Alright, let me say one thing first: I LOVE Norse Mythology. I think it is the best mythology of all and it's a shame it isn't as widely known as the others.
Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about American Gods by Neil Gaiman.
Synopsis
We are introduced to Shadow, a convict who is soon to be released from prison. He is going to be with his wife, Laura, and has a job waiting for him with his best friend, Robbie. All seems well in his perfect world.
That is, until, Laura is killed in a car accident. Because of this, Shadow is released early to attend the funeral. On the plane ride, he is seated next to a man named Mr. Wednesday, a con-man who seems to know a lot about Shadow, despite this being their first meeting. Mr. Wednesday offers Shadow a job as his bodyguard and escort while he does his affairs which Shadow initially refuses at first, but when he learns that Robbie was killed in the same accident as Laura. Shadow initially thinks that Robbie was drunk while driving. This isn't the case, however.
At the funeral, Shadow learns from Robbie's wife, Audrey, that Laura and Robbie had both died while Laura was giving oral sex to Robbie. This greatly hurts Shadow but he refuses to show his pain. However, later during the night, Laura comes to him, not as a ghost, but as just a person walking around who looks like everyone else, but is just dead. She explains to Shadow that while she was waiting for Shadow, she began to feel more and more lonely which led to her having an affair with Robbie. This was only short term because she broke it off when Shadow's release date neared. They spent one day together again, mostly partying and celebrating Shadow's return. Laura was drunk and when she went to give Robbie oral sex, she accidently bumped the gears and caused the accident. Laura leaves and Shadow is left alone once again.
Shadow follows Mr. Wednesday around the United States and meets with many interesting characters. The entire time, Mr. Wednesday seems to be pursued by many other characters. Soon enough, however, Mr. Wednesday takes Shadow to a "spiritual place" and it is there that Mr. Wednesday reveals the truth about himself, which was hinted at several points in the book: Mr. Wednesday is actual the Norse God Odin. Gods are real and still live among humans. However, they slowly grew weaker as fewer and fewer people paid them homage. Soon, they began to be replaced by the New Gods, such as money, the media and television to name a few. Mr. Wednesday knows this and wishes to rally the other gods (the Egyptian, African, Hindu and such make their appearances here) to fight against the New Gods, who are slowly taking them out. However, the Old Gods refuse to do so, seeing no point. The meeting ends without getting anywhere.
Shadow is sent to a town called Lakeside where he can stay for a while. While here, Shadow is visited again by Laura who tells him the reason why she went to Robbie: Robbie seemed more alive than Shadow was. She explains that whenever she walked into a darkened room, she would often think no one was in there. It was only until after she turned on the lights that she would notice that Shadow was in the room. In short, Shadow had no ambition and no reason to do anything. This leaves Shadow thinking about his life.
Soon enough, though, Mr. Wednesday is shot and killed by the New Gods. This sparks the Old Gods into action as both sides into action. During this, however, Shadow promises to hold vigil over his body, which means hanging him under the boughs of the World Tree for nine days. During this time, he walks through the Underworld and witnesses events in his life. He realizes that Mr. Wednesday is actually his father. His heart is then weighed upon the scale by Thoth and Anubis and he dies.
Laura is alive though, having been granted a second chance after drinking from Urd's Well, though it is only temporary. She manages to meet Mr. Town, one of the New Gods, who was tasked by Mr. World, the leader of the New Gods, to take a branch from the World Tree to him. After killing Mr. Town, Laura goes to Mr. World and manages to kill him by stabbing the branch through herself while Mr. World is behind her.
Though he is technically dead, he is able to talk to one of the Native American gods, who is refusing to fight. Shadow then realizes the truth: the war's only purpose is to feed the hunger of Mr. Wednesday, who is also the God of War. He also realizes the Mr. World is actually Loki, the Norse trickster god, who will feed on the chaos the war will bring. After being brought back to life by the goddess Easter, he manages to convince all the gods the truth of the Mr. Wednesday and Loki. The war ends before it begins. Shadow has one final chat with the spirit of Mr. Wednesday before he fades for good. Shadow also says his final farewells to Laura before she dies, leaving on good terms.
Later, Shadow is in Iceland, finally living life to the fullest, where he meets Odin. Odin explains that Mr. Wednesday was the version of Odin that the Norse vikings and settlers brought with them when they arrived in America. As a farewell gift, Shadow gives Odin Mr. Wednesday's glass eye, who keeps it as a keepsake. Shadow then goes to travel to some other land.
Analysis
This book may not seem like much at first, but it is just filled with a complex and intriguing tale that will grip you. There are actually more stories than the one I summarized. These digressions tell a different tale, some about the demigods and creatures in mythology, such as the Succubus and the Genie, and other about how some gods came to America. The other story is about how a Kobold is actually running the town of Lakeside, but as he protects the town from the outside, each year he has to kill a teenager. Shadow does find out about this and the kobold is killed, though whether the kobold planned this or not is debatable.
Shadow is such a likable fellow. You can't help but feel for him when he learns his wife, who he loved, had cheated on him. I felt so badly for him that I actually felt my chest just ping with pain everytime Laura brings up the fact that she cheated on him.
I was really impressed by the characterization of the gods because it just seemed to fit. They were all characterized in such a way that I could see them in front of me. When Odin is characterized as a con-man, I just thought "oh yeah, that is so him."
One thing that put me off a little was the amount of sexuality in this story. One of the first digressions involves a Succubus who is a prostitute. While she is having sex with a man, she swallows the man up through her vagina. I had to read that passage around 10 times cause I couldn't believe it. Then there was the muslim man having gay sex with a genie. These things will put you off a little but soon, you get used to it and actually look past this and think about what Gaiman is actually saying here or what he's trying to say.
The main theme is that America is a bad place for gods. All gods eventually are forgotten and replaced by newer gods who are in turn replaced again. It is revealed that when a god is completely forgotten by everyone, they die. It is actually very sad when you think about it and that is just one of the things that draws you in.
An astounding book and well worth the read. Everyone should read it when they can cause they will feel different after they read it.
Cheers.
