I just finished reading the book American Gods by Neil Gaiman, and I've got to say it's one of the best...and strangest books I've ever read. Has anyone else read this book? If you haven't, I strongly recommend it.
I was actually thinking about picking this one up sometime soon. I'd like to read it after I read the novel version of Fight Club.
Neil Gaiman is awesome - everything from the Sandman comic series to his novels and movies, are to be highly recommended. I've just finished reading American Gods myself - loved it. (The part that I call "quoth the raven" - when Shadow asks the raven to say "nevermore" - still makes me crack up everytime!)
I read this a few years ago, and it- along with Neil Gaiman himself- has always been one of my favorite things, ever. I gave it to my English teacher as a present this year, and he loved it. Sam's speech on what she believes is my favorite book quote ever. Now you need to read the kind-of-sort-of sequel, Anansi Boys. The tone is much more screwball-comedy than vast-epic, but it's the same premise and the same quality of writing, which is, of course, just excellent. Then, heck, just read everything by Neil Gaiman. You won't be let down (except for in his one moment of weakness, Fragile Things...).
I love Gaiman. He's got such a nose for realistic detail and characters. I just finished 'American Gods' myself, and I thought it was very good and pretty unique. Much darker than 'Neverwhere.' I had my gripes about it, though. The interludes at the ends of chapters were boring as hell, and some dragged on for 20 pages. I didn't care about them, but I felt like I had to read them, anyway. Like they'd all come together in the end. But they didn't. And I thought the ending was pretty flat, how it was all resolved. But the ride to get there was fun.
American Gods was such an odd book. I enjoyed it, but it kept changing in tone. There were these film noir elements at first, and then there was a murder mystery in the middle, and long philosophical passages. I could see why he and Terry Pratchett would get a long... there's a similar philosophical background between American Gods and Small Gods, even though the books themselves are entirely different.
What do you think Gaiman's best book is? If you think it's American Gods, what's his second best book? Is it Neverwhere?
Ah, I haven't yet read American Gods. I tried to read it a year ago, but couldn't get past the first chapter. I'll get back to it someday, though. Same thing happened with Anansi Boys. I loved Neverwhere and Coraline and Good Omens is just something extraordinary, but for some odd reason I couldn't read those two. Oh, and I've loved all Sandmans. But I have it (American Gods) and maybe this summer, I'll get back to it.
I think I'll read Good Omens next. I personally was hooked by the first chapter of American Gods. Can't exactly tell you why, but I thought Shadow was a pretty good character just by that chapter.
I'm a big fan of the Gaiman books I've read so far. American Gods is the one that really got me into his writing - even if it's been responsible for my better half calling me 'puppy' all the time... I did think some of the characters were a bit on the dull side (wasn't a fan of Anansi at any point in the story), but Shadow and Wednesday rocked. Neverwhere was a good'un, Smoke & Mirrors (short story collection) is well worth a read too - very strange, but very good!
