Monday, December 21, 2009

100 Pages: "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman

Reading a book is an experience, which can't be captured in all the tid bits, emotions and small moments that make it worthwhile, when reviewed. There is usually much that doesn't go into the finished review. Because it has come, passed and registered into our subconscious or because there is simply too much to relate, which can't be fitted in the review as a format. Because after a certain point a review becomes too long for the reader.

That is why I am stealing a perfectly good idea that I saw being used over at Blood of the Muse and apply it here. It's the commentary after the 100 pages milestone has been hit. I am there so here it goes.

"American Gods" is brilliant. I now know why people are in the worship mode, when it comes to his work. His idea is stunning, his prose elegant and just the way he tells the story is like opium. It slinks inside your brain, takes over your senses and you set sails on a smoky lake in a hazy forest and a fantastical landscape. I also loved the choices Gaiman made for the mythological figures he included. I am a nut ball for mythologies and have the perfect opportunity to light that spark and make a jump into new cultures outside the beloved Greek one. It's one of those books, which make you forget that you are reading and I as a writer had to marvel at how Gaiman weaved magic with simple phrases and dialogue. It is one of the hardest skills to learn in the craft and so gives me a new reason to be impressed about this book.

6 comments:

D Swizzle said...

If there was an modern author who was destined to become one of the Greats, it would be Gaimen. Glad your enjoying it!

Ana said...

LOVE this book, LOVE Neil Gaiman, I worship the man in the altar of writing. *bowdown*

Harry Markov said...

@ Dannie, I am truly enjoying. I am only sorry that I don't have it as a physical book...

@ Ana, I LOVE him too.

Fabio Fernandes said...

Excellent idea, that of commentaries after the 100-page mark. I think I´m going to borrow it. ;-)

Harry Markov said...

Borrow all you want. It has been in other hands than mine, so there is no forbidding on my part.

cynfulcharm said...

Let me know when you get through the next 100 pages. I picked up American Gods off a recommendation and I thoroughly enjoyed the first half. Then something shifted for me. I liken it to the air being let out of tires. Gaiman is one of the most gifted writers of this century. Perhaps this particular novel just wasn't for me.

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