Anansi Boys was my first Neil Gaiman novel. I think I'll have to read more when I get the chance. I just really liked this book, it was so good and quirky (is that the appropriate word? Oh well.) and the characters were so well developed. Like, I was totally sure that Spider was just a douche bag but then he wasn't. He ended up being one of my favorite characters.
I loved the folklore of the story, with the gods being animals and people at the same time. I also liked how the gods weren't portrayed as these perfect beings that can do no wrong; instead they were portrayed more like the Greek gods in that they behaved more like humans. They make mistakes and act selfishly and get jealous. At times I forgot that Spider was actually a god until he used his powers.
I actually knew that the characters were black beforehand, but I think that if I didn't know I could have figured it out anyway. The way the characters talked just made it seem like they were black.
I did feel that the ending was a little cheesy though. It was just all "Yay everyone's happy and alive and we're all friends now yaaay!" I don't know, it seemed just a little contrived. It's not like I wanted everyone to die, but I felt like at least the Bird Lady deserved more than what she got. I did get a chuckle out of Tiger and Grahm Coats' "punishment".
Speaking of the Bird Lady, she terrified me. The image I got in my mind of her is just so creepy and unnerving, and after I finished the book I actually looked out for birds in real life. The bird tornadoes were especially creepy.
The three seemingly seperate plots coming together in the end worked very well. I knew that they had to come together somehow, but it happened so seamlessly and perfectly. Maeve and Grahm Coats and Spider and Charlie and Rosie all ended up playing an important part in the climax, which was awesome. When Tiger took over Grahm Coats I was all "Oh shit oh shit oh shit."
Wow this post was really ADD. But I really liked the book and wanted to cover all the parts I liked most. So far this is my favorite book we've read in this class.
