel and the cheesy attractions and the millions of road signs leading to them give me a weird sense of patriotism, even if I never visit these places. In the novel, the struggles for the heart of America take place at these locales.

At the end of most chapters, was a small section detailing different "coming to America" stories at different times in history or pre-history. These stories basically illustrate how the Gods came to America with their followers and how most of them vanished after a period of time. Some chapters describe the lives of Gods living today and the clash between the Gods of old who were brought with immigration, and the Gods of new, which basically represent our media-driven culture. It took me a while to see where all of these mini stories fit in with the rest of the book, but they all did in the end.

By the middle of the book, I was hooked. The story has so many twists and so many characters that are good at one moment and bad at the next. The final third of the story is definitely the best part, as Shadow's real role in his job and the fate of America takes place. This story is difficult to describe because there are so many twists and turns. Good characters turn bad and vice versa. The reader is left in the dark until the ending, much like a good mystery. I'm really impressed with Gaiman's writing. I knew he was a good author with a lot of imagination when I read Coraline, but I felt much more a connection with American Gods because he was writing about places that I have seen and the story in general interested me more. Overall, I thought it was a beautiful book and will definitely be picking up more of his stuff in the future.