Neil Gaiman's book, American Gods, is rightfully considered one of the most interesting science fiction works written in the last fifty years! The writer does not just create another universe, which is a collaboration of mythological worlds invented by the folk genius of different countries, he expertly adapts the realities of ancient customs to the rules of existence in our world.
Thanks to an extraordinary concept, an interesting plot and a masterful play on words, the novel became a bestseller almost immediately after publication and has not lost its popularity for almost a couple of decades.
The success of the book "American Gods" allowed the writer to begin an independent literary career, quit his job on television, and also resign as a screenwriter in many projects uninteresting for him.
The work of Neil Gaiman was highly appreciated by literary critics and experts in the field of mythological knowledge. The writer received several prestigious awards and gained immense popularity among fans of science fiction and modern literature, which are based on legends and sagas of various ancient civilizations.
The full version of the book "American Gods" takes two volumes and several official additions, published separately by the writer, in the form of short stories. The action of which takes place in the same universe.
Writer
Neil Gaiman is a name known to every lover of serious and at the same time fascinating literature, written not for the sake of empty amusement, but for the so-called "pun," "literary leisure." The full name of the creative person is Neil Richard McKinnon Gaiman, but the writer prefers to use the first name and surname as a creative pseudonym.
In addition to a stunning literary career, Neil managed to become famous as a screenwriter, television writer, editor, critic, comic book author and science fiction specialist.
Perhaps his most famous works are: the book âAmerican Godsâ, the fairy tale âStardustâ, the children's thriller âCoralineâ, the series of short stories âThe Story with a Cemeteryâ, as well as the comic book series about the superhero named Sandman.
During his long literary career, the writer has repeatedly become the winner of a huge number of awards, prizes and prizes, such as Hugo, Nebula, Bram Stoker Prize and many others. Gaiman is also the holder of the Newbury medal.
Biography
The author of the book âAmerican Godsâ was born on November 10, 1960 in the UK, in the small industrial town of Portsmouth. When the young Nile was only five years old, his father decided to move the family to the village of East Ginsted, located far from the capital and rich regions of the country. Here, the parents of the future writer began to engage in religious activities at the center of Scientology. Later, Gaiman himself studied this religious movement a little, in particular, paying attention to Dianetics and political science.
Later in numerous interviews, Neil Gaiman, who wrote the book American Gods, repeatedly admitted that he was not a Scientologist himself and had never seriously studied the religion of his parents, but his family considered himself a full-fledged unit of the Scientology society.
early years
At the age of about twenty, Neil completed work on his debut work - a biography of the once popular band Duran Duran, but no one was interested in this work. At that time, Gaiman worked as a journalist in several local newspapers, interviewed prominent residents of the town, and also collaborated in correspondence with some British magazines.
In the late eighties of the last century, the writer published his first work in the genre of documentary novel, dedicated to the famous science fiction writer Douglas Adams and his popular book âThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxyâ.
Since the beginning of the nineties, Gaiman became a hired comic book creator, collaborating with several independent publishers.
In 1989, the writer creates his first famous comic book series Sandman, which tells of Morpheus - the personification of sleep in the form of a man, as well as his friends and amazing adventures.
By the mid-nineties of the last century, as part of the series, it was published:
- 75 volumes of comics;
- special author's issue;
- a collection of Neil Gaiman interviews entitled 1989-1996; the collection is devoted to the key points of work on the series;
- two drawn stories;
- documentary about the creation of the series.
All books about the Sandman universe are still very popular and are annually reprinted in impressive print runs.
In 1996, Neil Gaiman enlisted the support of his friend, science fiction writer Ed Kramer, and published the anthology Sandman: The Book of Dreams, which became a collection of stories by other authors in the universe created by the writer.
Literary career
Later, the writer collaborated with the creators of the comic strip Spawn, in particular, by developing several characters for the universe. Later, this collaboration resulted in lengthy lawsuits for Gaiman.
In 1997, the writer released the fairy tale Stardust, which won first place in the Mythopoetic Award. It was this work that brought Geiman worldwide fame, and also helped to start a career as a screenwriter.
Ten years after the publication of the fairy tale novel, a film was shot where the writer was involved as a screenwriter and chief consultant.
For a long time, the writer was involved in several projects as an editor and creator of various images and plot moves. Almost all the films made according to the script by Geiman were not screen versions of his works, with the exception of the mini-series âNever Afterâ, which became one of the few producer works of the writer.
Geyman's scripted career has several works:
- Doctor Who (two full-length episodes of the series).
- "Beowulf" (film directed by Robert Zemeckis).
- "Babylon 5" (one of the episodes of the series).
- "Mirror mask" (cartoon).
- "Coraline in Nightmare" (cartoon).
Composition
Neil Gaiman's book, âAmerican Gods,â gained worldwide popularity, primarily due to the authorâs masterful followings of the trends of multiculturalism. By mixing elements of ancient American culture, Scandinavian mythology, Eastern philosophical movements and English dogmatism in the universe of the book, the writer created a unique, from a literary point of view, story about a mysterious guy named Shadow.
In 2001, the first book of the American Gods series hit the shelves of used books stores and became a sensation in the world of science fiction literature lovers.
Due to the influence of multiculturalism of the novel and the presence in it of elements of mythology and culture of various peoples, readers leave only enthusiastic reviews about the book âAmerican Godsâ.
Most of the comments were left by readers on the forum of the writer's own website, on which Gaiman published daily reports on the progress of work on the novel, and also answered various questions. Even after the publication of the novel, the writer continued to communicate with readers through a network diary.
The writerâs site contains comprehensive detailed information about each of his works, in particular, there is a detailed description of the book âAmerican Godsâ. Such an online guide helps fans of the writer immediately find out all the necessary information about the work of Neil Gaiman.
Plot
The summary of the book "American Gods" is a retelling of the adventures of the protagonist - a guy named Shadow, who, by fate, ends up in prison. The narrative itself begins from the moment when Shadow is prematurely released from prison, in which he spent quite a long time, sharing a cell with the villain Loki Zlokozny. Loki had a lot to teach a young cellmate.
After his release, Shadow immediately goes home, but there he is sadly informed: his wife and best friend have died. Having lost relatives, the guy decides to become a hired bodyguard. Soon, luck smiles at him, and he becomes the guard of Mr. Environment, about whom practically nothing is known, except that he is incredibly rich and almost omnipotent.
After some time, the young guard realizes that Mr. Sreda is none other than the Scandinavian god Odin. Gradually, an amazing mythological world opens up for a young man, existing in parallel with real reality.
All characters of the book "American Gods" are actually references to ancient deities and heroes of legends of various peoples and tribes.
America has become a kind of home for the fictional entities of a wide variety of cultures and ideologies, with the gods of the Old Age sticking together, and the new, American gods of the new Age, want to seize complete domination of the world.
One, the patron and head of the old gods, is forced in the form of a fraudster and businessman to meet with various gods of the Old Age and gather from them an army that can repel new gods.
The full book âAmerican Godsâ consists of two parts, the first of which tells directly about the adventures of the Shadow and the massive Battle of the Gods, and the second consists of several short stories that take place in the universe described in the first part.
Gradually, Mr. Sreda begins to trust the young guard and often takes him with him on dangerous trips, during which Shadow meets Mr. Anansi, also known as the Black God, and a leprechaun named Swinny, who gives him a magic gold coin.
Despite Odinâs desire to restore justice and balance of magical powers throughout the world, not all gods agree to join his army. Many of them see the new friend of the Scandinavian god as a threat to their former existence, and kidnap the Shadow with the help of mysterious people in black.
The content of the book âAmerican Godsâ is based not only on a combination of the most diverse elements from vibrant folk cultures, but also on the dogma of the confrontation between Old and New, Good and Evil, Modernity and Antiquity, in which the old and the archaic seem good to us, and everything is new, the progressive only brings spirituality and destruction to the hearts of people.
The old gods for a long time tried to restrain the onslaught of the younger generation, but, unfortunately, they constantly lost to the nascent rule of progress. Young gods were more successful, quicker, seized huge spheres of influence and gradually replaced ancient deities from their homes, preferring to turn sacred places into office centers, marketing halls and fitness fitness bars.
That is why the new gods are so radically opposed to the old ones, since the latterâs final coming to power will be the end of progress, development and the technogenic era, which is why the old gods also prevent Odin from accepting the Shadow, which, in their opinion, is the new god.
The young guard is saved by the goddess Laura, who has risen from the dead. She helps Shadows take refuge in an abandoned funeral home in Illinois, but later the young man manages to hide in the city of Priozerye and start a new life there under the name Mike Ainsel.
By the way, the writer is especially strong in describing friendships. Reviews of the book âAmerican Godsâ often contain praise for Neil Gaiman, who masterfully described the ânew lifeâ of Shadows in Priozerye, was able to masterfully think through the dialogues and show the reader the very process of creating friendship between the inhabitants of this small town and an alien from Illinois. It is here that Shadow begins the simple life of a respectable citizen, making himself the same simple friends - the chatty old man Hintselman and police officer Chad Mulligan. Sometimes a guy travels around the country with Mr. Wednesday and arranges various meetings with the heroes of English and American folklore.
The young man also observes the supposedly quiet life of Priozerye and soon finds out that every year one child disappears in the city. The time of one Shadow trip with Mr. Sreda coincides with the time of the abduction of a little girl, and the guy is sent to jail until the circumstances are clarified.
In prison, the guy almost constantly watches TV, on which there is a continuous political debate between the old and new gods. During one of these events, Mr. Wednesday is killed, and the old gods begin to actively prepare for war.
Reviews of the book "American Gods" often contain references to the war, which in the books of Gaiman appears not as an ordinary mass brawl, but as a generational conflict that develops into a conflict of eras. Readers especially like the fact that the writer seems to force them to make their own choices.
Mr. Nancy and Chernobog acknowledge their mistake and help Shadows get out of prison and hide in a safe direction.
Saddened by the death of the All-Father, the Shadow decides to hang himself on the World Tree and, like Odin, sag there for nine days and nine nights.
During a religious trance, Shadow witnesses the future and the past and realizes that the death of Odin was arranged by Loki Zlokozny and the All-Father himself, so that Odin would gain truly incredible power. The death of the gods in the internecine war would revive Odin and give him all the powers of the deities who died.
Shadow gathers his friends and goes to rock city to prevent the battle of the gods, revealing to them all the plan of the All-Father. During a brawl, Laura manages to kill Loki with an ash tree, which she broke off from the World Tree.
Neil Gaimanâs book âAmerican Godsâ is also an excellent detective story, because the mystery about the disappearance of children has not been solved ... Or not?
After the battle of the gods, the Shadow begins to overcome strange doubts and guesses about the old man Hintselman. A guy comes to the city and searches Hintselmanâs car, in which he finds the body of a missing child.
The old manâs car is on the ice, and the Shadow does not notice how it falls under the ice of the lake, where a cache of corpses of countless children stored in cars is discovered. It becomes difficult to breathe, it is not possible to return to the surface of the lake: the guy is fettered by an ice sheet.
The young man almost suffocates in icy water, but Hinzelman saves him and admits that he is a kobold - a creature that protects the city from troubles and takes one child every year.
Why are there so many positive reviews about American Gods? Maybe because this book is primarily about good and evil? Maybe because this story tells about the fate of the gods? Yes, even if they are deities, they live among people and feel like people; worry like people; think like people ...
How did the book "American Gods" end? The plot created by the writer leaves the reader in thought and conjecture regarding the fate of the protagonist.
After completing the task assigned to him, the Shadow decides to end his life and comes to Chernobog for death, but the black god frees him, and the young man goes to Iceland to talk with the forefather Odin and give him two relics - a leprechaun coin and the glass eye of Mr. Wednesday.
In the finale of the book, Shadow just walks away from Odin without looking back.
Continuation
Four years after the publication of the original novel, the writer returns with a long-awaited sequel, describing the adventures of the new gods, as well as the adventures of the protagonist.
The novel âThe Anansi Children,â published by Neil Gaiman in 2005, was not a direct continuation of the saga, but was based on quotes from the book âAmerican Godsâ.
The work tells about the fate of the dark God Anansi and his children, who became new members of the collection of new gods.
In June 2011, during one of the interviews, the writer admitted that since 2001 he has hatched the idea of ââcontinuing the novel, on which he began work when he was writing the first part. No details were disclosed, but Neil Gaiman made several hints about the content of the future book, the plot of which is likely to focus around the new gods.
In 2016, the writer published a small collection, which fans of Neil Gaiman's work considered an unofficial continuation of the book "American Gods." The compilation consists of two tales: âLord of the Mountain Valleyâ and âBlack Dogâ. Both works were repeatedly reprinted as part of other collections of works by the writer.
Some fans of the writerâs universe find numerous references to the world of the novel in his subsequent works. Gaiman himself does not confirm, but does not refute this information.
Awards
The content of the book "American Gods" greatly excited the reading public. The book published in 2001 the very next year, 2002, received a large number of awards and prizes. By the way, some of them had never before been handed to writers who published works written in the genre of science fiction.
In 2002, the book was recognized as the âBest Work of 2002â by Locus Magazine. SFX nominated the novel âBook of the Year,â while the domestic print publication, Fantastic World, recognized the novel as âThe Product of the Decade.â
The writer also received the main prize of the famous Hugo Prize, whose laureates are authors writing books for children, and the Nebula Prize, an outstanding word masters working in the genre of modern space fantasy.
Film adaptation
Reviews of Gaiman's book "American Gods" interested many filmmakers and producers from the world of show business. In 2013, the writer sold the rights to the film adaptation of the book to HBO, whose plans were to release a series of six seasons (approximately 60-80 episodes with a duration of 60 minutes each). Representatives of the channel said that the first two seasons will be a film adaptation of the writerâs work, and the remaining four will be the official continuation of the book, developed in collaboration with the author of the original universe.
At the end of 2013, Neil Gaiman said that due to unforeseen circumstances, HBO refused to produce the series, and in the future the project will be developed by FremantleMedia, which not only bought the rights to the full screen version of the work, but also prepared a special team of scriptwriters for the full Recycling existing outline scripts.
In July 2014, the project passed under the auspices of Starz media hosting, whose leadership appointed the legendary Brian Fuller, who was once the exclusive producer of the Hannibal series, responsible for launching the project.
After three years of hard work, the first season of American Gods was released, consisting of eight episodes lasting 60-70 minutes each.
The writer himself was satisfied with the series and signed several contracts for further cooperation with the channel and the adaptation of his remaining works for the format of the television series.
Reviews
Since the publication of the work, readers have left mostly positive reviews about Neil Gaiman's book âAmerican Godsâ.
First of all, the writer managed to captivate readers with an interesting story, containing a huge number of historical, cultural and literary references not only to ancient sagas, myths and legends, but also to other literary works, as well as to real events.
Secondly, many of those who took the book several hours of their lives liked the style of writing it. Indeed, Gaimanâs language is very specific, diverse in style, at the same time highly artistic and pseudo-documentary, which immediately captivates the reader and gives him a sense of reality described, a sense of involvement in the conflict and the experiences of the main characters.
Thirdly, the plot of the book "American Gods" is very original. It is safe to say that nothing like this has happened in modern literature. Gaiman not only created a completely new, logically substantiated concept of the interaction of worlds, but also correctly, interestingly described it, turning it into a unique science fiction novel, which is not only a book for interesting reading, but also an informative âtextbook of lifeâ.
Fourthly, multiculturalism and tolerance of Gaiman as a writer became the guarantor of his success in America and the countries of Europe. The humanity shown by the writer of society has become a kind of personification of world humanism and the mysterious nature of each of the people.
That is why the writer's books are so appreciated by a thinking society.