Book Review: Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hands down my favorite novel by Neil Gaiman. I'm not even entirely sure why except that everything just fit and felt... true. The whole time, I was looking forward to writing a review but now that I'm actually finished, I find it so hard to find words that would capture the book.

It kind of has a bit of everything. London - check. Gods walking among us - check. A very relatable look at what it is like to have a brother - check. A character arc at the end of which a person can sing in front of other people - check. Ghosts - check. Limes - check. Seances that transfer you to the end/beginning of the world with animal gods in caves - check. A traumatic story about wearing a president costume for school - check. Extremely long, half a page sentences with lots of descriptions and metaphors that still somehow feel light and make sense that would sound absolutely horrible and nonsensical if I tried to write them (oh wait...) - very gaimanesque and check. What's not to love?

I'm amazed at all the (crazy) details that Neil put in the story. His use of Chekhov's gun is so damn satisfying. The way he writes his characters is so unique, too. They feel incredibly weird and yet, somehow, (almost?) more real than people I meet in my everyday life. The cover has a quote from Marlon James: "Neil's stories leave you feeling that his is the world we've always lived in." So well put and so true.

I read the last few pages with a friend and trying to catch him up on things must be the hardest thing I've ever done. There are so many details and they are impossible to explain (without sounding like a total lunatic)!

SPOILER

"Oh yeah, he used that lime to propose to a girl he didn't really know. It was at gunpoint, you know."

"Well, they are brothers, but they actually used to be one person. He broke some sort of a ceramic ball that belonged to this old lady who was apparently also a witch, and she separated them into two bodies. One got all the magic powers and a fun, alluring character, and the other... the other became Fat Charlie. No, I don't know what their parents thought of it."

"The mom didn't like her daughter's fiancé because he ate her wax fruit. I think."

"See, the main character got to that island because he was trying to save his brother, a demi-god and technically a spider, who was eaten by a bird who was a god. The mom and the daughter got to the island on a cruise ship after the younger one was led on by her fiance's brother, who made her believe he was her fiancé. No, they didn't look anything alike; he was just really good at convincing people. The cop got to the island because she was following a guy who murdered his client, and now the client follows him as a ghost. Oh yeah, and the murderer was actually the main character's boss who retreated to the island because he was stealing from his clients for years, and he planned to retire somewhere where the UK cops couldn't reach him, and because of the client, he needed to move quicker. How did the witch lady get to the island? I think she flew there. She seems to originally come from there - has lots of cousins there and stuff. And she has the feather that the main character left with her and now needs back because he took it from the bird lady god in exchange for her helping him get rid of his brother. Yes, the bird lady did a good job. Yes, he wants the brother back now, so he need the feather. I promise it all makes sense..."

END OF SPOILER

My copy comes from Paris' Shakespeare & Company ❤️.

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