Nemesis

Where did all the Gods go? | The book no one chose

First off, congratulations to John for putting so much time and effort into his costume. As you can see from the photo, his bull's head wasn't just fitting in terms of the theme of the book, but it was also deeply impressive as a work of art in itself. He had also shaved his back, so extra bonus points there.

[And this is a man who never drinks anything stronger than cola, people. We should all take note and raise our game accordingly.]

AMERICAN GODS, the subject of the gathering, kept the debate simmering for over two hours. It is perhaps one of the most contentious books WE HAVE EVER READ. I predicted it was 2012's THE POISONWOOD BIBLE, and I don't think I was entirely wrong.

Brilliant in patches, many of us agreed that Gaiman's tour de force was also a baggy, meandering, unfocused and at times surprisingly muddled expression of the novel form.

I have blogged about the book on my own site -- you can take a look here.

My suggestion that the Laketown sequence would have worked as a stand alone book found some support but was shot down by Arabella who seemed to be of the impression that I was jabbering like a stone age witch doctor.

Arabella often has that impression of me. She may well be right.

Three of the group had already read the book when it was chosen. John was one of these and his decision not to re read it was, I felt, regretted by him towards half way into the discussion when he seemed to be confusing it with an entirely different book. Possibly Swallows and Amazons. Perhaps Asterix and the Golden Sickle.

Notably, the meeting functioned on a "single woman quota", with Arabella leaving and Lisa arriving, fresh from her ukelele lesson. [Sadly without her ukelele].

One woman per meeting isn't the official policy of the Book Group. However, members are encouraged to express their opinion on whether the "single woman quota" might be considered for future gatherings.

Did the maleness of the gathering impact, for instance, on the collective understanding of the book? Was maleness significant in American Gods (not Goddesses...). By extension, perhaps we might look into a "single man quota" with male members (ahem) attending on a sort of relay system, contributing to the discussion briefly, one at a time, while the women members stay seated, quaffing large quantities of Babycham. I only mention this as a possibility... This might be particularly suitable, for instance, on nights the meeting clashes with a Champions League match.

Finally, it emerged that the book was chosen by default, under the belief that I had nominated it. I had actually nominated GODS WITHOUT MEN by Hari Kunzru. I can only conclude that Loki, that God of Mischief and Mayhem, had somehow arranged for the mix up, allowing his good friend the Sprite known as Neil Gaiman to accumulate nine more sales of a book that has been published these 11 years and isn't nearly as good as it could have been.

Comments, alternative posts, images and revelations about the true nature of time and space, not only welcome, but actively encouraged...

American Gods | Neil Gaiman | Spending time with the pagans | There's a storm coming

This is a book that keeps coming up. We've referred to it a number of times. It's a book I'd been meaning to read for a while. A book others in the group had read and loved. So choosing it as our August (summer mode) novel seemed perfect.

So we meet on Tuesday, now, August 21. I hope you can all make it. Bring a winnebago if you can. And wrap up warm.

There's a storm coming.