American Gods

My night time reading in the last few weeks has been spent on "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman. I must admit I have mixed feelings about this book.

Soon after the book was first published in 2001 it received several awards. I chose to read "American Gods" encouraged by its many readers' positive comments and pretty high score in Amazon's website. Before I purchased it I noticed a comment that stated this was a book readers either loved or hated, but I disregarded the warning thinking the probability of liking it was higher than not.

Well, to be honest, after reading it all the way through I can say I started to like the book only after I had covered about 80% of it. I guess it was only then that I started to understand the plot, somehow, to see its meaning, some of its purpose. "American Gods" is a book that kept me wandering "what's Shadow - the main character - doing?", "why him?", "what's the purpose of the many characters he finds through his journey?". I was on the brink of putting the book down for many a good days, but my curiosity - or my stubbornness - made me keep on reading.

Readers well versed in mythology surely appreciated Gaiman's choice of god characters, role and even their names. Surely this is part of the fun I missed.

The book is plagued with unusual characters and situations, it certainly seems to me an original story (but that is maybe because I have not read enough fantasy novels to compare with) and I think it is well written (but since English is not my first language this is not a qualified opinion). All in all, I struggle to understand what makes people call this book a "master piece", "best book ever" or "impossible to put down". Let's see what those enthusiastic fans say when the  announced TV Series sees the light

Lessons learned? Sure, but those I keep for me.