fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2360 ]

[ SECRET POST #2360 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2360 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 044 secrets from Secret Submission Post #336.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 - take it to comments ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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I'm really glad everyone on the comments so far says this book sucks - I've tried to read it four times and I cannot get into it at all.

Is there a better Gaiman book to read? (I have read Good Omens, it was ok - not great but not bad.)

Have you read his comics? IMO they are a fair bit better than his novels. I'm pretty much in love with Sandman though so I might be biased.

No, I haven't. I'll give one a try though! Thanks!

Late +1 to this. There are parts of Sandman that don't hit with me, but the vast majority of it is really awesome, and for some reason does work much better than his novels.

I liked American Gods as a book, but it's getting a TV Show I think, and it does seem like something that lends itself much better to a visual medium. Lord knows I would have eaten that shit up even harder if it had been a comic, too.

Honestly, his writing probably just isn't your thing.

I've enjoyed everything I've read from him, but I've noticed that most people who dislike one of his books dislike all of them. His style is...divisive.

Ok, thanks! I'll try a comic, but it that doesn't work, yeah, probably not my cup of tea. Thank you!

One thing- if you try Sandman and you're starting from the beginning, either don't stop before or just skip ahead to "The Sound of Her Wings". The series doesn't really start to hit its core feel/tone until about that point, so the majority of Vol. 1 may not be the best way to gauge whether or not the comic appeals to you.

Some of his writing (especially AG) appeals to those who have at least a passing familiarity to the mythologies and myths that he's referring to...that said, American Gods has a vastly different pacing to it, than say, any of Gaiman's short story collections. (And Anansi Boys has a different pacing to American Gods, though they are both mining the same vein of literature).

I'd much prefer Gaiman's mythology-laced writing to that of someone like, say, Dan Simmons, who goes OTT with the seriousness and preponderance and oh-so-profound-that-I-am-spinning-on-this-ancient-Greek-or-whatever-story whereas, even if you don't get ALL the allusions, at least you will still be entertained by the story. Whereas with Simmons, the story is too thin to support itself, if you don't get EVERY SINGLE FREAKING ALLUSION HE MAKES IN THAT EVER-SO-EARNEST TONE...ahem. Sorry. Did I mention I don't much like Simmons?

Be forewarned OP: American Gods is very very very very very heavily reliant upon existing myths, however; if you don't have a passing knowledge of at least some of the Greek/Roman ones, or of the general sensibility/structure of ancient myths in general you're likely not going to get much out of the book, and will find it boring, as others ITT has. I found the pacing to be very slow for my taste, but it's certainly a good book to read when you want to unwind with something that's relaxing.

JMO, YMMV, etc., etc., etc.

It's interesting to me that you suggest the reader needs some knowledge of Greek/Roman myths, when part of the reason that I personally enjoyed American Gods due to my knowledge of Norse myth (hello: Odin and Loki? Vision quest on a tree?). Perhaps it's an interest in mythology and general that lends appeal. Also, having known many pagans who fawn over this book, I think being polytheistic might also help.

All of that said, I completely agree with about Dan Simmons. Apart from Hyperion, dude's writing drives me up the fucking wall for precisely the reasons you've laid out.

ayrt

Yeah that's my bad it's been almost exactly ten years since I read the book and I was blanking on the exact gods/pantheon(s) used....though I do remember the Egyptians pretty clearly, for some odd reason. (My brain, it is starting to fail me in strange ways. I am not amused.) I should have emphasized having a knowledge of the general structure of mythologies as a whole in my comment a little more than I did, maybe?

Ugh, Dan Simmons. Everyone I knew was praising Hyperion like he was the best writer to ever string a coherent sentence together, so I sat down and slogged all the way through it. I still resent that book for wasting far too many good hours of my life that I am never ever going to get back.

It was okay, but not as OMG!GREAT as everyone was making it out to be. Especially the way Simmons bashes you over the head with his "THIS IS MY ENG LIT PHD AND YOU'RE GOING TO SUFFER FOR IT AS MUCH AS I DID DEAR READER." :-P I'm thankful I never wasted my time on Fall of Hyperion and Ilium after that.

Just gonna give my two cents here: I did get all the mythology references except for a couple of minor ones, and I did enjoy AG a lot for it, but overall I was still pretty underwhelmed by it. I guess sometimes somebody's writing just isn't for you.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2013-06-20 06:42 (UTC) - Expand

I disagree, I adore mythology and get his references but I really dislike his writing. It's just kind of boring to me and not very exciting. I enjoyed Sandman, though.

I do have a knowledge of mythology, that was one reason why I selected it as the first Gaiman book to read.

I'm unfamiliar with Simmons, but given your opinion of his work, I can't say I'm sorry for it.

(no subject)

lunabee34 - 2013-06-20 02:55 (UTC) - Expand

I got the mythological references/influences and if anything it makes me recent the book more, because I wish they'd been used to better effect.

To be honest I feel like the absolutely bland protagonist just dragged everything down with him.

ayrt all of you replied to with "I like mythology but didn't like American Gods!" -- I honestly think it's the pacing of the book that has so many of us divided. (I could be wrong.)

When compared with something like Anansi Boys, American Gods is reeeeeeeeaaaally slow and meandering to get through the story itself. Which might be why so many people find it boring? IDK. I was in a rough place at the time I read the book, and the slow-paced absorption was kind of what I needed to get away from it all. Maybe if I reread it now I would be bored too, IDK.

But American Gods is definitely the slowest-paced writing Neil Gaiman has ever produced, IMO.

(no subject)

lady_songsmith - 2013-06-20 13:11 (UTC) - Expand

American Gods is my favorite book, and that probably has a lot to do with the fact that my father didn't read me fairy-tales as a child; he read me tales from various mythologies. His favorites were Greek/Roman, while my favorites were Norse and Egyptian.

So American Gods hit all my buttons, and I've loved it since the first time I read it, some time in 8th grade or so.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2013-06-20 07:39 (UTC) - Expand

OP here

so far, so good. Some I worked out which God they were pretty quickly, others I'm not so sure about and figure if it's not revealed or explained later in the books I'll look them up. I like all this travelling and meeting folks going on, the old vs new - although it's all really different to what I expected. Recently realised I bought some kind of extended edition, but I don't mind the length. :D

Not necessarily! I love his writing style but hated American Gods, go figure. I think he's better at short things without need for long plots, he doesn't do too great on plots.

The Graveyard Book, maybe. I don't like any of his other books and loved that one. It's basically the Jungle Book, but with ghosts and vampires and a little witch girl. The tiger is a supernatural assassin who killed his parents, and the panther is a vampire.

that one is fun, and Gaiman narrates the audiobook and it's great so I recommend that :)

Seconding Sandman. I don't really like his novels or short stories, but I thought Sandman was great.

I LOVE Good Omens, but I pretty much hated American Gods.

Try his short stories. I think they're a lot better, but they're also a shorter investment of your time if you just don't like his writing.

I agree, I didn't think they were that great but they're enjoyable and fun to read. His issue must be with pacing when he's writing novels.

Thanks!

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