I picked this book up at Jackson Street Books looking for something interesting to read. I was not dissapointed. This is an excellent book. It is well written and imaginative. In this book, Gaiman's 3rd or 4th novel, a paroled convict "Shadow" enters into a contract with a mysterious man named Wednesday who turns out to be a god, after his wife and bussiness partner die in a horrible car accident. Along the way he meets up with a host of colorful characters including other American gods, a rather intersting small town community, and his dead/living wife.
Neil Gaiman is an incredible writer. His book is gripping from the first page to the last. I really hated to put it down. The book is full of plot twists and mystery. I really liked all the folklore and American history that Gaiman added to his book. One of my favorite things was how Gaiman included a quote from a poem at the begining of each chapter and a mythlogical story at the end. Gaimans descriptions are amazing. It is very easy to believe that everything in the novel actually happened.
Two of my favorite characters from the book are Laura, shadows wife, and "Wiskey Jack", an old wise Indian man. Laura is intruiging to me because although she is dead and decaying, she is an interesting enough character that she is not repulsive. I also liked Wiskey Jack, a character based on Wiskedjak a character from Algonquin folklore. There are many dynamic characters in this book, that make it very interesting.
I can see why this book is a bestseller and I look forward to reading more of Gaimans books. I'm also looking forward to his next book, Anansi Boys ,which is a sequel to American Gods.
No comments:
Post a Comment