American Gods

by Neil Gaiman | Mystery & Thrillers |
ISBN: Global Overview for this book
Registered by Kleptokitty on 9/12/2004
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4 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by Kleptokitty on Sunday, September 12, 2004
From the back ....

"IS NOTHING SACRED?

Days before his release from prison, Shadow's wife, Laura, dies in a mysterious car crash. Numbly, he makes his way back home, On the plane, he encounters the enigmatic Mr Wednesday, who claims to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god and the king of America.

Together they embark on a profoundly strange journey across the heart of the USA, whilst all around them a storm of preternatural and epic proportions threatens to break.

Scary, gripping and deeply unsettling, AMERICAN GODS takes a long, hard look into the soul of America. You'll be surprised by what - and who - it finds there ...."



I picked this up at a boot sale as I've heard that Neil Gaiman has written in conjunction with Terry Pratchett.


Journal Entry 2 by Kleptokitty on Wednesday, December 29, 2004
I wasn't really sure what to expect with this book. On the one hand Neil Gaiman written with Terry Pratchett, but on the other the publisher is quoting Peter Straub and James Herbert on the back and suggesting that Neil Gaiman is better than Stephen King. So, should I have been expecting fantasy or horror??

To tell you the truth, I'm still not sure!

I really enjoyed this. It wasn't like anything I'd read before. The depth of writing is really quite amazing. Rather than write a review myself, which I'm feeling a bit incompetant to do, I'm going to copy the little review by Clive Barker that's quoted inside ..

"...He constructs stories like some demented cook might make a wedding cake, building layer upon layer, including all kinds of sweet and sour in the mix". - Clive Barker

This book is now off on it's travels again. I had promised it to Qimp in Holland, but am going to lend it to Coolboxuk first as she's a mega-quick reader & I know she'll enjoy it!

Journal Entry 3 by Kleptokitty at on Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Released on Wednesday, December 29, 2004 at about 2:00:00 PM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at N/A in n/a, n/a Controlled Releases.

RELEASE NOTES:

Heading off to Petra in the post along with another couple of books I have set aside for her.

Journal Entry 4 by rem_XGD-219596 on Friday, January 28, 2005
Received from Kleptokitty at Reading Meet last night. Thanks. -- coolboxuk

Journal Entry 5 by rem_XGD-219596 on Friday, February 25, 2005
I really did enjoy this. It's truly fantasy, set in contemporary America, and it evokes every myth and legend that's ever been told under the sun -- and then some..., combined with a sort of murder mystery. It's all very fantastic, sometimes confusing, but all comes together eventually and almost makes sense!

Now off to Quimp in Holland... Enjoy!

Journal Entry 6 by Qimp from Deventer, Overijssel Netherlands on Wednesday, March 16, 2005
American Gods arrived safely in Culemborg! I'm looking forward to reading this book. Thank you coolboxuk for sending it all the way to the Netherlands and thanks Kleptokitty for the trade! I saw you turned 'The trick of it' into a bookring. Wonderful!

Journal Entry 7 by Qimp from Deventer, Overijssel Netherlands on Tuesday, August 23, 2005
This book wasn't quite what I expected, but it turned out to be a very nice read. Great story with an unexpected turn near the end. I had a lot of fun finding out who all the mythological figures from the book are.

The Gods are on their way to nice-cup-of-tea as part of a trade. I hope you will enjoy reading it!

Journal Entry 8 by nice-cup-of-tea from Zürich, Zürich Switzerland on Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Just received this trade in the post today from Qimp - thank you very much :-)

Journal Entry 9 by nice-cup-of-tea from Zürich, Zürich Switzerland on Friday, April 7, 2006
A truly wonderful book, with hints of Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, Paul Auster. Definitely a book which will be re-read by me! I loved the central idea - that our beliefs 'create' gods. Some really interesting ideas. Below some of my favourite quotes

p. 148
"....there are new gods growing in America, clinging to growing knots of belief: gods of creditcards and freeway, of internet and telephone, or radio and hospital and television, gods of plastic and of beeper and of neon. Proudn gods, fat and foolish creatures, puffed up with their own newness and importance."

p.271
"What I say is, a town isn't a town without a bookstore. It may call itself a town, but unless it's got a bookstore, it knows it's not fooling a soul."

p.345
"No man, proclaimed Donne, is an island, and he was wrong. Uf we were not islands, we would be lost, drowned in each other's tragedies. We are insulated (a word that means, literally, rememer,made into an island) from the tragedy of other, by our island nature, and by the repetitive shape and form of the sotires. The shape does not change: there was a human being who was born, lived, and then, by some means or other, died. There. You may fill in the gaps from your own experience. As unoriginal as any other tale, as unique as any other life."

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