American Gods

I never thought I have the time to read of late, what more if it’s Neil Gaiman’s works (author of the popular Sandman series & books such as Stardust). A writing assignment had me deciding to pick up a non-fiction book to brush up a bit of my writing skill.

The first few pages of American God made me curious if it was going to be an-all out fantasy story. And I’m only half-right. With the modern times and society as the backdrop, Gaiman did a good job of very subtly balancing the power of the new and old worlds. Unconsciously, as the protagonist Shadow made his way through a journey he never understood until much later, I felt a kind of heaviness the character felt in the story.

It has been a long time since I was that enthralled by a fiction work. Reading the expanded version made me impatiently, thumbing through some of the pages quickly just so I can read on what is going to happen to Shadow.

At the end of the reading journey, I found myself applauding quietly in my mind to Mr Gaiman for writing such an interesting work, and making my mind question of the ‘gods’ of the old and new. It’s hard to disagree that the gods of the new world have taken over us all: internet, television, media, etc. And that the ‘gods’ of the old have been conveniently side-stepped by man to make way for the new gods.

I concluded at the end of the reading that both ’gods’ are relevant to the modern people. The ‘old’ gods reminds us of our culture and heritage and the ’new’ gods enables us to progress forward in the modern time. There are some black sheep among these ‘gods’ that should be forgotten, like greed, money, pollution, etc.

If anyone out there who has time to kill and enjoys reading, go pick up a copy of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods.