Despite his three-year residency as a prisoner, there is not much that can be said for Shadow. He has a quiet kindness, unassuming resilience, and enduring loyalty, but that is about it. While he is lovable, he is a bland, forgetful protagonist with nothing going for him except some coin tricks. But it is his blandness acts as a canvas for the other characters to shine. As the book winds through America, Shadow meets a number of strange and unique characters. Some of them are filled with a weary resignation at their misfortune, others have a poisonous selfishness, and others have a spark of life brightening up the dilapidated settings. Each character that Shadow meets is more interesting than him in one way or another, but he acts as a blank canvas allowing others to shine. Like a shadow, he has very little presence in his own book, but he is necessary to give others definition.
American Gods has been hailed as a kind of cult-classic, winning numerous awards. This doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good book. As many readers know, award-winning books tend to be slow and introspective with a monotonous narrator and plot. While this book falls into some of these pitfalls, it still manages to be a great read.
First off, the book is SLOW. It meanders through the American Midwest visiting forgotten roadside attractions, quiet small towns, and an overlooked morgue. While the book’s pacing can speed up and slow down, Neil Gaiman’s calming monotonous voice prevents the book from feeling any faster. The plot is often interrupted by a short story of immigrant or god recently arriving in America. All of this culminates in a book meant to be read on vacation or over a long period of time. It does not have the compelling writing to keep you attached to the book for hours on end and attempting to cram the book in one night will result an all-around bad time.
However, the painstaking pacing allows for a slowly unfolding mystery and an introspective look at America and the gods it worships. As previously mentioned, Shadow travels all around the country visiting a host of unique and strange characters.
All of these characters, gods and humans alike, are more interesting than our main protagonist. Some of the humans bring a unique perspective to the book or a particular atmosphere to one of Neil Gaiman’s expertly crafted settings. The gods and mythical creatures come from a truly stunning variety of cultures. There are Norse, Hindu and Egyptian gods along with djinns, pixies, and dwarves from around the world. Some seek to guide Shadow, others are resigned to their hopeless decrepit lives, and other are arrogantly determined to believe that they are the future, but all of them come to realize that American is not a good place for gods.
American people forget about the myths they brought from their homeland and trade for new gods like Railroads, Media, Television only to abandon them for the next new craze. It is a unique and interesting take on the gods-walking-among-us genre that makes for an enjoyably introspective book.
I give this 742 page book 4.5 stars.