"American Gods" - the epic of modern times and the pinnacle of creativity Neil Gaiman

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Everything you need to know about the legendary book, TV series, and the writer himself.

Neil Gaiman is often called one of the most prominent authors of our time, and the novel "American Gods" - his best and main work. But first, you need to figure out what is the significance of Gaiman for modern culture and why not only readers, but also other writers loved him so much.

What is the author's phenomenon

It seems that he creates fabulous worlds. But there is Terry Pratchett - the author of the great Discworld. Gaiman writes excellent mystical comics from the Sandman series. But there is Alan Moore and his famous works. Gaiman is fond of science fiction, but there is the work of Douglas Adams and the series "Doctor Who".

It would seem that each genre has its own reference authors who come to mind at the first mention. For example, Stephen King, who has long become a direct analogue of the very term "horror".

But still, there is one thing that distinguishes Neil Gaiman from all the listed writers - versatility. In his youth, he set himself the goal of working in completely different genres and forms: to write a comic strip, a script, a novel, and much more. That the author is successful and performs throughout his life.

This allowed him to create a completely unique atmosphere in his works, combining mysticism, myths and fantasy with the stories of the ordinary world. So, in the comic "The Sandman" he talks about the kingdom of sleep and its master Morpheus. But at the same time, in his worries, he often does not differ from ordinary people, and visually, he is clearly copied from the author himself.

But the most striking example, perhaps, can be called his novel "Nevermind" (in another translation - "Back Door"). This is a novelization of Gaiman's script for the mini-series of the same name. But only years later, the book was loved much more than the TV version.

In this novel, the author shows that an unusual and fantastic world filled with adventures is literally next to us - you just need to reach out and open the right door.

Unlike other science fiction writers and storytellers, Gaiman often writes about our world with all its advantages and disadvantages. But he does it in such a way that in the narrative there is always a place for something unknown and fabulous.

It was this approach that allowed him to create such a grandiose work as "American Gods", which combined travel across America, mythology and the influence of modern culture.

Why the novel is classified as a modern epic

Even while working on "The Sandman" Neil Gaiman became seriously interested in mythology and epics, repeatedly referring to various religions and legends. But then an important event happened in the life of the author - in the early 90s he moved from Great Britain to the United States. And this influenced not only his everyday life, but also the themes raised in his work.

Indeed, unlike the countries of the Old World, the Americans have not yet developed their own epic - a little more than five centuries have passed since the appearance of the first European settlers on the continent. And this is clearly not enough for the formation of mythology, and the culture of the Indians was practically destroyed.

The lack of national baggage, of course, strongly affects the development of society, and Gaiman, as a good folklorist, could not help but notice this fact.

But the talent of a storyteller and a dreamer allowed him to look at it from a different angle. Undertaking to write a novel, he clearly showed how new myths and even new gods are created. Gaiman seemed to explain to the Americans that their epic is simply made up of the religions and legends of the peoples who once settled on the continent.

Together with the first settlers, their gods arrived in America: Scandinavian Odin, Slavic Chernobog, African Anansi and many others. It is ironic that such a story for the Americans was able to come up with a Briton - also an emigrant who brought with him the culture of classical English literature.

But if you think more seriously, then Neil Gaiman, consciously or not, repeated the path of creating almost all classical epics and religions. Namely, he collected the previous well-known texts, mixed them up, transferred them to modern times and presented them as their own creation.

This is what the authors have done since the days of the Epic of Gilgamesh. They retold previous legends, while maintaining the structure of the narrative, but adapting it to their culture and way of life. This similarity was once written about by Joseph Campbell in The Thousand Faced Hero. He brought out a plot common to all such stories, which was called the "hero's path."

But Neil Gaiman not only brought the old gods to America, but also populated it with new ones, which also fits perfectly with the classical construction of mythology. In ancient times, in the form of higher beings, people personified the most important phenomena for them. This is how the gods of harvest, war, rain appeared. And looking at who was worshiped by certain peoples, one can even draw conclusions about their main occupations: hunters worship the god of the forest, and farmers worship the god of rain.

But in the modern world, completely different things, phenomena and concepts have long been important. A person at the beginning of the 21st century thinks more often about his TV than about rain. And so Gaiman has gods of technology and mass media as a reflection of modern culture.

They are replacing the old and forgotten gods, as happened in earlier times, when people learned the true origin of rain or solar eclipse and began to believe in something new.

So, "American Gods" can rightfully be considered the American epic of modern times, because all the necessary canons are observed in the novel. And besides, it is just interesting and informative to read it.

What American Gods Says About

A simple silent guy named Shadow Moon is released early from prison, because his wife died in a car accident along with the hero's best friend. On the way home, he meets the mysterious Mr. Wednesday, who offers Shadow to become his bodyguard.

Since the hero no longer holds back, he agrees and goes on a journey with his new boss. As it turns out, he wants to meet with various old gods who arrived in America with the settlers, and gather them together to fight the new gods, whom people unknowingly began to worship.

Soon, the Shadow finds himself under the gun of the new gods - their companions attack him. And the hero is saved only by his wife Laura, who suddenly rose from the dead thanks to the magic coin of the Leprechaun.

The shadows have to hide, in parallel helping Mr. Wednesday to meet with the gods, but soon events occur that become the impetus for serious preparations for war.

What layers can the plot of the book be divided into?

The complex and voluminous book by Neil Gaiman is built in a very unusual way. Several "layers" of action can be distinguished, which are artfully woven into one story. But at the same time, their perception strongly depends on who is reading this book and for what purpose.

Travel across one-story America

If we take exclusively the dynamics of the plot and the development of the action, then in "American Gods" a rather standard story is shown, which in the cinema is called "road movie". The heroes travel from city to city in the American hinterland, encounter new friends and enemies, get into trouble and investigate side affairs that will eventually tie in with the main action.

And again, it's surprising that a Briton wrote such a book. After all, if you take the representatives of the mystical genres, then the style of the novel is close to the work of Stephen King with his love of telling about the life of small American towns.

But the explanation is very simple. In the story, the Shadow stays for a while in the small town of Lakeside near the Great Lakes. And in describing the quiet life of this place, it's easy to recognize Menomonee, Wisconsin, with a population of just over 16 thousand people, where Neil Gaiman himself moved in 1992.

Probably, despite his foreign origin, the author was able to penetrate the atmosphere of the American hinterland and therefore created something like a mystical book about traveling around the country.

Hero's path

And yet, associations with the epic are inevitable, since the Shadow, with only minor amendments, goes the very "path of the hero", which is characteristic of all such stories.

By the way, for those who are not very familiar with classical legends and epics, there is a more illustrative example - the first films of the Star Wars saga. George Lucas did not hide the fact that he was building the plot based on the "Thousand Faced Hero", and therefore all such stories can be compared with the adventures of Luke Skywalker. Or at least just listen to Oxxxymiron.

So, Shadow Moon originally exists in the ordinary world. This is followed by a "call" - Mr. Wednesday invites him to work. The shadow at first refuses, but then still goes on a journey with him. At the same time, Wednesday becomes his mentor.

The first encounters with future allies and clashes with enemies take place, where the Shadow initially loses, since he is not yet ready. Thus, the main plot of the book can be completely disassembled, and it will for the most part correspond to the "hero's path".

But this does not mean that the action is completely predictable and will not be able to surprise. The novel has enough space for intrigues, plot twists, and the trademark Geiman humor - the heroes often joke even in the most dangerous situations and often quote contemporary works.

Still, "American Gods" is another confirmation that the idea of the "Thousand Faced Hero" is true and the traditions of the plot are equally relevant both in the 18th century BC, when the Epic of Gilgamesh was created, and in the 21st.

An excursion into history and myths

But besides this, Neil Gaiman allowed himself to add significant digressions to the book, which can be considered an excursion into the culture of various countries and peoples. Moreover, he not only introduces them into the plot, but singles out separate chapters for such stories.

When new characters appear in action, the author simultaneously tells related stories from the past about how the gods and spirits arrived in America with settlers or prisoners.

So, the myths of old England were brought with a girl Essie, who was convicted of theft. Her pregnant woman was exiled to the New World, but she did not forget about old beliefs and left gifts to the spirits for the rest of her life.

Arab Salim, originally from Oman, met a genie - the spirit of fire - in the guise of a taxi driver, and then he himself had to turn into a genie. And one of the important characters - Mr. Nancy (actually the African god Anansi) - is generally known for his anecdotes and wit.

Moreover, Gaiman seems to present it all as his own fiction, but behind each such story one can feel a deep study and knowledge of the material.

For example, in the legends of the voodoo priestess Marie Laveau, many attribute to her a very long life and even possible resurrection. But most likely, we are simply talking about the daughter of the priestess, who, after the death of her mother, continued her work. The author tells this story too.

And when introducing a character named Ostara, he does not forget to recall the original pre-Christian meaning of Easter. She symbolized the arrival of spring, and therefore people brought sacrifices to Ostara.

And you can be sure that every god, spirit or priest mentioned in the work really figured in the legends.

Of course, "American Gods" cannot be used instead of a guide to mythology, after all, Gaiman's goal was to create a new work of art. But still the book makes you interested in the origin of the heroes and turn at least to "Wikipedia".

How the work on the adaptation progressed

Information that "American Gods" will be transferred to the screens appeared back in 2011. Neil Gaiman said that HBO (the same one that produces "Game of Thrones") became interested in the book. Moreover, since the writer has repeatedly collaborated with television, he himself planned to create scripts for the first episodes.

According to Gaiman, he wanted to keep the plot of the opening chapters of the book, but add new elements that will brighten the series. Moreover, several seasons of the future project were discussed at once. They wanted to shoot the first two from the book, and then develop the story on their own.

But the years passed, and the matter did not move. And if in 2013 the author still assured that work on the script was underway, then a year later the HBO representative said that the channel did not like the proposed scripts. Moreover, at that time they had already managed to change three authors.

Moving to Starz and the appearance of Brian Fuller

But the plans for the series were not completely abandoned. Gaiman just stopped working with HBO. In 2014, FremantleMedia acquired the rights to the project, and the future series moved to the Starz channel.

This, of course, has caused concern among many fans: this TV network has significantly less budgets. So, by the beginning of 2014, of the top projects, the channel could boast only the TV series "Spartacus" and "Da Vinci's Demons". And the future hits "Black Sails" and "Outlander" were just being launched.

But the new showrunner was encouraging. Brian Fuller was invited to work on the TV version of American Gods, which delighted all lovers of good humor and graceful visuals. Screenwriter Michael Green was hired to support him. But still, we can say with confidence that the first season of this project is completely the merit of Fuller.

At that time, he had already turned into a cult TV series director. Back in 2003, Brian Fuller made his debut with the mystical black comedy Dead Like Me, about reapers who take the souls of people after death.

Then there were very similar projects "Miracle Fall" and "Dead on Demand" - the latter brought the author mass fame. And the same Fuller can be considered the main driving force of the series "Heroes": he held the position of the chief screenwriter, and after his departure the project lost popularity.

But real fame came to Brian Fuller after the start of the series "Hannibal" - a prequel to the famous books by Thomas Harris "The Red Dragon" and "The Silence of the Lambs". It was then that everyone realized how beautifully he can shoot.

And it's not just the leading actors. Fuller managed to turn Hannibal into a standard of style, and the process of cooking and table setting into separate graceful scenes. They even hired a special "food designer" for this.

But most importantly, Fuller is as much a fan of the "logic of sleep" as Gaiman. This can be traced in all of his first projects, necessarily associated with mysticism and the other world.

He even managed to bring strangeness and madness to the story of Hannibal Lecter. But there, many viewers found it superfluous. Since the second season, the dreams of the heroes and reality often began to change places, which somewhat confused those who were expecting an ordinary thriller.

But for "American Gods" it all fit perfectly: there was enough room for both mystical madness and beautiful filming. At the same time, Fuller was not afraid to move away from the original source at the necessary moments and adapt the plot to the present, because the main work on the series began 15 years after the book was published.

The emergence of new topics and love for the original source

Fuller very carefully and tastefully approached the selection of performers for the series. Not the most famous actor Ricky Whittle was invited to incarnate the main character. Interestingly, nowhere in the book is it explicitly indicated that Shadow is black. But they say about the hero that he is gloomy and as if "dark". Apparently, the authors decided to play up this moment.

While picking up the old gods, Fuller wanted to show them a little rough and unkempt, since people had almost forgotten about them. This is how Ian McShane appeared as Mr. Wednesday, Peter Stormare as Chernobog and many others.

At the same time, the new gods look bright and "smooth". First of all, the image of Technomboy was reworked. In Gaiman's book, this is a fat youth who smells like plastic.

Apparently, in the early 2000s, they represented a typical fan of computers and new technologies. But over time, everything has changed, and therefore this character, played by Bruce Langley, is now a stylish vaper. And the author gave the most significant graceful role to Gillian Anderson, with whom he had already worked in "Hannibal".

She played the goddess Media, who constantly reincarnates as various celebrities. On the set, the actress had to try on many unusual images - from Marilyn Monroe to David Bowie.

The beginning of the series very accurately copies the first chapters of the book. But, as Gaiman once planned, with each episode it becomes more noticeable that the emphasis is greatly shifting.

Brian Fuller initially stated that he wanted to talk more about female characters, and therefore significantly expanded the role of Laura (played by Emily Browning), who appeared only sporadically in the book. The series even has an episode entirely dedicated to her. In addition, the very insignificant character Crazy Sweeney (Pablo Schreiber) in the TV version became her constant companion and assistant.

But still more important is the slightly changed idea. Still, Neil Gaiman talked about the settlers and their gods in the form of references to the epic. Fuller, on the other hand, devotes his story to immigrants, whom many have come to regard as villains in the new political situation in America.

It is not without reason that the series has an international cast: there is Briton Ian McShane, Swede Peter Stormare, Canadian Pablo Schreiber, Iranian Omid Abtahi, Orlando Jones with African roots and many others. And this adds topicality to the project.

Fuller and Green leave and problems with the second season

The first season of American Gods was received with enthusiasm. Of course, there were some negative comments associated with some lengthy episodes. Still, most viewers and critics praised Fuller and Green's work.

However, they could not further develop the project. According to the authors, the production of the second season of the series required a larger budget. However, the producers did not go to meet them, and both showrunners left the "American Gods".

Together with them, some of the actors left the series: Gillian Anderson and Christine Chenowet, who played Easter, refused to return to their roles.

Jesse Alexander, Fuller's partner in Hannibal and Star Trek: Discovery, was appointed as the new showrunner. His candidacy was personally approved by Neil Gaiman, who also joined the production of the series. However, a few months later, Alexander was also suspended from work. It seems to be due to the fact that he never managed to write the script for the final episode, which would suit the leadership.

As a result, the work dragged on for almost two years and finished filming the second season without a showrunner - the project was directed by producers Lisa Kessner and Chris Byrne, as well as Neil Gaiman. This, of course, affected the quality of the series.

In the first episodes of the sequel, there are more dialogues inherent in Gaiman's books, some themes from the finale of the first season are dropped, and the new media goddess is played by a young Korean woman, Kahyun Kim. Given the constant changes in the character's appearance, this is acceptable, but still looks a little strange.

Critics greeted the second season coolly, but the ratings from the viewers are still quite good, although the audience is gradually falling.

Will there be a continuation

The series has already been renewed for a third season, and Charles H. Eagley, who previously worked on The Walking Dead, was appointed as the new showrunner. And there is plenty of source material for it. In the first season, the authors covered about a quarter of the book, in the second they will reach a maximum of the middle. Moreover, Gaiman already has a "offshoot" of the book called "Children of Anansi" - an easier work about one of the minor characters.

According to the original plans in the TV version, it was supposed to allocate five seasons for the events of the original novel, and then continue the plot on their own. But, of course, everything will depend on viewership ratings and ratings, because in the modern world, only they are the measure of the popularity of the series.

And therein lies a significant irony - at the beginning of the 21st century, Neil Gaiman created an amazing work "American Gods", in which he showed the mass media almost the main evil of our time. And now he himself participates in the creation of the television series and must comply with all the laws of the mass media.