American Gods (American Gods, #1) in Ask Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman

Jun 23, 2013 Jessica rated it really liked it

I know a lot of people love listening to audiobooks, so I decided to try it out with this book. My biggest fear with audiobooks is that I don't have the ability to easily stop and think about a meaningful passage or reread something if I didn't quite understand. You really just plow right through, so you're wont to miss things. And I definitely did. It was a bit of a problem, so I think I'd have likely felt more engaged by physically reading the book. However, during a very snowy winter where I' I know a lot of people love listening to audiobooks, so I decided to try it out with this book. My biggest fear with audiobooks is that I don't have the ability to easily stop and think about a meaningful passage or reread something if I didn't quite understand. You really just plow right through, so you're wont to miss things. And I definitely did. It was a bit of a problem, so I think I'd have likely felt more engaged by physically reading the book. However, during a very snowy winter where I've had more free afternoons than I had counted on due to snow days, it's nice to be able to sit back and allow someone to tell you a story. It's very much like when your teacher would read to you in elementary school only with more people involved. I'm certainly willing to give other audiobooks a try.

On to the review of the actual story: I have mixed feelings about this book. Things I loved: I thought Neil Gaiman did a really wonderful job at capturing the true spirit of America and all of its cracks and diversities. The appendix was interesting in that Gaiman talked about how he's learned over the years that "America" isn't necessarily what the rest of the world believes it to be on TV, and I think he's done a marvelous job at tackling the essence of American life. The setting, for me, played the most interesting part in the whole book with its subtle changes as the protagonist moved around from state to state. By the end, you feel like you went both everywhere and nowhere all at once, and it's a beautiful thing. I thought the book also raised some interesting questions about the ambiguity of life and death and all of the layers of gray in between. It's not that it invigorates you to live your life to its fullest, but it forces you to think about what you're doing with your life right now and gauge your own happiness.

Things I didn't love as much: There were many parts of the story where we'd cut away to a family or a group of people from a different era and different location to examine how the roles of American life and religion have evolved over the years. I don't think this part was necessary. The story being told was rich enough and had enough to go on without constantly having us peek in on other people that never come back into the narrative. There were also so many different gods at play at any one time (some with very similar sounding names) that it was difficult to follow all of their backstories and distinguish between them.

Overall, I think it's a well-written story that raises interesting, thought-provoking questions but could benefit from some tightening up. If you're looking for a Neil Gaiman book that delivers his signature dose of whimsy, look somewhere else. This is a different beast altogether. That's not to say that's a bad thing, but go into it being aware that this is not the Neil Gaiman you're used to. ...more

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