Neil Gaiman's AMERICAN GODS

Book review by Dennis D. McDonald

I finished reading Neil Gaiman’s Hugo-winning novel AMERICAN GODS in between shoveling snow and decorating for Christmas. It’s a good but long read.

Gaiman has a wonderful feel for character and mood. He’s sustains interest in the introverted, private main character “Shadow” for over 500 pages by concentrating on the images, people, and places that Shadow experiences as he travels around America to unusual or out of the way locations. Gaiman also ties up loose ends at the end which, even though it makes the novel longer than necessary, also makes a great deal of sense.

It’s interesting to speculate who would be a good director for a movie version of this eerie novel that artfully combines elements of mystery, suspense, fantasy, horror, and road trip. A key to success will be the ability to sustain mood. A possibility would be Steven Soderbergh whose unevenly-received Solaris maintains a romantic but spooky mood throughout.

Review copyright (c) 2006 by Dennis D. McDonald