Opinion

American Gods

Written by: Neil Gaiman
Published by Headline Feature

"The song on the juke box ended, and for a moment the bar fell quiet, every conversation at a lull.
'Someone once told me that you only get those everybody-shuts-up-at-once moments at twenty past or twenty to the hour,' said Shadow.
Sweeney pointed to the clock above the bar, held in the massive and indifferent jaws of a stuffed alligator head. The time was 11:20.
'There,' said Shadow. 'Damned if I know why that happens.'
'I know why,' said Wednesday. 'Drink your mead.' "

Shadow is days away from his release from prison, looking forward to rebuilding his life, returning to his wife Laura, and never breaking the law again; but he is also troubled by the certainty that something terrible is about to happen to destroy this new future. Sure enough, Laura is killed in a car accident, and on the way home for her funeral, he encounters the man called Wednesday, whose offer of a job takes Shadow into a hidden world of gods old and new on an odyssey across America, under the threatening skies of an approaching storm.

There are writers who labour under the weight of expectation generated by their previous achievements, and Neil Gaiman is categorically one such. The man who crafted the epic Sandman comic series, who co-wrote Good Omens with Terry Pratchett, and the modern-day fable that is Neverwhere (both book and TV series, but the book is immeasurably better), plus many other gems in various media, has a significant following eager for his every new work. And I'd have to admit to sharing that anticipation. So does he deliver?

Well, let's get the basics out of the way first - whatever you're expecting American Gods to be, it isn't, quite. As complex, literate, and intelligent a novel as any I've ever read, it's also a work that defies expectation and categorization - it's a road novel, it's a work of mythology, it's a work of horror and suspense on some levels, and it's also a comedy on others. And in between and all around these, it's a character piece, exploring Shadow's growth and change from what he believed himself to be to what it's possible he really is. Is all that cryptic enough for you? Good, because this is a book that you should read to see for yourself.

One of the things that Gaiman has always done, in all his writing that I've seen, is to credit the reader with both intelligence and knowledge. Any given issue of The Sandman, for instance, contained references, quotations, in jokes and more, that were rarely even pointed up, never mind explained, or footnoted. Gaiman's wisdom as a writer is to recognise that he doesn't need to point out his own cleverness - people who spot the details will appreciate them as well as the story, and those who don't will still appreciate the story. So in American Gods, for instance, there's a moment where the reader (this one, at least) thinks he's made an upcoming twist too obvious (it's when Wednesday is introduced), but on thinking about it, it's clear that it's not meant to be a twist - he just lets the reader know what's going on before he lets Shadow in on the truth.

There are parts of the novel that are occasionally overstretched, and some of the profusion of minor characters who come and go during the course of the novel are less well-characterised, but there are an awful lot of them, so it's inevitable that some of them will end up given short shrift. These are minor criticisms though, compared to the overwhelmingly positive view I have of this book. The best thing I can say about it is that, like almost all of Gaiman's work, repeated reading will highlight further depth and complexity. So I'm just about to start it again.

American Gods Website