While I've never been a huge fan of Neil Gaiman's Sandman comic series (my tastes tend to run to Miller and Moore, but I do still like Gaiman as well - the last is said lest I be branded a comic book heretic), I have truly enjoyed his novels. Both Neverwhere and Stardust are among my favorite novels of the past few years, and Gaiman is truly talented at evoking meaning from the juxtaposition of his contemporary settings and the eternal nature of myth. Personally, I was less enthusiastic about American Gods, although I still found it very well written.
His latest novel, Anansi Boys, returns to the same fertile ground: the combustible combination of humanity's contemporary cocoon of steel and glass and the flaming spark of the magic of ancient legend. While Neverwhere played with the theme of a fey underworld hiding just beneath our noses, and Stardust recast the questing nature of fairy tales, and American Gods presupposed (much like Harlan Ellison before him) that mankind hauled their "gods" with them across the Atlantic to the new world, in Anansi Boys Gaiman updates the classic tales of Anansi, the African trickster god who may have once been a spider, and was perhaps a man, and may yet be a spider still.
The original tales of the spider's cleverness flowed from West Africa across the Atlantic to North America, where he metamorphosed into the character often known as Aunt Nancy, or Bre'r Ananse, something of a counterpoint to Bre'r Rabbit, another manifestation of the triumphant trickster. In American Gods, Anansi made a cameo appearance as Mr. Nancy; in Anansi Boys, the mantle falls to his sons, Fat Charlie and Spider.
"Fat Charlie" Nancy leads a relatively comfortable life in London. He's not particularly fat, and he doesn't particularly enjoy his nickname, but his father gave it to him and well, whatever name his father gave something tended to stick. Charlie's got a somewhat mundane job with a talent agency that he doesn't really enjoy, and which generally involves placating irate clients who want to know where their money is. The best thing in his life, actually, would appear to be his very pleasant fiancée, Rosie (although Rosie comes packaged with a mother who doesn't like Fat Charlie much at all).
Article comments
1 - Scott Butki
Good review. I just finished this book and loved it.
2 - zhuxiaodi
Hi,
So glad to find a fan of Judge De books. I am writing to inform you about my new book, Tales of Judge Dee. I will be speaking at Harvard University Fairbank Center for East Asian Research on May 18th, and the Harvard Coop bookstore will host a book reading/discussion on June 15th.
This historical figure in 7th century China became known in the West about half a century ago because a Dutch writer, Robert van Gulik, published successful detective stories with him as the main character. His reputation came back to China in early 1980s through Chinese translations of van Gulik's books. Now I have published a new book of Judge Dee stories in English language again, making a return of this legendary figure to English audience. So he has made a double comeback!
Trust you will enjoy reading my book. Please help spread the word so that more readers will read it.
Sincerely yours,
Zhu Xiao Di
Author of Tales of Judge Dee
and Thirty Years in a Red House