Anansi Boys audiobook

I laughed out loud. While reading. In a Japanese rice bowl joint. Okay, so maybe it was more of a chortle, but it was definitely out loud. And more than just the once. Patrons quietly minding their own business while slogging through their Number Three Specials With Extra Tokyo Beef would be startled into wakefulness to see me - chopsticks in one hand, book in the other - as my grizzled maw broke forth with guffaws and irrepressible smiles.Really, Anansi Boys may be the first thing I've read from Neil Gaiman that I liked. I never got into Sandman (though I'm told I should have persevered). I never finished American Gods (though I'm told I should have persevered). I never finished 1602 (despite guessing that I should have persevered).Still, not only did I like it but I loved it. Enough that I gave my copy to someone else to read and purchased a second copy for another friend. And I'm certain they'll want to do similar things with the book.Anansi Boys is at all times funny, adventurous, and charming. And several other over-used adjectives. In fact, Anansi Boys may be the prototype from which overused adjectives should have come - before they were overused. I'm not sure that Anansi Boys is great literature and I'm not sure that it isn't. What I am certain of beyond any shadow of doubtfulness is that Anansi Boys may be the most fun I have ever had reading a novel.There may be others that I enjoyed more but my experience of this book was such that it pushed (if even momentarily) all other books from my mind. Someone on the back suggests that the book will make you love and be grateful for spiders. Critics and the things they say, huh? Well, I don't love spiders, but dang was this book good.The end.p.s. Anyone thinking of reading Blue like Jazz or Against Christianity or something by Karl Barth should definitely read this first. 'Cuz I mean what if you died after finishing the next book on your queue? It would be an all time tragedy to have wasted hours reading Donald Miller when there is something like Anansi Boys out there. Plus, it's just as spiritual.

A cool spidey alternative, not just special tinkling senses while silking and scuttling around, but doing some nasty stuff with his abilities and I don´t mean the bondage your dirty mind might imagine at the moment. Wait,… damn self irony. There are 2 kinds of second parts, the one in series that usually get better because the exposition, and thereby dangerous lengths, infodumps, and losing the reader´s interest, are already behind the writer and she/he can now fully focus on pure entertainment.And then there are the ones that are not lifting off, I´ve hardly seen this in one of Gaiman´s usually ingenious books, but this one seemed somewhat constructed, put together afterward, didn´t have the usual logic and inner stability, but that´s criticism at a very high level, it´s still a good work.Anti heroes, such as Loki, in this case the not so well known Anansi, are always fun to read, because their enjoyable evilness opens up dynamic, fun, and vast lands of putting their deadly, crippling, and humiliating jokes into a modern or future setting. Often, there was even some educational purpose in the originals, something mostly getting lost in modern adaptations, where it´s mostly about using them for thrill, action, and fast paced cuts and jumps from character to setting. I´ve read some mythologies and they are, duh, kind of boring too, because creative writing courses weren´t that hip and fancy these days hundreds and thousands of years ago.Because there is so much mythology and clever, hidden easter eggs and philosophy hidden in this one, it would be interesting to take a deeper look when reading or rereading it, because Gaiman didn´t just include a ton of classical motives, origin myths, and moralizing examples of how ancient cultures used to brainwash and indoctrinate their people by hiding secret commandos in their folklore, but some underlying, deeper meaning too. Or I just want to see them, whatever. What is really strange, kind of prophetic, is that the potentially endless concept of creating new gods out of technology, epigenetic, and cultural change, didn´t work out as well as possible both as series and as book. Just thinking about what might be possible, not just in general, but specifically with the mythology and current state of affairs around the world, is immense. All fantasy elements of traditional tales could be continued in a science fantasy comedy setting, filling it with innuendos and connotations to past, present, and possible futures, making it an extremely inspiring read.I have to repeat and emphasize, that this is criticism at a very high level, the curse of all outstanding prodigy writers, that the fangirls and -boys immediately notice weaknesses that would be accepted in works of all the good, but not great, authors, and that it´s still an amazing, funny, mindblowing work. Just not as good as his others.I am totally looking forward to an author who makes this dynamic the driving force of her/his series, using https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon...https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...and creating a never seen, mind blowing, crossover, letting genre conventions implode, über hybrid. Ahem, Mister Sanderson, may you please take over?Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...

I've come to recognize that one of the main reasons I enjoyed this book so much was that I listened to the audiobook, performed by comedian Lenny Henry, whose background as a Brit of Caribbean descent made him the perfect choice to bring the characters to life. A lot of audiobooks aren't very good, but this one way great, and really brings out the fact that Anansi stories are meant to be heard.It's recognizable Gaiman stuff, with the fish-out-of-water narrator in a modern fantasy world, with the author sxploring the history and the form of the mythic story, but there's a level of deprecating humor in this book that is lacking in other works by Gaiman.One can catch snips of wit in any of his books. Any good book must include some humor: an author might as futilely try to excise pain or desire from life as humor. Gaiman has never placed any such artificial limits on his work; indeed, the only limits on his books are those he, himself cannot overcome.Previously, his humor was only an occasional element, but there was apparently something in the writing of this particular book which finally allowed him to unleash his sense of the comic as a whole entity. The text swims and bobs with the ridiculous, the unfortunate, and the clever.After reading 'Good Omens', written by Gaiman and Prachett, I was told that without Prachett, it would have retained none of the humor. I now begin to wonder whether if Pratchett added anything at all. Indeed, this work of Gaiman's overshadows that earlier work in both degrees and shades of the insightful and entertaining.With the focus on Anansi and stories, the book provides an amusing analysis of storytelling itself, so that anyone who studies the nature and classification of tales will find certain asides and references particularly amusing. It is rare these days that an author will write a piece of fiction which explores on a subtextual level a concept or idea fundamental to the work itself. I have come to wish that more authors could gain the audacity that Gaiman found here.There is a degree to which this story matches Gaiman's usual monomythic progression from naive outsider to coy insider, which at the outset was my greatest difficulty with the work. The inevitability and redundancy of this trope makes me wish for Gaiman's more eccentric and perverse moments. However, I found in the clever and skilled text a story worth experiencing, and one which matches or exceeds Gaiman's other attempts in the modern fantasy genre.The story is not as epic or dire as Gaiman's tend to be, and without that there is a loss of urgency in the story. This is not really a deficiency, however, as the playful humor could not cohabitate comfortably with an ever-steepening plot curve.The work fits into Gaiman's usual mode, exploring the myths and psychologies that most interest him. It may lose some of his fans in that it is less dark and brooding, less hopeless, but this could hardly be counted a loss. Any reader who wants more of the same can re-read his old works. the rest of us may appreciate seeing a master storyteller exploring his form in a new and engaging way.My Fantasy Book Suggestions

Previously Goodreads listed this book as “Anansi Boys (American Gods #2)”, this has since been fixed by Raven the ace GR librarian. Anyway, Anansi Boys is not American Gods #2, the character Anansi does, however, appears in American Gods (as Mr. Nancy) so the two books are related but there is no need to read one to follow the other.Anansi Boys is about Anansi’s two sons, the absence of an apostrophe-S after Anansi’s name notwithstanding. The first one we are introduced to is Charles Nancy, usually called “Fat Charlie” in spite of not being fat. The other is called Spider who is a god and can do magic. When Spider enters Fat Charlie’s life he promptly turns it upside down because that is the sort of guy he is:“He would not have recognized guilt if he had an illustrated guide to it with all the component parts clearly labeled. It was not that he was feckless, more that he had simply not been around the day they handed out feck.”Basically, Spider moves into Charlie’s apartment, steals his fiancé, unintentionally gets him in trouble with the law and causing him to lose his job. He does all this by impersonating Charlie without even bothering to look like him; he is just amazingly persuasive. Charlie’s attempt to get rid of him backfires and exponentially exacerbates the situation. It leads to a bird goddess sending massive flocks of multi-species birds after them, and a tiger-god coming after their blood for the alleged sins of their father. Anansi from the American Gods TV seriesAnansi Boys is a tremendously fun wild ride. It is not as complex or nuanced as American Gods but, for my money, it is more fun. As always, Gaiman is overflowing with ideas and his prose tend to have a light, whimsical touch that often made me laugh (out loud even). He is a dab hand at characterization, the book’s main antagonist Graham Coats is absatively particularly vivid and hilarious but also very dangerous. Anansi himself is based on a popular West African folklore character, a fun-loving trickster god who loves to steal other gods’ stories and make them his own; hence Gaiman’s theme of the power of storytelling, which he connects to the theme of storytelling through music. I love the musical references in this book, after I read a certain chapter I suddenly had an irresistible urge to listen to Under The Boardwalk, which I have not heard for years, what a lovely, evocative song (even though I’ve never been under one). The prose style of this book is generally lighthearted and humorous but Gaiman switches into a fable or folklore style when the narrative is told from a god’s point of view.Anansi Boys is not objectively better than American Gods, which is indeed great, but I personally enjoy it more and it is my favorite Gaiman book.Notes:• Here Neil Gaiman explains that Anansi Boys is not a sequel to American Gods. Thank you Raven for the link.• Besides being inspired by African Folklore Gaiman also seems to have been inspired by Terry Pratchett’s witches books. There are several comical witches in this book.• There was a radio play adaptation of Anansi Boys in 2005 which Gaiman hated as it was abridged into a one hour play! This led him to write his own movie screenplay. Hopefully there will be a movie one day.Anansi Boys is not objectively better than American Gods, which is indeed great, but I personally enjoy it more and it is my favorite Gaiman book.Quotes:“Daisy looked up at him with the kind of expression that Jesus might have given someone who had just explained that he was probably allergic to bread and fishes, so could He possibly do him a quick chicken salad: there was pity in that expression, along with almost infinite compassion.”“Some hats can only be worn if you’re willing to be jaunty, to set them at an angle and to walk beneath them with a spring in your stride as if you’re only a step away from dancing. They demand a lot of you.”“He had arrived , at the age of ten , with an American accent , which he had been relentlessly teased about , and had worked very hard to lose , finally extirpating the last of the soft consonants and rich Rs while learning the correct use and placement of the word innit . He had finally succeeded in losing his American accent for good as he had turned sixteen , just as his schoolfriends discovered that they needed very badly to sound like they came from the ’ hood .”“Of course , everyone’s parents are embarrassing . It goes with the territory . The nature of parents is to embarrass merely by existing , just as it is the nature of children of a certain age to cringe with embarrassment , shame , and mortification should their parents so much as speak to them on the street .”Fat Charlie and Spider

I kept intending to write a proper review/ recommendation of ANANSI BOYS, which I read while I was in Australia, but for some reason, every time I sat down to write it, all that came out were words in one syllables, which makes for a lousy book review. Sample copy of my early blog posts about ANANSI BOYS:This book is good.This book is fast.This book is fun.This book is what it says it is.Which is fun.This book is a good, fast, fun read.I'm just not sure it's going to get any better than that. I liked this book better than its predecessor, AMERICAN GODS, and you don't need to have read that one in order for this one to make any sense. The only other thing I can say is that I immediately went out and bought another copy to give away to a friend, so that should stand for something, surely.

A delight (& the first of Gaiman's books that I've read to get the full ***** from me)! It's got that outrageous "Freaky Friday"/Prince & the Pauper narrative; Britishisms a-la Evelyn Waugh; and a peck of Douglas Adams's brand of whimsy (this is infinitely better than Hitchhiker's Guide, & much better than the author's own Stardust AND Neverwhere). It's adorably Beetlejuician! What's not to like, huh?

Anansi Boys (American Gods), Neil GaimanWhen Fat Charlie's dad named something, it stuck. Like calling Fat Charlie "Fat Charlie." Even now, twenty years later, Charlie Nancy can't shake that name, one of the many embarrassing "gifts" his father bestowed -- before he dropped dead on a karaoke stage and ruined Fat Charlie's life.Mr. Nancy left Fat Charlie things. Things like the tall, good-looking stranger who appears on Charlie's doorstep, who appears to be the brother he never knew. A brother as different from Charlie as night is from day, a brother who's going to show Charlie how to lighten up and have a little fun ... just like Dear Old Dad. And all of a sudden, life starts getting very interesting for Fat Charlie.Because, you see, Charlie's dad wasn't just any dad. He was Anansi, a trickster god, the spider-god. Anansi is the spirit of rebellion, able to overturn the social order, create wealth out of thin air, and baffle the devil. Some said he could cheat even Death himself.تاریخ نخستین خوانش عنوان: پسران آنانسی؛ نویسنده نیل گیمن؛ مترجم رحیم قاسمیان؛ ویراستار لیلا اوصالی؛ تهران، انتشارات پریان؛ 1400؛ در 452ص؛ شابک9786007058343؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان بریتانیا - سده21مپدرش او را «چارلی چاق» صدا میکرد؛ «نیل گیمن» در این کتاب تا ژرفای یادمانهای کودکانگی غوطه ور و در کابوسهای شبانه به خود میآید و داستان خیال انگیز بی‌خوابی شبانه ی یک پسربچه ی تنها را باز میگویند؛ «گیمن» که در بیشتر آثارش به پسربچه ها و تلاششان برای پیوند با زندگی میپرداختند، در رمان «پسران آنانسی» نیز که نخستین بار در سال 2005میلادی منتشر شده داستانی را باز میگوید که چکیده آن را خواهم نوشتتاریخ بهنگام رسانی 15/07/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

Despite having read Gaiman's American Gods multiple times, this was the first time I've read this spin-off or whatever you want to call it.Mr. Nancy is different here. He's fallen in love with a mortal woman and has a son with her, Charlie. Charlie is quite shy and awkward. He's also gonna get married soon, though the wedding preparations look less than enthusiastic to me.We get to know that he basically grew up without a father, but when Charlie hears about Mr. Nancy's passing, he nevertheless goes to his funeral. From there, it's a jorney of (self-)discovery once a neighbor tells him that Mr. Nancy is no other that Anansi, the African spider god. Carlie also finds out that he supposedly has a brother who has inherited their father's divine powers.Once Charlie and his brother meet, the world will never be the same again. Yes, I know how lame that sounds but if I told you about how (view spoiler)[Spider isn't really Charlie's brother (hide spoiler)] but that he instead (view spoiler)[is an aspect of Charlie that got split from him by a witch when he was a child (hide spoiler)] or that in truth (view spoiler)[Charlie very well DOES have divine powers (hide spoiler)], I'd spoil all the fun. ;PPersonally, I LOVE stories about the power of storytelling. And I LOVE American Gods. It's therefore no surprise that I wanted to read more about the arachnid deity known for shaping reality and connecting humans through stories. What are lives, after all, but stories?!Nevertheless, this is definitely not Gaiman's strongest. I mean, it's still top notch or I wouldn't rate it this highly, but after reading so many of the author's others, this felt too ... different (in a slightly less impactful kinda way). However, Gaiman is still fantastic on his worst day and almost godlike himself on his best day so I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the cluster of neighbors (especially Mrs. Higgler who was just a hoot) while I cringed about Charlie's awkwardness and flat-out growled at Rosie. The gods, once we encounter some, were a wonderfully colourful array of old and familiar tales that were (re-)presented in just the right light that combined the old with a bit of a modern twist. On a personal note, having seen over 25 sparrows descend on my garden today and having seen Hitchcock's The Birds, I get why Bird Woman poses such a threat. *lol*A nice little side quest / adventure that couldn't quite capture me as much as Shadow's but which was still highly entertaining.

As enjoyable as the first time.That is to say, I fell head over heels in love with the idea of stories within stories taking over, of the god of stories, Anansi, passing on his gift of the gab -- a little joy, humor, and sexiness -- into the wide world.For those of us who know America Gods, this is not a direct sequel even if it carries on a few characters. The real treat is in the story.I was fooled the first time I read this. I was wondering just how Fat Charlie, a little ponce who gets walked all over, would come into his own. It was so grounded, so funny when he first discovered Spider, that I could very well have just ridden these interactions all the way to the end and would have been happy. A somewhat normal resolution.Thankfully, the book spun us around and gave us some fully foreshadowed brilliant reveals that changed the entire nature of the book. I love it when this kind of thing gets pulled off. And it's Gaiman. So a little trust IS warranted.I miss Gaiman's adult work. I've loved all of his adult work so much more than his YA, with a possible exception of Coraline. I loved Coraline very much. But it's the full adult wonkiness that I prefer, and this one kicked ass. No, it's not American Gods. But it is its own beast, or arachnid, and that is way more than enough for me.

I enjoyed this book WAY more my second time reading it. The first time I read it I went into it thinking it was a continuation of American Gods and it most definitely is not that so I was a little let down. But this time I knew what I was getting into and I was able to fully appreciate the spectacular story that Anansi Boys actually is! I thought the plot was incredibly interesting and I loved learning more about Anansi and his background. You get little glimpses in American Gods but this was so much more in depth! I also really loved Fat Charlie and Spider, their dynamic was so interesting and the trouble that Spider causes made cringe at times and laugh out loud at others. And after you find out the truth at the end, it kind of blows your mind! I definitely didn't see that coming and it literally made my jaw drop! I thought the ending was quite perfect, it didn't play out how I thought it would but after finishing it, I couldn't imagine a better ending.