RE: Anansi Boys By: Neil Gaiman
A Book that I Just Finished
From: Travis
July 8, 2020
I will say off the top, that if you are coming into Anansi Boys expecting a continuation of American Gods ... that's not really what this is. For sure, Mr Nancy is shared between the books, but Shadow Moon and Mr Wednesday are not to be found, and in fact, this book (unsurprisingly, I suppose) focuses pretty directly on Anansi's Boys.
Whereas American Gods was more in the traditions of the epic tales of Norse mythology this (unsurprisingly, I suppose) is squarely in the style of an Anansi Story; more of a fable, a campfire story. Whereas American Gods was populated with Odin and Chernobog and Leprechauns and Kobolds, here you will find characters like Spider, Tiger, the Bird Woman. The effect, for me at least, was a story that felt more lighthearted, though no less mystical and dream-logical than its predecessor. What I found more often than not, was that I caught myself smiling, enjoying the author playing with the style, juggling the narrative, making inside jokes in-between tropes.
I never really felt the same kind of stall-out I found in American Gods - and maybe that is due to being more familiar with Gaiman's work in general - though there is still a decently-sized cast of characters that also start out decently far apart, narratively speaking, and end up swept together by the events of the book - though maybe not quite as cathartically as in American Gods.
Small personal note: (to risk spoiling it) maybe the running gag I laughed at most was after Fat Charlie's arrival in the islands, upon receiving a lime from a taxi driver as proof that they grew there, he is thereafter known as the guy with the lime... and always asked to show and tell.
Again, perhaps owing to the fable styling of the book, it doesn't really feel like there are many big twists -- tricks to be sure, but just like hearing any other campfire story, you probably could've more or less guessed the end from the beginning -- a trickster like Anansi might get himself into trouble, but always seems to know how to trick himself right back out.
Anyway, again, if you're a Gaiman fan, or a mythology fan, a strong recommendation from me; maybe even as a chaser for American Gods.