American Gods

I just finished reading Neil Gaiman’s novel American Gods.

I promised a friend that I would make more of an effort to review here the books I read, so I will attempt to do that for American Gods, but I must first admit that it is, to me, a daunting task.

American Gods follows a man named Shadow as he finds himself caught up from the direction his life had been taking him and placing him instead in the midst of a war of gods.  The old gods — gods of myth and legend — are fading due to the waning of the beliefs that keep them strong and (dare I say) relevant.  The new gods — gods of media and technology and vice — are on the rise, and they’re seeking to snuff out the old gods permanently.  Shadow ends up traveling all over the country with several mysterious companions as they try to raise the alarm among the old gods that it is time to fight lest they all die out.  There are many twists and turns along the way, and many explorations into very surreal, metaphorical (and metaphysical) territory, not to mention no shortage of commentary on culture and belief.

From that description, the story sounds gripping and endlessly exciting with lots of heady ideas to chew on, and on one hand it is.  On the other hand, my experience with American Gods was one of frequent confusion and detachment.  As the reader following the story from Shadow’s point of view, I spent much of the book as in the dark and uncertain about what was happening as he was.  Not having been a student of world mythology, I rarely knew much about any of these old gods, if I even had heard of them at all.  Thus throughout the book, I felt lost nearly every time an oblique reference, a bit of history, or even an inside joke was made about any of these various deities.

Much like Shadow, I was the clueless one, struggling to comprehend something beyond my scope of knowledge.

This has me stuck with mixed feelings.  As someone who appreciates good, intelligent literature, I appreciate that Neil didn’t lay everything out for the reader and explain all the details and nuances of this work.  It’s an extremely detailed, well-crafted, well-researched book, and is deserving of all the high praise it has received.  That said, it left me feeling incomplete and dissatisfied, not because it was poorly done, but because it was too well done, and I felt I didn’t know enough to fully appreciate it, leaving me with that feeling of being lost along the way.

Then again, that may be the whole idea.  As we, the readers, stumble along with Shadow through this crazy journey, maybe we’re meant to feel a bit behind the curve.  Maybe there’s a bit of hidden motivational purpose here, too, for us readers to realize there are larger worlds to explore beyond the newest and shiniest ones.  There is definitely a lot to process, thinking about things like faith and belief, priorities and destiny, identity and sacrifice.

Two things are for sure: when next I endeavor to dive into the world of American Gods, I will do my homework first and will hopefully be able to more completely appreciate this terrific work of modern literature.  Secondly, when next I set out to explore a work by Neil Gaiman, I will prepare more adequately for it, rather than assuming that (as it would be with many other bestsellers) a casual read will be all that is required of me.

Thanks to Kim at Bold Blue Adventure for inspiring me to finally check out some Neil Gaiman; you can find her review of American Gods here.  Finally, if you’ve read it, I would love to hear your opinions and thoughts on it — what was your experience like, and what have I missed?