A modern classic from a modern master (American Gods - Neil Gaiman)

Member Name: Ariel_uk

Product:	American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Date:	04/09/01 (409 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: fantastic storytelling, A real sense of place.

Disadvantages: None

Neil Gaiman is one of my favourite authors, so when I heard he was about to publish an American noir novel, (one of my favourite genres) I could hardly wait to get my hands on it. Having devoured the 500-page hardback in a single sitting (it was too hot to sleep anyway!) I can report back that he has lost none of his storyteller's mastery.

The flawed hero is Shadow, an ex con just released from his prison term. His wife just dead, his beast friend killed with her, exposing their affair, he is cast loose, and enters into the service of a mysterious Mr Wednesday. From there on in the story takes on the multi-layered mythic feel that is Gaiman's speciality, introducing what seems like hundreds of fully formed minor characters, and setting up a storyline that our hero interprets and reinterprets through several twists. As is appropriate to one of the great contemporary short story writers, the main drive of the novel is punctuated with interludes and short chapters painting vivid vignettes of events going on alongside the main plot, all of which feed in to the final scenes. In the acknowledgements Gaiman thanks several people who 'pointed out stray and unintentional anglicisms', and certainly to an English ear, both dialogue and text feel authentically American.

I would have to quibble a bit with the classification as a Noir novel - our hero is certainly flawed white knight enough for the role, but perhaps a little to unsure of himself, and certainly not the swaggering tough guy. The women are not uniformly beautiful and evil, although Laura, Shadow's wife, at least initially fits some of the criteria of the genre's strong women. Unlike the classics of the genre which are very much rooted in their place, this book tours huge swathes of the US. As Wednesday points out, "San Francisco isn't in the same country as Lakeside any more than New Orleans is in the same country as New York'. Indeed some of the touring, and
the odd insight into the intense locales of much of the US presented in this novel puts me in mind of Bill Bryson - but maybe that’s because it's not my country.

Far clearer to my mind are comparisons to another great urban fantasist - Charles De Lint, although without the hippie romanticism. The themes of American Gods: spirits of brash American modernity coexisting with the ancient gods and spirits, their histories as mixed as the peoples who have populated the USA, are very much common ground between this book and many of De Lint's. As a fan of Terry Pratchett, Gaiman's co-writer on Good Omens, and collaborator since, I fondly imagine that the same late night conversation about the nature of deity was the seed for both this novel and Parachute's Small Gods.

This novel confirms Gaiman's place as a great storyteller, an incredibly accessible yet literary author. He is best known for his Sandman graphic novel series, but his novels and short story collections deserve to bring him respect and fans just as much. It's all to easy for your expectations of a favourite author to be disappointed, but so far Gaiman has never yet let me down, each eagerly anticipated story, in whatever format, has always delighted, and this is no exception.

If you’re a Gaiman fan, you don't need me to tell you to get out and buy this. If you have yet to encounter his magical weavings of stories, I can only recommend that you start somewhere, and this is as good a place as any. (Unless you are in London, in which case Neverwhere is a must).

The hardback has just been released (UK ISBN 0747274231) and is on offer in most of the major chains at the moment - although nominally £17.99 the publishers launched it at a bargain £10, with a rather amusing 'guarentee' - 'if you don't enjoy this more than Stephen King, get your money back'. Personaly I think the publishers are on to a very safe bet.


www.neilgaiman.com
www.madaboutbooks.com (publishers website)

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