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summercampcrush's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
For context, I listened to the 10th Anniversary edition of the Authors Preferred Text, featuring a forward and postscript from Gaimen, as well as a bonus chapter. For being an audiobook that is more than 10 years old, it held up really well!
Characters:
Shadow, our protagonist, who is admittedly an odd duck. His blasé reaction to the escalating strangeness of his encounters throughout the book begs the question: who is this guy? We only get a few passages about his life before Laura, his wife. Nearly nothing about his upbringing or formative years. I felt like I kept waiting for the character to emerge from the stupor left in the wake of the untimely deaths of his wife and best friend (and the tangential fall out thereafter).
But Shadow was a pretty blank slate, an intentional decision, I’m sure. (Obviously, it’s Gaiman)His whole issue, his flaw, is that he hasn’t died, but he’s not truly living either. He seems to feel very little emotion for the first half of the book at least, only really allowing himself to break down once - after burying his wife, after revelations come to light at the funeral no less. It’s odd though, only until other characters frame this “not dead, not living” part of him as a problem, does he seem to start considering it a negative thing.
But in a way the way he seems to be sitting and watching the world like someone looking out from a living room window. Pretty passive? It’s weird, but in a way also zen as hell too, how he lets the world move around him like water around a stone.
As you can tell I can’t really puzzle him out. And neither can any of the other characters either. He’s smart, courageous, kind and humble. His motivations belies the desperation he barely acknowledges. Because, he still is, even with my careful reflection, still so, so hollow.
He’s a lone character though, remaining guarded to everyone who crosses his path. His internal dialogue is just as guarded, and often willfully in denial. It’s like he sees this crazy shit going on, and thinks ‘wow I’m more exhausted than I realized”
😐😑
Ultimately, it does give the book a rather bleak atmosphere throughout.
At least there are interesting intermissions from Shadow’s POV introducing us to some batshit insane Gods or breaking up the plot with historical accounts of how the Gods arrived to America. From crossing the land bridge to arriving as an enslaved child.
I found these asides enhanced the atmosphere of the book, it was also a refreshing way to step away from the main plot and recenter it rather seamlessly.
Writing and Story: I know I mentioned that I do appreciate when an Author doesn’t coddle the reader with ceaseless reference information to find all the answers just as quickly as possible. No hand holding, No easy payoff, no simple answers, especially the symbolic meanings or thematic elements.
The story is well crafted, simple in the way that it’s impressive to have happened. By that I mean, the story beats jump in bursts and starts, with characters seemingly staring down a barrel (literally and figuratively) with little warning more than a few times. And yet, it’s streamlined. Considered. Deliberate.
I enjoy writers like Neil Gaimen. Those that remind me of my favorite author, Richard Powers. Even though none of Powers books are my favorite (The Overstory does come close) - and I wouldn’t wish for a world where all the books I read are as much an experience in story as in language.
Moderate: Car accident, Confinement, Genocide, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Murder, Sexual content, and Slavery
Minor: Eating disorder, Infidelity, Colonisation, Murder, Racial slurs, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts
Historical vignettes throughout the book featuring victims of colonialism, enslavement. The N-word is used once early in the book; an inmate character says it in casual conversation. Really took me off guard. Minor/adult relationship refers to the “obviously underage” girl that Oden brings into his bed. There is a very unusual sex god worship scene that some people may find disturbing early in the book. I thought it was just unusual, but not upsetting.chronicacademia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Moderate: Genocide, Infidelity, Grief, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Gun violence, Sexism, Abandonment, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Colonisation, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Death, Cultural appropriation, Pregnancy, Suicide, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Violence, Racism, and War
dramagnu's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Minor: Death, War, Blood, Gore, Child death, Child abuse, Genocide, Murder, Slavery, Toxic friendship, and Violence
saturdayreaderinpink's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
General Thoughts
Favorite Quotes
“Something feels weird,” he told Laura. That wasn’t the first thing he said to her. The first thing was “I love you,” because it’s a good thing to say if you can mean it, and Shadow did.
Every hour wounds. The last one kills.—OLD SAYING
And finally, producing a half-rueful grin, he realized that most of all he wanted everything to be normal. He wanted never to have gone to prison, for Laura to still be alive, for none of this ever to have happened. “I’m afraid that’s not exactly an option, m’boy,” he thought to himself, in Wednesday’s gruff voice, and he nodded agreement. Not an option. You burned your bridges. So keep walking. Do your own time…
No man, proclaimed Donne, is an Island, and he was wrong.
She turns to pretty Marie and sees herself through Marie’s eyes, a black-skinned old woman, her face lined, her bony arm hanging limply by her side, her eyes the eyes of one who has seen her children fight in the trough for food from the dogs. She saw herself, and she knew then for the first time the revulsion and the fear the younger woman had for her.
Whiskey Jack reached out a hand the color of the red clay, and he touched Shadow’s face, gently. His irises were light brown banded with dark brown, and in that face those eyes seemed luminous. “Eyah,” he said. “It’s true. If you hunt the thunderbird you could bring your woman back. But she belongs to the wolf, in the dead places, not walking the land.” “How do you know?” asked Shadow. Whiskey Jack’s lips did not move. “What did the Buffalo tell you?” “To believe.” “Good advice. Are you going to follow it?” “Kind of. I guess.” They were talking without words, without mouths, without sound. Shadow wondered if, for the other two men in the room, they were standing, unmoving, for a heartbeat or for a fraction of a heartbeat. “When you find your tribe, come back and see me,” said Whiskey Jack. “I can help.” “I shall.”
The madman nodded. “Horus,” he said. “I am the falcon of the morning, the hawk of the afternoon. I am the sun. As you are the sun. And I know the true name of Ra. My mother told me.” “That’s great,” said Shadow, politely.
“I feed on death that is dedicated to me,” said Wednesday. “Like my death on the tree,” said Shadow. “That,” said Wednesday, “was special.”
Graphic: Car accident, Death, and Colonisation
Minor: Genocide and Adult/minor relationship
soph22's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Sexual content, Slavery, Body horror, Child abuse, Infidelity, Violence, Colonisation, Cursing, Kidnapping, Medical content, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Gore, Grief, Racism, Murder, and Blood
cstein's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Grief, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Confinement, and Death of parent
Moderate: Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Infidelity, Mental illness, Slavery, Torture, Racism, Racial slurs, and Colonisation
Minor: Cannibalism, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, and Incest
gracklewarp's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Colonisation, Drug use, Animal death, Classism, Murder, Alcohol, Child death, Racial slurs, Slavery, and Genocide
szote's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Child death, War, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Alcoholism, Body horror, Animal death, Addiction, Death, Genocide, Animal cruelty, Sexual content, Vomit, Racism, Gore, Infidelity, Suicide, Torture, Car accident, Gun violence, Murder, Rape, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts
leapyear_reader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, War, Murder, Child death, Physical abuse, Rape, Death, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Slavery, and Animal death
Moderate: Gore, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Grief, Genocide, and Vomit
Minor: Car accident and Miscarriage
madradstarchild's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Child death, War, Alcohol, Animal death, Death, and Violence
Minor: Blood, Cancer, Car accident, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug use, Excrement, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Vomit