Anansi Boys
I finished Neil Gaiman's latest, Anansi Boys, the other night. (It was a Christmas present.) Wow! I'm a BIG Neil Gaiman fan, and I was looking forward to this book ever since I found about it -- not that it has been hurriedly digested, sort of now waiting for more from him -- although I hear next out may be the late 2007 release of Beowulf. I started reading Gaiman back in the early 1990s, somewhere in the early issues of the Sandman. If you like his writing and aren't familiar with his early works, I highly recommend the series. Gaiman deals with his usual topics -- gods, myths and fantasy.
Anansi Boys picks up the Mr. Nancy character from American Gods, but quickly puts him aside, 6-feet under to be exact, to bring his sons, Fat Charlie and Spider, to center stage. Fat Charile and Spider discover each other after many years of separation -- Fat Charlie didn't even know Spider existed -- and have to come to grips with each other and the legacy of their father. Fat Charlie grew up in England after his mother left his father in Florida, and has more or less a normal, if rather embarrassing and sad life. Spider on the other hand, seems to have inherited powers from his father and lives in-the-now like a rock star. The only thing the brothers share in common is their bloodline. When Spider enters Fat Charlie's life, Fat Charlie's life goes from embarrassingly bad to worse. Thrown into the mix are travels to the beginning of the world; four old ladies from Florida that practice witchcraft with whatever is available; and another god that's out to get the brothers now that their father is out of the way.
Anansi Boys is imaginative and funny. Gaiman took one of the most beloved characters from African/West Indian myths, and brings him to life wonderfully. He managed to write Anansi Boys just as it would be told by Anansi himself.
Anansi, in myth is a god a trickery and wisdom. As a child, I used to read a lot of the myths from West Indies -- that's where I grew up. Brer Anansi's stories were the best. In the stories I read as a child, he never took the form of a man, but remained a spider. This novel took me back to my childhood a little -- and I enjoyed every minute of it.
Related reading:
"God is dead. Meet the kids."
Anansi Boys picks up the Mr. Nancy character from American Gods, but quickly puts him aside, 6-feet under to be exact, to bring his sons, Fat Charlie and Spider, to center stage. Fat Charile and Spider discover each other after many years of separation -- Fat Charlie didn't even know Spider existed -- and have to come to grips with each other and the legacy of their father. Fat Charlie grew up in England after his mother left his father in Florida, and has more or less a normal, if rather embarrassing and sad life. Spider on the other hand, seems to have inherited powers from his father and lives in-the-now like a rock star. The only thing the brothers share in common is their bloodline. When Spider enters Fat Charlie's life, Fat Charlie's life goes from embarrassingly bad to worse. Thrown into the mix are travels to the beginning of the world; four old ladies from Florida that practice witchcraft with whatever is available; and another god that's out to get the brothers now that their father is out of the way.
Anansi Boys is imaginative and funny. Gaiman took one of the most beloved characters from African/West Indian myths, and brings him to life wonderfully. He managed to write Anansi Boys just as it would be told by Anansi himself.
Anansi, in myth is a god a trickery and wisdom. As a child, I used to read a lot of the myths from West Indies -- that's where I grew up. Brer Anansi's stories were the best. In the stories I read as a child, he never took the form of a man, but remained a spider. This novel took me back to my childhood a little -- and I enjoyed every minute of it.
Related reading:
- Jamaica Anansi Stories -- as collected by Martha Warren Beckwith
- Anansi -- from Wikipedia
- Anancy Stories -- from a Jamaican's perspective
- Anansi Boys -- from Gaiman's site, including an excerpt
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