American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Leaving for a trip that will usually allow me around 8 hours of listening time in the car, I couldn’t decide on any of the audio books I have in my unit. Some were tempting but too long, others I just wasn’t in the mood for. So I decided I’d listen to music for this trip, for something different.

Knowing I had 3 hours of the first stretch ahead of me I wanted something upbeat. I don’t think I got to the end of the first song when I knew I’d made the wrong choice. I just kept thinking this is such a waste of perfectly good audio book time. I searched around in the car for something I could listen to. When I found American Gods I knew I was in the mood for some Neil Gaiman.

It was only later, that I discovered how long the book went for… around 20 hours. It would definitely spill over from the listening time I had on that trip. Oh well, on I soldiered.

I loved the idea behind this book: everyone who has ever come to America brought their gods with them, in some form, these deities immigrated with their believers. 

However many years on, there are so many gods that live on in the hearts and minds of someone, so these beings live on in the American landscape, noticed or not by those who they pass by. 

One thing I have to say about Neil Gaiman is he is a genius of epic proportions when it comes to intertextuality and blending/adapting mythology and classic texts. American Gods was not the first time I noticed this, Neverwhere is brilliant, and then there are touches of it in his other books too. It fills me with such awe and jealousy, and makes me want to have his brain-children. 

I think I need to say that I felt American Gods was a little unnecessarily long. But I strongly believe that it is worth it. It’s a staggering undertaking, and he certainly has accomplished great things with his concept, and I can understand why he kept it at its length, It might have just benefited from some trimming here and there. 

So, if you ever find you have the time to offer to this book, it’s worth it.

 

3.5 Gold Stars

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The Day I Swapped My Dad For Two Goldfish by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean

Neil Gaiman’s books are practically guaranteed to be slightly warped, slightly bizarre, slightly absurd. That’s why we love them isn’t it?

This picture book is fairly straight forward in premise, in some ways of looking at it, and is pretty much explained by the title: a boy swaps his dad for two goldfish. Cause that could happen, right?

Then, as predicted by his sister, he gets in trouble when his mother comes home (there’s a very funny sequence with the sister trying to tell the mum who doesn’t like her to talk with her mouth full) and they have to go and swap him back. Only, they discover that he has already been traded on. And so begins a journey here there and everywhere trying to un-swap all the items that have been traded for his dad.

So a little bit quirky, but that’s what makes it fun. Dave McKean’s illustrations take the quirk factor to another level, playing in to and off of each other sense of humour in a perfect way.

I've got a great edition of this that has the book read by Neil Gaimen himself, which is an added bonus.

3.5 Gold Stars

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