Gaiman, Neil: Anansi Boys
Anansi Boys (2005)
Written by: Neil Gaiman
Genre: Modern Fantasy
Pages: 336 (Hardcover)
Why I Read It: The only reason I bought this book was not too awful long after it came out, I found it on super-sale at Barnes & Noble, at something like 50% off. I couldn't resist a 50% new release hardcover, so even though I was leery of this particular book, I bought it, and let it languish in my TBR ever since. I finally pulled it out of the stack because it was nominated for the Alphabet Soup book club, and while it lost the vote, I decided that as long as I was in the mood, I might as well give it a go.
The premise: ganked from publisher's website: God is dead. Meet the kids.
When Fat Charlie's dad named something, it stuck. Like calling Fat Charlie "Fat Charlie." Even now, twenty years later, Charlie Nancy can't shake that name, one of the many embarrassing "gifts" his father bestowed -- before he dropped dead on a karaoke stage and ruined Fat Charlie's life.
Mr. Nancy left Fat Charlie things. Things like the tall, good-looking stranger who appears on Charlie's doorstep, who appears to be the brother he never knew. A brother as different from Charlie as night is from day, a brother who's going to show Charlie how to lighten up and have a little fun ... just like Dear Old Dad. And all of a sudden, life starts getting very interesting for Fat Charlie.
Because, you see, Charlie's dad wasn't just any dad. He was Anansi, a trickster god, the spider-god. Anansi is the spirit of rebellion, able to overturn the social order, create wealth out of thin air, and baffle the devil. Some said he could cheat even Death himself.
Spoilers, yay or nay?: Nay. It's such a fun book to read that I don't want to spoil any surprises, so feel free to keep reading.
To be fair, I should note that I was rather dreading this book. My track record with Neil Gaiman is 50/50. I loved American Gods and The Sandman comic book series, but his short stories tend to leave me cold, and I've come to the conclusion that more often than not, Gaiman's ideas trump execution, and the stories rarely resolve in a way that's remotely satisfying, even if technically-speaking, they're written well. Also? I didn't care for his joint effort with Terry Pratchett, Good Omens. I know, I know… that's sacrilege.
At any rate, I'd heard so many people express disappointment with Anansi Boys, the supposed sequel to American Gods, that I doubted I would ever really get around to reading it. Until two things happened: one, another reviewer pointed out that this is a very different style and tone of book, and for me, knowing something like that ahead of time is half the battle. The other thing was that I read an interview with Gaiman where he explains that Anansi Boys isn't a sequel to American Gods. Rather, he had a character that he needed for American Gods and borrowed said character from Anansi Boys. The kicker? He just hadn't written Anansi Boys yet.
So with those two things in mind, I felt I could probably settle down and read Anansi Boys with proper expectations.
Right away, I was charmed. It's funny, because in Gabrielle Zevin's All These Things I've Done, I complained about there being a table of contents for each chapter heading, which spoiled the book. Gaiman does the same thing, only his aren't spoilers and one can't really guess the shape of the narrative based on the table of contents. Don't get me wrong, I still think it's useless to have in a novel, but at least if you're going to do it, THIS is how you're going to do it.
Right away, I was caught up in the charisma of the characters. Charlie's dad, Spider, and finally Charlie. There are certain plot devices at work in this story that tend to make me irritable and grumpy, only here, they work well, and I think that's because there's a sense of comedy to this book, a sense of the absurd, but it's sincerely absurd, and it's balanced too by the fact that the characters instigating these irritations aren't evil and actually kind of feel bad for their actions. That's a great thing, taking a potentially unsympathetic character and making said character sympathetic, and it all boils down to charm.
Then, of course, there's revelations that are simply delightful to discover. I don't want to give anything away, but the true nature of Charlie and Spider's relationship is just awesome, and I love how each character grows into becoming something like his own man, how each man's goal ends up being finding a kind of happiness with himself and in the relationships that connect him to the world.
I loved the old women in Florida, and I really, really just enjoyed the narrative voice of the book. Fun, tongue-in-cheek, with just the right sense of when to push and when to pull back when it came to the fantastic or absurd. The nod to Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis on page 200 was especially a hoot.
My Rating: Excellent
There's really not a whole lot I can say about this book, other than I enjoyed it tremendously, which is not something I say often about Neil Gaiman's work. It's most definitely NOT a sequel to American Gods, so if that's what you're looking for, put it out of your head. It's also something of a comedic novel, with a sense of humor that's very tongue-in-cheek, and the narrative holds quite a bit of charisma that makes reading Anansi Boys an enjoyable experience. I love how the various plot threads all come together and how the various plots end up resolving themselves, because while some things I could see coming, I did get so engaged that I started questioning how the book would end, and that can be fun, especially in a book that has a comedic touch. You'll be good to go as long as you approach this expecting something lighthearted, as long as you KNOW this is NOT a sequel to American Gods and therefore don't make any unfair comparisons. It took me a long time to get around to reading this, but I'm glad I waited. My expectations were set just right, and I had a grand ole time with the book.
Cover Commentary: The original cover (seen at top) is all well and good, nothing too eye-catching, though I like the spider-web in the night sky. The mass market cover (behind the cut) captures the sense of the book a little better, but it doesn't grab my eye either in terms of inspiring cover-art drool. Yet, when your name is Neil Gaiman, I guess you don't need shiny, happy covers to sell books -- the name does it all.
Next up: Delirium's Party: A Little Endless Storybook by Jill Thompson