I’m well on my way toward completing my two challenges way ahead of schedule : Spring Reading Thing 2010 and Once Upon A Time IV. Anansi Boys is my fourth book in a list of five.
Author : Neil Gaiman
First Edition’s Publication Date : January 1, 2005
First Edition’s Publisher : Harper Collins
This Edition’s Publication Date : January 22, 2008 (Paperback)
This Edition’s Publisher : Harper Perennial
ISBN-10: 0061342394
ISBN-13: 978-0061342394
No. of pages : 368
The Story :
Fat Charlie’s (who really isn’t fat) humdrum, safe, comfortable life goes out of whack the moment he learns of his embarrassing father turning up his toes on a karaoke stage. Charlie Nancy had no idea his father was a god; neither the fact that he had a twin. Now brother Spider, the hip, dashing, cool side of the family has turned up to say hello and is determined to stay. Problem is, Spider has Charlie’s fiance all starry eyed with him and his boss, seething with murderous revenge.
Charlie just wants Spider to go away. So he dabbles in some magic which backfires on them both. Now, Spider and Charlie have to face the consequences and dredge their strengths from within.
The Review :
I have never read a Neil Gaiman novel before… I mean one where he is the sole writer. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch was from a Gaiman-Pratchett tandem so I couldn’t tell where Gaiman was or Pratchett began as I’ve never read a Terry Pratchett either. Now, I understand all the hype about Neil Gaiman. He is an original, if not a very good mish-mash of perhaps a lot of influences, who had morphed into a writer altogether of his own kind. He has a unique way of writing which marries well with his peculiar imagination.
With Anansi Boys, Gaiman takes the Caribbean folk god, Anansi and weaves his own creative legend around Anansi’s two sons. The premise is simple, that of a man coming to terms with his lineage. But Gaiman is a writer who is anything but simple. So the fundamental premise is layered with lots of other threads: sibling rivalry, filial love, forgiveness, dualism, and self-actualization.
Gaiman here is not given to being serious, though. His writing imposes a lot of humor, levity, charm, quirkiness and of course that bit of surrealism that, I think, marks his style. Part of his forte here is his characters who he fashions into people we can like or at least pay sustained attention to. You may not identify with them but somehow he can make them interesting in their own way. Take his lead, Fat Charlie, who is something like a push-over, rather passive and calm, painted as boring and yet you get to like him for what he is and how he is developed. Even the cantankerous mom-in-law-to-be is an amusing figure who will, strangely, get on your good side as well.
To Read Or Not To Read :
Anansi Boys is strange and funny at the same time, but I suspect, with the author’s piles of accolades, this is isn’t the best of his work. Perhaps I should get hold of more of his novels to experience him at his best. But as an introduction to him, Anansi Boys doesn’t fail him, although it may not effectively goad some new readers to shell out for another one of his novels, unless they can tell from the book that the author has a lot more to offer.
Although this seems like a YA novel, the youngest readers who would probably appreciate this book fully would be in their late teens. The more mature, the better of course because of a bit of complexity in Gaiman’s concepts and writing style.
On the whole, Anansi Boys is a rather enjoyable book. Just be in the mood for some eccentricity and you’ll have a nice solo time with this one.
My Mark : Very Good
May 3, 2010 at 8:09 am
Hi, Jo! I’ve “read” this one. (I used quotation marks because I actually listened to the audio book, so I feel it’s not technically reading.)
I loved Anansi Boys! It works on so many levels. Although, what I recall now are the very funny parts, especially the one where the main character was singing karaoke. Hehe.
May 4, 2010 at 12:55 pm
Yeah, that was funny. Also the part where the mom-in-law-to-be “moons”. Har, har! I loved her after that.
May 4, 2010 at 6:13 am
Oh, I like this edition!
Neil Gaiman really isn’t my cup of tea, but if I had this edition of Anansi Boys I’d probably be more enthused to read it! 😀 Will hunt this edition down.
May 4, 2010 at 1:00 pm
What is different in this edition? This may be a “duh” question but what makes one edition different from another, aside from the cover and publisher? Do they further edit the story as new editions come out?
May 5, 2010 at 2:15 pm
Hi Jo, generally the text is the same; minor revisions or updates are still considered the same edition.
A different edition would mean they used a different set of plates to print the book. So it can be the same publisher, but if they change the typesetting, that’s already a different edition.
(FFP had a mini-seminar on book terminology at one of the book discussions last year)
May 6, 2010 at 3:13 am
Hey, thanks for the info, Blooey! How about making a post on your blog on book terminology. I’m sure a lot of your blog followers would be interested to know. 🙂
May 6, 2010 at 2:18 pm
Will see what I can do about that. Hehehe. All those out of town trips resulted in a huge blogging backlog. Maybe in June when I’m not so swamped 🙂
July 31, 2010 at 2:29 pm
hmm, if you weren’t that keen on “anansi boys”, i would suggest you read “neverwhere”, “the graveyard book” or “stardust” next. read “american gods” last, because it’s such a divisive book. =)
August 1, 2010 at 10:21 am
“Anansi Boys” was quite fun! I’ll be reading “Neverwhere” sometime in the next few months. I’ve heard a lot about this book. I also want to get hold of “American Gods”, which people say I should have read before “Anansi Boys”. But then, others say it’s really not very related.
August 4, 2010 at 2:59 pm
“neverwhere” was what made me a gaiman fan. =) though “american gods” was the first book of his that i read–if i remember correctly. and yes, others were correct in saying “american gods” and “anansi boys” really are not very related.
save for mr. anansi being in both books.
August 3, 2010 at 7:06 am
My first ever Gaiman book! I loved this one and this stirred me to read more Gaiman books 🙂
August 3, 2010 at 1:15 pm
Oh I consider this my first Gaiman book, too! I mean this is the first book I read where he is sole author.
His imagination is just a cut above the rest; so I am planning to plow through his other books. He is fascinating!
July 6, 2011 at 6:31 pm
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