Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman

The first Neil Gaiman novel that I read was, "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" - that was an audio book. Its dark mood, and the sense of paranoia and insecurity,  left behind  a haunting quality that still lingers, in my mind.  I even bought a hard copy of it, in case I feel like going for a reread, one of these days. American Gods followed, its picaresque protagonist, along with  the road book style narration, not to mention a  larger number of colourful characters ( one of which was Mr. Nancy, albeit a minor one), all contributed to a grand narration. It too had its mood, especially brought in by the details of the stiff mid western winter. It had a certain epic proportion about it. This was the main reason for me to have certain hopes on The Anansi Boys - and again, I opted for the audio book media, since there's something about Gaiman's style, which comes out absorbing in audio books.

But somehow, this one came out a little below expectations for me. American Gods had an overall feel of a moroseness that I found engrossing, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane, with its subtle witchcraft, disturbing to its otherwise normal lives of its characters, all created a reading experience, which to me was "reading Gaiman". The Anansi boys in contrast, has  relatively more humour - especially with the narration taking on a West Indian accent when appropriate, has a playfulness about the book - brought in by the characters of Spider and his dad, not to mention the typical wit of Gaiman. This wit, we see in the character of Grahame Coats - his pomposity and him meeting a match with Spider. The characters of Callyane Higgler and her friends too add an element of subtle amusement - through their confidence in going on about their lives.  Possibly it is this relative lighter nature that makes this book a little less attractive to me than the other two I've read. It could be said that the sorcery and the divine intervention, felt more direct here than in the other two, and that may have created an atmosphere that is largely different from what I've come to expect of, from Gaiman. There was  a mood of cold pessimism that I found appealing in the two books I've read of his before this. The mood difference in this book, which even with the two brothers being pursued, with their lives under threat, doesn't quite bring on to what I have hither to expected from the author. I do concur that it is possibly a  more personal liking or an  expectation of Gaiman's work here, that makes this book less attractive to me than his previous work.

I found the fantasy of this work, a little less believable, or far fetched (if that makes sense ), than on previous instances too. Yet, this is not to say that it is not an enjoyable read, for it definitely is. It is likely that we haven't had a character like Spider, a very playful cool dude with god like traits, who is almost the main character for  the first half of the book. The situation of  the whole mess that the boys find themselves in being somehow,  self inflicted gives the impression that the story line goes in circles, and thus somewhat convoluted. The fact that all characters find them selves in the same  Caribbean Island, doesn't help the reader to find the narration, that much more natural, convincing  and believable.

An interesting point to recognize was the episode of a certain character who has a birth after his death, in foreboding low state - not stopping there, the inference that it will be repeatedly be eaten by a villain only to re-incarnate in that same low position, suggests some of the lower plain births as found in the Buddhist tradition. It'll be interesting to note whether there is any similar folklore in the African tradition too.

However, if you enjoy Gaiman, there is more here to enjoy than to feel discouraged about. So I recommend this to Gaiman fans.