Scott's review
Anansi Boys: A Novel
by Neil Gaiman (Goodreads author!)
Scott's review
Anansi Boys: A Novel by Neil Gaiman (Goodreads author!)
Scott's review
rating:
bookshelves:
post-college
Even though I consistently enjoy him, I'm quite convinced that Gaiman is one of the most consistently overrated authors writing now. I somehow think that he may actually be a better essayist than storyteller, because he has very interesting ideas about the role of stories and myth, but, though he has hit a few narrative home runs (I think of The Game of You and Coraline in particular), most of his other works fall short for me storywise.
Maybe part of my problem with this book was reading it so close to Strange and Norell, a book that inserts magic into our world and taps into archetypes that keep it grounded the whole way through. The weakest aspect of <Anansi Boys</i> is the way it lapses into sloppy deus ex machina over and over.
Though, this flaw may also be reflective of just how high Gaiman was aiming with the book. It suggests that he is attempting in Anansi Boys to retell the trickster tale, to update it for today, and to endow it w...more
Maybe part of my problem with this book was reading it so close to Strange and Norell, a book that inserts magic into our world and taps into archetypes that keep it grounded the whole way through. The weakest aspect of <Anansi Boys</i> is the way it lapses into sloppy deus ex machina over and over.
Though, this flaw may also be reflective of just how high Gaiman was aiming with the book. It suggests that he is attempting in Anansi Boys to retell the trickster tale, to update it for today, and to endow it w...more
