Anansi Boys
Feb. 11th, 2011 07:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hells_half_acreI hope everyone is enjoying the east coast feed of Supernatural! I'm about to take off to my friend's place to watch the west feed (or the PVRed, east feed)...so, I'll be posting my quick reaction later, as usual, yay!
Anyway, I just finished Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. Since I posted about American Gods, I figured I should post about this one too.
I liked it. It's hard to say whether I liked it more or less than American Gods, because the two books were very different. Anansi Boys is far less dense and far more traditionally-novelly (if that makes any sense). American Gods, I thought, had a bit of a wonky format, but Anansi Boys didn't feel that way...it was more story and less world-building perhaps.
(Oh, when I posted about American Gods, I forgot to say how much I loved the little short stories between chapters sometimes...especially the New York Cabbie one...that one was so deliciously perfect and creepy).
It occurred to me, while reading Anansi Boys, that I usually only read books about white people...I had never noticed this until now. I'm trying to figure out if this is the first time I ever read a story that had non-white protagonists. Way to live in a bubble of Caucasian-ness, me.
The other thing I thought I would mention is that the narrator of my audiobook was fantastic. The book was read by Lenny Henry, and I know nothing about him, except that his reading of this book was one of the best readings of a book I've ever heard. I'd put him right up there with Jim Dale (is that right?) - the dude who reads the Harry Potter books. Actually, I'd go so far as to rank him even slightly above that...I especially liked his voice to Tiger, it was PURRRRFECT...and really, he had everyone perfect. It was really well done. I wonder if you can search audiobooks by narrator?
So, yes, Anansi Boys was a good book...and I'm really glad I decided that Dean was a fan of this book in that drabble I wrote the other week. It fits him perfectly.
Anyway, I just finished Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. Since I posted about American Gods, I figured I should post about this one too.
I liked it. It's hard to say whether I liked it more or less than American Gods, because the two books were very different. Anansi Boys is far less dense and far more traditionally-novelly (if that makes any sense). American Gods, I thought, had a bit of a wonky format, but Anansi Boys didn't feel that way...it was more story and less world-building perhaps.
(Oh, when I posted about American Gods, I forgot to say how much I loved the little short stories between chapters sometimes...especially the New York Cabbie one...that one was so deliciously perfect and creepy).
It occurred to me, while reading Anansi Boys, that I usually only read books about white people...I had never noticed this until now. I'm trying to figure out if this is the first time I ever read a story that had non-white protagonists. Way to live in a bubble of Caucasian-ness, me.
The other thing I thought I would mention is that the narrator of my audiobook was fantastic. The book was read by Lenny Henry, and I know nothing about him, except that his reading of this book was one of the best readings of a book I've ever heard. I'd put him right up there with Jim Dale (is that right?) - the dude who reads the Harry Potter books. Actually, I'd go so far as to rank him even slightly above that...I especially liked his voice to Tiger, it was PURRRRFECT...and really, he had everyone perfect. It was really well done. I wonder if you can search audiobooks by narrator?
So, yes, Anansi Boys was a good book...and I'm really glad I decided that Dean was a fan of this book in that drabble I wrote the other week. It fits him perfectly.
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Date: 2011-02-12 02:10 pm (UTC)Also re:mysteries, I know this isn't everyone's dish, but Georgette Heyer (regency romance queen) wrote several manor house English mysteries that I remember more fondly than Christie. I don't know if these are available as audiobooks.
Other recent audiobooks that rocked my world -- any of the Dresden books. James Marsters narrates, and oooohhh baby. He has become the voice of Harry Dresden for me.
Any of the Laurie King Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes stories, from the Beekeeper's Apprentice through O Jerusalem get rave reviews. Classy, top drawer narrator on this series.
Mike Carey's Felix Castor series is unbelievably good, starting with The Devil You Know. Again, superb narrator.
So many books, so little time! Enjoy!
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Date: 2011-02-12 07:41 pm (UTC)