Anansi Boys, January Discussion

[dwndrgn]

Here's where we discuss the book

[rune]

Half way through so far. Really like the character, especially the two brothers

Was surprised to find it amusing too.

[YOSSARIAN]

Started reading it last Thursday night-finished it the next day. I really enjoyed it. Have to love that Anansi. Let us know when you're finished, Rune; I don't want to do any spoilers.

[rune]

Ive finished the book now, at the end not sure what I thought. I'd quite enjoyed the book until mid way, then things got a bit silly.

[dwndrgn]

When I read it I was a bit sceptical over whether I would enjoy it - especially since I wasn't a big fan of American Gods. It was an easy read though. I think what really annoyed me about it was how automatically the nature of the two brothers changed. I felt that they just changed too quickly into something that they were not.

[rune]

I understand how you feel about how the nature of the brothers progressed through the book. Seemed quite easy for them to take on aspects that until they met hadn't occured to then.

[McMurphy]

The silver lining in an Amtrak trip from southern California to middle Oregon being six hours longer than the scheduled time, is that it gives a person time to catch up on his/her reading.

I liked the book. It certainly had a sillier tone than the previous related book, American Gods, but that didn't bother me all that much. The only thing that made me feel a little taken out of the story was Fat Charlie's early reaction to finding out that his brother/other half was sleeping with his fiance', Rosie. Didn't anyone else think that an actual person would have been more out-of-control angry? I, as a reader, wasn't completely convinced that Charlie's detached response was entirely accounted for by his passive nature. It didn't stop me from fully enjoying the story, though.

I really liked the occasional end sections that spoke of the mythology and/or folklore behind Anansi. It really helped smooth out the personality in the narrative, and it reminded me of the storytelling format I first read in The Watership Down.

Speaking of rabbits, I noticed that Gaiman took time enough to make the reader aware that, in the context of Anansi Boys, the original trickster deity was perceived by humans in spider form, not as rabbits.

Originally Posted by Anansi Boys

Anansi was a spider, when the world was young, and all the stories were being told for the first time. He used to get himself into trouble, and he used to get himself out of trouble. The story of the Tar-Baby, the one they tell about Bre'r Rabbit? That was Anansi's story first. Some people thinks he was a rabbit. But that's their mistake. He wasn't a rabbit. He was a spider.

(page 32, hardcover first printing)

I wonder why it is so important to make the distinction between the spider and rabbit form. In Watership Down, the stories were continually about Bre'r's ability to trick himself out of trouble. It has long been rumored that Bugs Bunny was consciously created out of the mold of Bre'r. Maybe rabbits have been connected too firmly to innocense and fertility. Spiders, at least from my perspective, would apply a more darker edge to the trickster archetype. The story in Anansi Boys where he convinces the Tiger to kill his mother-in-law would certainly support this. On a side note, (and I believe this connection to be completely by accident) the comic book version of Marvel's Spider-Man is a bit of a trickster via his wise-cracking and agile nature. Forget what you have seen in the Hollywood films, Spider-Man was all about finding ways to trick and weasel himself out of the deadly grips of his adversaries.

[rune]

At times I felt charlie wasnt really part of the world, as you mentioned, he didnt react in a way you would expect. But perhaps his distant reaction to Rosie's fling with Spider was due to him not really loving her.