A story about this — 3 years ago
Okay, I’m a Neil Gaiman nut, but it took me ages to read American Gods. And I think the book was overhyped to me. It really didn’t have the same appeal that Sandman did. Maybe part of my problem was listening to the audio version, which did not have great sound quality and the narrator was really awkward. He sounded like he should be reading with a corncob pipe in his mouth, which is fine for characters like Wednesday, Czernobog, and Hinzelmann, but terrible for Laura and makes it sound like your grandfather is reading you a lot of strange sex scenes. Blerg! On top of that, I really didn’t care for Shadow or for the in-between stories about how the gods came to inhabit America. The pace was just too slow and ponderous for me. Perhaps that’s what comes from reading too many comic books? :P
Comments
qtiplover
I can relate!
I totally agree with a lot of what you’re saying- the pacing for this book is just too damn slow! To me, Sandman explored a lot of themes this book did, but I thought Sandman was much more graceful and interesting. Characters would come and go almost randomly in American Gods, and I felt like very few of them were ever really developed. Also, I thought the plot went on too many tangents that, while well written, were too distracting from the core storyline. That’s not to say I hated this book. It contains moments of sheer brilliance. But for me, these moments were surrounded by boredom-inducing filler. If you are new to Gaiman you should read Sandman.
*P.S.- I did not listen to the audio version.
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