Review on Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

"'You're no help,' he told the lime. This was unfair. It was only a lime; there was nothing special about it at all. It was doing the best it could."


Both American Gods(2001) and Anansi Boys(2005), respective chronologically in timeline, are within the same contextual universe. Compé Anansi, also a part of Gaiman's novel American Gods, is a mythological trickster god hailing from West African and Carribean folklore. He is represented by the spider aspect. In Anansi Boys, he is referred to as Mr. Nancy (a pseudo-homonym of Anansi), and the infamous spider god is dead.

Anansi Boys won the Locus, Mythopoeic, YALSA Alex, and British Fantasy Awards in 2006. The novel was also adapted into a radio play for the BBC World Service in 2007.

Main characters include: "Fat Charlie" Nancy, Anansi's son; Roise Noah, Charles' Fiancée; Mr. Nancy, Charlie's father; Mrs. Nancy, Charlie's mother; Callyanne Higgler, Charlie's childhood neighbor; Grahame Coats, Charlie's boss, also named Basil Finnegan and Roger Bronstein; Louella Dunwiddy, the childhood neighbor who made Spider go away; Mrs. Bustamonte and Mrs. Noles, childhood neighbors; Spider, Charlie's brother he never knew he had; Maeve and Morris Livingstone, tw of Grahame Coats' clients; Daisy Day, a police detective; Eutheria Noah, Rosie's widowed mother; Benjamin and Clarissa Higgler, hotel concierge and mâitre d'.

The gods featured are: Compé Anansi, Lion, Elephant, Python, Stoat, Tiger, Hyena, Monkey, Rhinoceros, Crocodile, Bird Woman, Dragon, Rabbit and Scorpion.

To best explain the story, first it must be mentioned that all the stories were Tiger's, and then they belonged to Anansi, 'earned' through his 'hard work'. Through the stories Anansi tells, reality will bend this way and that to create a miracle. The gods are able to call upon these miracles to further their intentions, additionally fueled by their mythological characteristics. Fat Charlie and Spider are from the same Anansi bloodline, meaning they may have inherent godly power but are also entirely different people.

As befitting the mystical world which miracles are pulled out of thin air by walking deities exercising their divine right, the sense of perception is distorted far out of proportion. Despite any inconsistencies, the reader may comfortably follow the complex and rhythmic design Gaiman has masterfully paved, one breadcrumb at a time. Complaints founded through flaws in logic, normality or direction are easily carried off by an overwhelming interest to discover what actually happens. Gaiman possesses that rare quality in his writing, capable of deflecting the edge of sharp criticism. Yeah, I could rip it to shreds (like serious Tiger might), but as the next paragraph and the next after that go on, I realize I've only been humming to the same tune (like so many others).

There are distinct themes of good versus evil, naturalistic harmony, the pen being mightier, and respecting one's elders. Symbolically, the atmosphere is chock full of contextual clues. The novel has a strong recurrance of both coincidence and justice. This book is a quick read, a fun adventure and a tasteful insight of spiritually guided foolishness. My only warning being that you may have to forcefully restrict yourself from the use of clichés after being introduced to Grahame Coats. Just... don't say I didn't warn you.