Skip to main content

Staying Behind the Curtain: A Book Review of American Gods

Ever since reading Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, I have been eager to pick up more of his work. I am new to the world of Gaiman, but it is through the enthusiasm of his fans that I even learned of him in the first place. I mean, some of the authors I admire most admire him, so I knew there had to be something very magical and very special about his work. And there is. That is what I loved about The Graveyard Book - its sweetness and scariness, its treatment of the fantastic as ordinary and accessible. These things reminded me of the writing of the master, Peter S. Beagle. And these elements are present in American Gods, too. But I'll be honest, after The Graveyard Book, American Gods was an absolute shock. I had to transition from reading about the adventures of little Nobody Owens growing up in a graveyard to wading through a gritty, jaded view of America and the most graphic descriptions of sexual encounters I have ever read. I knew beforehand that Gaiman has written books that are more "kid-friendly" versus books that are intended for adults, but I had no idea the gulf between would be so huge. If I had read The Graveyard Book as a ten-year-old (which wouldn't have been possible, since it wasn't yet published, but hypothetically speaking...), I'm sure I would have liked it, and had I moved on to American Gods, I would have been scarred for life.

Now, don't get me wrong - I'm not against gritty or graphic writing. In fact, I am opposed to censorship in any form, and I think what always needs to be in place instead is some sort of warning, rating, etc. so that parents can do the censoring for their young children, individuals can filter out what they themselves don't want to read, and so on. So, at the end of the day, I guess I lean toward, "Bring on the gritty."

However, my dilemma is as follows:

A fantasy author has to work extra hard to make his or her story believable. I know that seems like an oxymoron, but it's not. If you are creating from scratch a fantastic world with magic and miracles and monsters and strange settings, you need to make sure that the magic has rules, that the miracles are not too many, that the monsters are neither too strong nor too weak, and that those strange settings are just familiar enough that the reader will venture inside them. You must not draw attention to the fact that as an author, you are making all of this up. Yes, an author's ideas are a patchwork of the stories that have influenced them, as well as their life experiences, but in the end, an author is making it all up.

Photo: "American Gods" by browneagle44 of Deviantart.com
When I read Sapphire's Push, I felt that the plight of the main character, Precious, was so revolting and impossible and unfair, it drew attention to the fact that the author has (or, at least, is capable of having) a disgusting mind. There were so many hardships piled on that character, I just wanted to throw my hands up and say, "You've lost me." Anyone can build a nightmare - we live on Earth, for Pete's sake - but not everyone can make a story out of it.

Did Gaiman manage to piece together a story out of some nightmarish images? Yes, pretty much - I mean, it took about 300 pages to get going. But did he destroy the illusion that he was trying to create of a world populated by forgotten gods and shiny new ones? For me, he did. A reader can only suspend disbelief so long, and when a writer just wallows in gratuitous descriptions of sex and gore, the reader's gaze slowly slides off the story and onto the realization that the author is conjuring these images all on his own. To my mind, conjurers should stay out of mind, and behind the curtain. Everything conjured should be conjured in service of the story. Period.

I know there are masses out there who would disagree with this review, and that's not only okay but good. Discussion is the ultimate goal of The Geek and Inkwell. So bring it on. :) I know that what I've said is basically blasphemy, considering Gaiman's swarms of devoted followers. I am still a fan, too! So I hold out hope for Neverwhere, which is next on the list.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Chain Mail Bikinis Don't Count As Armor, and Other Thoughts (Mild Spoilers)

Comics Alliance  calls it "The story Disney should have been telling for the past 20 years," and while I believe Disney plays its part in a healthy mix of fairy tales for children, every little girl (and boy, for that matter) should read a comic like "Princeless."  "Princeless," from  Action Lab Entertainment , introduces us to Adrienne, a princess who is not interested in waiting around in her tower to be rescued. A prince even shows up at one point to do just that, and she turns him away, saying, "Don't let the dragon hit you on the way out." Love it. 

Book Review: The Graveyard Book (No Spoilers)

My friends, both at work and in other circles, are kind enough to lend me books on a very regular basis. I know that when they lend me books, it is because that book impressed them, and they want to share the experience with me. This is what good friends do for each other. That being said, a couple weeks ago, I was thrilled when I returned the last book I had borrowed, because it meant that for the first time in a long time, I was free to begin reading any book of my choosing. Now, I was an English major, and I am a writer, and a writer's best fuel is usually reading, so this means that my  Goodreads  "To read" list is always about 80 times as long as my "Read" list. There really isn't an end in sight to the list of stories that I want to crack open and devour. But you have to start somewhere. So I took a very graciously gifted bookstore gift card, headed down to said bookstore just as giddy as can be, and headed straight for my pre-selected targets.

A Galaxy Big Enough for All of Us: A Brief Defense of "The Rise of Skywalker" (Spoilers)

After seeing "Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker," the final installment in the Skywalker saga, I left the theater awash in a mix of euphoria at being born at the right time to personally experience something so momentous and also in the inevitable bit of melancholy over the close of a story that has captivated my imagination and my heart almost all my life.  I'm sure there were many Star Wars fans like me, but, like me, if they have any exposure at all to the Internet, might have had their Star Wars geek glow promptly stomped on by critics both professional and amateur, eager to tear apart what we all have to recognize was a nearly impossible creative endeavor.  I say impossible because Star Wars has millions of fans across the world, all with their own favorite characters and films, and all with their own perspective on the saga's history and the direction they hoped it would go.  There are spoilers below, so only proceed if you have seen the film! I l