LITTLE BOOK CLUB discussion

What are your thoughts on Neil Gaiman's writing style, in particular?

*SPOILERS DOWN BELOW*

On his writing style: The dialogue, in particular, has been difficult to get used to because it can ramble. I realized most writers cut out the rambling parts; aiming for a succinct realism sort of vibe.

I still feel like I'm missing a piece of the puzzle. I guess we're supposed to be in the same place as Shadow? I feel like I'm missing something important but haven't figured out what that is yet.

Kas wrote: "On his writing style: The dialogue, in particular, has been difficult to get used to because it can ramble. I realized most writers cut out the rambling parts; aiming for a succinct realism sort of..."

Shadow is definitely our stand in (thus why no one can figure out what his ethnicity is). He's supposed to represent America. (At least I'm guessing. My English major brain is taking over.)

"A story's a good way of gettin' someone on your side." Combine that with the conversation of the white hats and black hats at the beginning of chapter nine, I think that's kind of the point of telling this story, to get the reader on the side of the old gods.

Also, I have found that reading this like a series of short stories makes it easier to read than as if it was one connected novel. Gaiman is a bit rambley in this book compared to some of the other things I've read of his. I think the point of that is to give the feel of a road trip where you have a couple of interesting stops, but most of the time you're just driving along.

Mary wrote: ""A story's a good way of gettin' someone on your side." Combine that with the conversation of the white hats and black hats at the beginning of chapter nine, I think that's kind of the point of tel..."
That's a really good way to describe it.
I'm halfway through the book and I thought I would know more about Shadow not really his back story but I think he's important to Mr.Wednesday and I'm not sure why. Hopefully I'll find out by the end of the book.

I read other books by Gaiman which are shorter then this one eg Ocean at the End of the Lane and Stardust. Before reading this one I didn't expect the writing style to be different then what I've seen before. It does look like he's rambling quite a lot that sometimes I wonder why doesn't he cut the parts out and just go straight to the point? But I can be patient so it'll be nice to see where he's going with this. As far as the plot is going, there is still a lot of open questions esp with Shadow and Wednesdays relationship. I'm still trying to understand how Wednesday knew him in the beginning.

I love Neil Gaiman writing! He write lyrical and nonsense. I always compare his writing to Lewis Carroll.