American Gods

So I just finished reading on of the best books I have read in a long time. I actually find it really hard to review these kinds of books for a few reasons. I am not a writer first and foremost, and I never intend to be. those who cant write- read. That's my motto. My blog has always just been about me and my love of books:)

Second of all, I could never do this book any justice, it was really remarkable.
and last but not least, this week, I'm PUPPY-sitting. It's pretty entertaining. I've never had to watch more than one dog at a time and i find myself regularly doing headcounts, trying to give them each enough snuggle time, and going on tons and tons of walks ( and trying to figure out which way the puppy harness goes). there are three small dogs and one 10 week old staffy-X pup. Never a dull moment here. My plan is to power through a few books and take a little vacay- time away from everything- as I am house-sitting as well. So it's really just me, and the books, and the dogs, so we'll see how it goes... they do have Telus Optik TV so I may get distracted!

Anyways, Back to the book!

American Gods- Neil Gaiman

Paperback, 592 pages
Published September 1st 2003 by Harper Perennial

GoodReads Summary:
American Gods is Neil Gaiman's best and most ambitious novel yet, a scary, strange, and hallucinogenic road-trip story wrapped around a deep examination of the American spirit. Gaiman tackles everything from the onslaught of the information age to the meaning of death, but he doesn't sacrifice the razor-sharp plotting and narrative style he's been delivering since his Sandman days.
Shadow gets out of prison early when his wife is killed in a car crash. At a loss, he takes up with a mysterious character called Wednesday, who is much more than he appears. In fact, Wednesday is an old god, once known as Odin the All-father, who is roaming America rounding up his forgotten fellows in preparation for an epic battle against the upstart deities of the Internet, credit cards, television, and all that is wired. Shadow agrees to help Wednesday, and they whirl through a psycho-spiritual storm that becomes all too real in its manifestations. For instance, Shadow's dead wife Laura keeps showing up, and not just as a ghost--the difficulty of their continuing relationship is by turns grim and darkly funny, just like the rest of the book.

Armed only with some coin tricks and a sense of purpose, Shadow travels through, around, and underneath the visible surface of things, digging up all the powerful myths Americans brought with them in their journeys to this land as well as the ones that were already here. Shadow's road story is the heart of the novel, and it's here that Gaiman offers up the details that make this such a cinematic book--the distinctly American foods and diversions, the bizarre roadside attractions, the decrepit gods reduced to shell games and prostitution. "This is a bad land for Gods," says Shadow.

More than a tourist in America, but not a native, Neil Gaiman offers an outside-in and inside-out perspective on the soul and spirituality of the country--our obsessions with money and power, our jumbled religious heritage and its societal outcomes, and the millennial decisions we face about what's real and what's not. --Therese Littleton

After reading Good Omens I wasnt entirely sure I'd enjoy this one. However, since I decided to open my mind to the mythical, fictional literature this summer. This was a book that just had to be read. And it was amazing. Neil Gaiman's characters were so interesting and I loved how they developed. Shadow was such a great character, and although I liked him more in the beginning than the end, I loved the experience of going through his journey's and change of mind with him.

I recommend this book to anyone who just simply appreciates a good read.

I hand out my % star ratings on pretty much every book I merely loved, but this one is a solid ,solid 5.