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I'm so very glad I bought a new copy so I could read this again. I'm struck, again, by what an amazing book this is.
I had forgotten a lot of plot points, enough that I was rediscovering a lot of things. I had forgotten the whole "dead children in the lake" subplot until we met Heinzelman, at which point I remembered the whole thing and knew we couldn't trust him. Interestingly, I had forgotten the gigantic con at the center of the novel. I remembered Wednesday, and I remembered who Low-Key was, but I didn't remember, at all, what they were up to. The end of the battle seemed a bit anti-climactic to me, but then, it's kind of supposed to be. I loved Bast's character even more this time through.
I'm reminded of something Emily once said, talking about LotR: that the books work so well because the hobbits function as everyman characters, normal guys who are the window through which the reader looks in at these epic events. And that applies to this book too--Shadow is a well-written, full character with really big, complex, scary problems, but all the while he's still an ordinary guy thrust into the middle of all this. The world he's in is as new to him as it is to the reader. Of course that's the only way to write a book like this, but still. It would have behooved Jacqueline Carey to think of that before starting her unsuccessful work on the Gods of Eternal Grudge, from what I hear. (Haven't read those yet--I own them, but don't feel a strong urge to start reading them, heaven knows why.)
American Gods is such a *smart* book, too. I'm still just really impressed with how smart Neil Gaiman is. And books like this always amaze me because of how well-crafted they are. I've taken the writing classes, I know how to look for the threads, the framework. Maybe not on the first read-through (certainly not, if it's a good novel), but reading this book again, I can see a bit of it, the Backstage of the story. And just on the standpoint of craft this novel floors me, because it's just so very well done, and not something I myself could ever weave. I like it when books show me my own inadequacies in a way that makes me love them and love the world.
I had forgotten a lot of plot points, enough that I was rediscovering a lot of things. I had forgotten the whole "dead children in the lake" subplot until we met Heinzelman, at which point I remembered the whole thing and knew we couldn't trust him. Interestingly, I had forgotten the gigantic con at the center of the novel. I remembered Wednesday, and I remembered who Low-Key was, but I didn't remember, at all, what they were up to. The end of the battle seemed a bit anti-climactic to me, but then, it's kind of supposed to be. I loved Bast's character even more this time through.
I'm reminded of something Emily once said, talking about LotR: that the books work so well because the hobbits function as everyman characters, normal guys who are the window through which the reader looks in at these epic events. And that applies to this book too--Shadow is a well-written, full character with really big, complex, scary problems, but all the while he's still an ordinary guy thrust into the middle of all this. The world he's in is as new to him as it is to the reader. Of course that's the only way to write a book like this, but still. It would have behooved Jacqueline Carey to think of that before starting her unsuccessful work on the Gods of Eternal Grudge, from what I hear. (Haven't read those yet--I own them, but don't feel a strong urge to start reading them, heaven knows why.)
American Gods is such a *smart* book, too. I'm still just really impressed with how smart Neil Gaiman is. And books like this always amaze me because of how well-crafted they are. I've taken the writing classes, I know how to look for the threads, the framework. Maybe not on the first read-through (certainly not, if it's a good novel), but reading this book again, I can see a bit of it, the Backstage of the story. And just on the standpoint of craft this novel floors me, because it's just so very well done, and not something I myself could ever weave. I like it when books show me my own inadequacies in a way that makes me love them and love the world.
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Date: 2007-05-31 04:03 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2007-05-31 05:11 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2007-05-31 10:15 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2007-05-31 05:01 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2007-05-31 05:10 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2007-05-31 05:23 pm (UTC)From: (Anonymous)no subject
Date: 2007-06-02 12:50 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2007-06-02 01:16 am (UTC)From:Have you read the Sandman graphic novels at all? They are so amazing. Seriously. I borrowed the whole series from Heather and thought they were wonderful.
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Date: 2007-06-05 12:51 am (UTC)From:i have not yet read the Sandman, but have been wanting to for awhile now. i really should get on that. i think it would be a good way to get into graphic novels, as i think i would like them, but am intimidated by the way the pages are set up. they look confusing to me and i'm not sure in what order to read them. i do want to try though. maybe that should be one of my summer goals.
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Date: 2007-06-05 02:08 am (UTC)From:You might also like Fables--graphic novels about fairy tale characters after they were kicked out of Fantasyland. Kind of gritty and dark and fun, with the big bad wolf as kind of a protagonist. I only read the first one but it was really fun!