A Better Comic or Graphic Novel?

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman has long amazed people with his work in the comic book industry. His groundbreaking Sandman helped pave the way for the current mainstream acceptance of comic books as something not merely for children or meant to be an interest hidden from sight, so people did not judge you: Comics are suddenly more influential in the media, especially within the movie industry, than quite possibly any other creative form. When Gaiman crossed over into novels, many fans crossed over with him and his first novel, Neverwhere, met with some critical success.

Here, Gaiman describes the present day, but a behind-the-scenes look if you will. The premise is interesting, something straight out of a comic: America is teeming with gods, both the old, brought over with various peoples when they first came over to the United States, and newer ones, representing the exponential growth in technology. At the center is a man named Shadow, who is just released from prison and is the most important player in this struggle between the old and the new.

The plot is incredibly original and at the beginning, you really are drawn in. But then something goes awry: Gaiman creates an opportunity to dazzle us and really go into detail about these characters and creatures he has created, but instead leaves us with skeletal descriptions, leaning heavily on past conceptions of what these gods would have looked like in the present day. In some sense, you wonder if Gaiman’s writing is too dependent on an artist that is not there to provide some sort of visual context.

I myself bought this book because I needed a fast read, which Gaiman does provide. It’s mainstream fiction, something meant to entertain, but not challenge in any way. I think my disappointment comes from the potential Gaiman’s opening pages creates to the sudden drop off and lackluster ending. You want something bold and visionary and instead you are left with “bleh.”

Read this when you need a break, but don’t think that going in you’re getting something along the lines of Ender’s Game or even the Lord of the Rings.

Some interesting quotes:

“The room was freezing. It smelled of people who had gone away to live other lives, and of all they had eaten and dreamed.” (255)

“People only fight over imaginary things.” (427)

“He wondered whether home was a thing that happened to a place after awhile, or if it was something that you found in the end, if you simply walked and waited and willed it long enough.” (585)