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Originally posted by nightwalker:
"Say Nevermore" said Shadow.
"F**k You" said the raven.

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And there folks is my favourite part of the novel. That just cinched the WHOLE thing for me.

Although I really do love it when Shadow meets Bast in that dream and uhm..er...yeah *blushes*

~Karyn
Me-ow

I love that they went to El Paso, Illinois. I student taught there.

Mikel

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Originally posted by nightwalker:
"Say Nevermore" said Shadow.
"F**k You" said the raven.

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That one.

I could just *see* the raven roll his eyes in disgust, and hear his derisive tone.

I thought it was hysterical, and laughed out loud.

--
Missy

Thank gods the raven didn't say, "Eat my shorts."

My only problem with Sam's I believe speech was I quickly thought of Crash Davis' I believe speech in Bull Durham. (Or maybe Steve Martin's Things I Believe routine. Yes, the Battle of the Network Stars should be fought with guns!) However the fact that she believes she once was a one armed Siberian shaman and then we switch to Atsula, a one armed Siberian shaman is very clever.

My favorite part? "So she showed him"


[This message has been edited by baedeker (edited 07-01-2001).]

My favorite part was the raven, scenes with Easter, and i liked everything that took place in Lakeside.

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Originally posted by canciona:
Nightwalker! How are ya? And whatever happened to NGC?

I dunno if I'd say it's my favorite, but I do love this scene.

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Heh.

Well, the NGC is on hold, neilgaiman.com is now in the capable hands of HarperCollins/Authors on the Web, and other than that... hehe.

The book, for me, was the best part... but for some reason the whole Shadow/Raven thing stuck in my head. It's the idea of this ageless, supernatural big-as-a-freakin-backpack bird just getting all snarky at Shadow. It's even better once you realize who Shadow is, and then it's like one of the family pets bitching at it's owners... hehe.

-=- Saint NightWalker -=-
post #27... headin' toward
'Member' with a vengance!

quote:

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Originally posted by nightwalker:
"Say Nevermore" said Shadow.
"F**k You" said the raven.

[This message has been edited by nightwalker (edited 06-20-2001).]

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Yep. That one's a keeper. Also loved Sam's "I believe" speech. Nice to know I'm in good company even if she's a fictional character. *grin*

The part where Wednesday gets the girl at the gas station to pay him for the pleasure of having him get gas there. He read that bit in Seattle before I got the book, so it stuck with me.

Hmm, my tastes run more supernatural.

I think I like the midnight Zorya sister pulling the moon into a half-dollar (or is it silver dollar?) coin.

I liked the dream of the Thunderbird nest, and it's interruption.

I liked the whole death-journey chapter, and how the Norns were there-and-not-there when Mr. Town walked in (which reminded me of Hypolyta Hall's experiences with store windows and stoplights in The Kindly Ones...)

--Ember--

The part where Wednesday talks about Thor's death really got to me, in that pit of your throat kind of way. Thor's my favorite mythological figure, and the idea that things got that bad for him really hit home for me what poor shape the old gods were in.
Also, it served as a great red herring about who Wednesday's partner was, so we knew he used to do two-man cons.

The raven's line. The grift with the bank. So ballsy! But also, for one that hasn't been mentioned, Bilquis' first scene. I can just imagine it filmed so easily, holding the reveal that he's inside he til late in the scene. I can even imagine the CGI as he's pushed in, with that slight imperfection that CGI has.

(Technical boy would need John Water's smell-o-rama)

Shadow's first meeting with Mad Sweeney in the bar. Mad Sweeney just overall rocked.
Mad Sweeney: "I'm a Leprechaun."
Shadow: "Really? Shouldn't you be drinking guiness?"
Mad Sweeney: "Stereotypes. You have to learn to think outside the box. There's a lot more to Ireland than Guiness."
Shadow: "You don't have an Irish accent."
Mad Sweeney: "I've been over here too fucken long."
Shadow: "So you ARE originally from Ireland?"
Mad Sweeney (and my favorite part): "I told you. I'm a lebrechaun. We don't come from fucken Moscow."

then the leprechaun goes heroin addict, and he reminds me of a character from trainspotting.
I also like Sam's "fuck-off" kiss, for the simplicity and utter pointlessness of it. And I like that my state is the home of the Thunderbirds.

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Originally posted by koanju:
Actually, my favorite part was the description of the grifts. They funny as hell, and it was that scene that made me figure out what Wednesday's plan was, and unravel the book. n_n

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Actually, I much prefer to let the author lead me in the direction he wants to lead me, rather than try to "figure it out" beforehand.

Just reminds me of the time I rented "Sixth Sense" for the first time, and my roomate practically eyeballed me through the whole movie, waiting to see when I would 'get it'. When I did...I think Bruce Willis' character and I finally understood what was going on with him at the same time...it was such a lovely shock, a pleasing revelation. And then I had to hear about how my roomate had it figured out in the 5th scene of the movie.

All I could think of to say was, "That's too bad..."

Likewise with American Gods. What a fabulous book. And Neil took me where I needed to be, when I needed to be there.

Amen to that!

Raven scene - defently had me laughing; I'm a big Poe fan.

I liked the story-within-the-story pieces as well, but the one I liked the most was the ancient people coming to America with Wooly Mammoth god. It added a good twist to the gods coming to America.

And I loved the parts in the funeral home. I found those characters very entertaining.

ShadowÂ’s love scene with Bast is quite memorable. Just the warmth and the healing played out quieted me. But I think my favorite scene(s)were the ones with the ongoing, morbid banter between Shadow and Czernsborg (sp? My apologies), especially early in the novel. It shows Shadown's quiet elegance in accepting the consequences of the bet he made with him after the checkers game (a man of unflinching honor, so unlike his father), but also that he doesnÂ’t take shit (so to speak) in the face of fate. My favorite exchange between the two of them is when Czernsborg is poking at his head yet again, reminding him about the mighty whack heÂ’s going to get, and Shadow tells him. "If you do that again, IÂ’m going to break your hand." I thought it was hysterically deadpan, but I donÂ’t recall Czernsborg doing that again after the warning.

Which made me think of one of the last scenes, when Shadow marches to CzernsborgÂ’s house to fulfill his end of the bargain and take the whack (another great line pertaining to this, was when Shadow said that if it was one thing he learned from spending all this time with Gods, was that you keep your bargains with them). Admittedly, IÂ’ll probably need to reread the scene (as I will many), but I kept wondering why Czernsborg didnÂ’t do what heÂ’d been gleefully threatening for months, only letting Shadow off with a tap. I know he said he had a brother, insinuating that he got the "good brother" that evening, and thus got away with his life. Admittedly, IÂ’m not all read up on my Norse mythology, so I donÂ’t know if this is really the case.

But then, if ShadowÂ’s real name was Baldur (see real name thread) and associated with the spring, whereas Czernsborg was associated with winter, Czernsborg knew he couldnÂ’t kill Shadow. His time had run out. It was Springtime by the time Shadow showed up to pay the debt. And all Gods have to play by the rules, right? Hella cool...IÂ’d say. Guess I could be wrong, though. ~smile~

There was so much in the book that has my brain spinning off in a trillion directions, it will probably be months before I even attempt to sort it all out. So, I can expect to sit bolt upright in the middle of the night some time from now, having just realized some obscure connection. It usually sounds something like: "Oh, so THAT’S why yadda, yadda, yadda!” I’ve really missed those revelations.

God, itÂ’s good to be reading Gaiman again.

Greeny

Czernobog actually said that he was not the good brother that day, but that he was changing. The reason why he was changing was that he realized that he and his brother (Bielbog) were really the same. It was just that those who believed in him associated him with winter due to his dark hair and appearance, while his brother, the blond haired, blue-eyed type, was given the 'good' personality. He was only bad because his worshippers saw him as the 'darker' of the brothers, and now that the lines of worship have begun to blur and fade, he has seen his own true face. He has grown tired of being dark Czernobog, and has finally uncovered enough of the truth to discover that he can be the 'good twin' Bielbog himself, if he wishes.

That's one theory, anyway, garnered from some things he told shadow during various encounters throughout. Probably just bullshit spewed from a madman's mind (by which I mean mine) run rampant. Whatever.

In the "I believe" speech, there si a reference to Schrodinger's Cat. I recently read about that (maybe that was on The Well, I'll check afer posting this), anybody know other recent articles / writings where this has come up?

The scene where Shadow meets the Icelandic Odin: "He was me, yes, but I am not him". That scene sort of hammers home that our gods are what we make them in the end.

I wish I had the book with me so I could the names right, but I don't and oh well.

I think I liked the "Coming to America" bit with Elsie, who brought the "piskies" to America with her when she was an indentured servant.

I enjoyed her boldness and her determination to make something out of the nothing she had to work with.

I also really enjoyed Shadow's first meeting with Sam the Girl. I thought his sizing her up and fixing the coin toss so he had to buy her dinner really demonstrated that despite his flaws and mistakes he was a fundamentally good person. I found it hard to believe that his heart was so heavy at his judgement.

I was surprised by his heart's weight, too, but I think that the weighing takes in more than simply how much good the person has done verses how much evil. I think it takes into account what you think of yourself.

I got the impression that Shadow was under a lot of guilt about a great many things and that is what made his heart heavy. I can't say why I thought this - I have read the book only once so far, and do not have it in front of me.