I finished it in one sitting today. And of course, it has the typical Gaiman magic and writing. But what's the thing behind the Doctor and Mr. Alice?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jason lee,

iirc, the doctor was a creepy guy and Mr. Alice, being the freakin rich employer, didn't like not knowing that beforehand.
Mr. Alice and the hatchet-faced henchman come from another of Neil's tales. It was first a comic called "The Court" which was then adapted to text as "Keepsakes and Treasures: A Love Story" so look it up if you want to know more about Mr. Alice

I read this last night too, in one sitting before going to bed and yes, it was magical.

I wanted it to go on and on and on for at least another 600 pages!!

Very very good read!

Spoiler comment: I certainly plan on rereading the story in, what, 2007? when Neil's Beowulf comes to theaters to compare his two versions of Grendel and his mom

I thought it was a good story, but must admit, it got a little.....confusing at the end.

But anyhow, I liked it all the same!!

Um...yeah...I have no idea!!

Something to do with........?

//steampunk, I think that was Shadow's quasi-godhood giving him that extra bit of information. Or one of his god-friends knew he'd be interested in knowing that.

I have read the nook twice, but I don't remember the 'Doctor and Mr. Alice', or the Doctor taking pictures of a dead boy, and also not Shadow being a monster.

Maybe somebody casn enlighten me?

quote:

Originally posted by Ralf Goergens:
I have read the nook twice, but I don't remember the 'Doctor and Mr. Alice', or the Doctor taking pictures of a dead boy, and also not Shadow being a monster.

Maybe somebody casn enlighten me?

Have you read Monarch Of The Glen? It's an American Gods novella that's in the anthology Legends II edited by Robert Silverberg, now out in paperback

quote:

Originally posted by GMZoe:

quote:

Originally posted by Ralf Goergens:
I have read the nook twice, but I don't remember the 'Doctor and Mr. Alice', or the Doctor taking pictures of a dead boy, and also not Shadow being a monster.

Maybe somebody casn enlighten me?

Have you read Monarch Of The Glen? It's an American Gods novella that's in the anthology Legends II edited by Robert Silverberg, now out in paperback

No, I haven't, but I will now, thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by //steampunk:
So why was Shadow called a monster?

I think of it as Shadow being a "sacred monster".

From Mentality of Religion

" Monsters are sacred. Their power and unpredictability is proof that they are sacred, or if it isn't sufficient proof at least their power is proof that they aren't mundane. Since they aren't mundane, they are pretty close to being sacred. Since only a sacred entity is capable of dealing with another sacred entity, a hero who kills monsters will partake of their sacred nature and also become somewhat sacred. "

Struck me this morning how Monarch in the Glen is like a stripped down version of American Gods. Hark at the similarities:

Shadow is drifting in the beginning, unmoored from origins or destinations.

Some mysterious stranger offers him a job.

Some mysterious woman offers him unspecified assistance.

The job is a con. They want him to replay some ancient hero task, and die.

He has a prophetic dream about evil done by a seemingly good man.

He enters the field of battle. He starts to become the ancient hero.

He recognizes that the enemy is not really the enemy, that the battle is staged to increase the power of others.

He wrenches himself out of the old pattern. Calls on the mysterious woman for help.

She saves him with Kali-esque levels of brutality. He walks off the field of battle.

The seemingly good man is killed by someone else because of Shadow’s reveal.

He leaves the world in confusion, but maybe a little better, with a new synthesis of old and new.

Some of the old let it be known that Shadow is under their protection.

Then we have the chiasmus moment with American Gods – instead of deciding to leave, he decides to return.

Anyhoo, probably nothing terribly insightful, but it struck me this morning that The Monarch of the Glen isn’t so much a sequel to American Gods as the same story, told in miniature, without the deep mythological cliff notes and modern updates. And with a less passive version of Shadow.