James's Reviews > American Gods

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

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Jun 04, 12

Read on June 04, 2012

It's sad to say, but this book just bored me. I usually like Neil Gaiman's stories, so don't read this as an attack on his talent or anything, but sometimes individual works just don't connect.

In this case, American Gods felt aimless, detached, and more than a little pointless. Not only did the big concepts fail to land, but the little stuff as well. It's one thing when you have a book like Neverwhere where a few of the characters are insanely quirky because it's balanced out by the "straight man". Unfortunately, Shadow is a terrible straight man. He doesn't question, he doesn't speak for the reader, he just follows along moving from story segment to story segment (note I don't call them plot points as most everything in here is useless to the overall plot.)

Nope, it just didn't work for me.


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Comments (showing 1-2 of 2) (2 new)

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message 1: by Nah (new)

Nah I've probably started reading this book 3 times or so and not one have I gotten past the first quarter. Bores the crap out of me. I'm glad I'm not the only one.


Andrea I have so many friends who are die hard Gaiman fans that I felt bad for not liking this book better. I did enjoy it, but mainly because I'm crazy about roadside attractions. Try Tim Powers book "Last Call" for another take on American gods. Powers gets it (in all his books!) where Gaiman doesn't.


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