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American Gods Discussion - Chapter 19-20 & Epilogue
So now it is finished. And there is a lot to talk about. What were your impressions?
Chapter 19: Shadow drops Mr. Nancy off in Florida; there is lots of fun karaoke in Florida. Shadow dreams of the Buffalo Man for the last time, who is revealed to not be a god, but the land itself. Hungover, Shadow remembers Ganesh, from his time on the World Tree. He realizes that he has to get back to Lakeside before the ice melts, having come to and understanding.
Chapter 20: Shadow rushes back to Lakeside and finds Alison McGovern’s body in the trunk of the klunker, just before the car crashes through the thawing ice (during his time period for the raffle). Hinzelmann hauls him out of the lake and back to his home; as Shadow warms up and recovers by the fire, he confronts Hinzelmann, a god who has been killing the children nearly since the start of the town, about the dead children. Chad Mulligan interrupts them, shoots the aggressive Hinzelmann, and sets the house on fire. Shadow is able to push the events of the day from Mulligan’s mind saving him for suicide, and says goodbye. In Madison, Shadow sees Sam one last time, but remains unseen. Then goes to pay his debt to Czernobog, who taps him on the head lightly.
Postscript: Shadow wanders about Reykjavik, Iceland on the Fourth of July and meets Odin. They talk, and Shadow show's him some tricks, give's him Wednesday's glass eye, and walks away.




I really enjoyed this book and plan to reread it soon. I'm still laughing that I did not put two and two together about Low Key being Loki. IT WAS RIGHT IN MY FACE LOL. I knew there was something off with Hinzelmann, but I couldn't put my finger on what exactly it was. That was quiet the reveal though! For some reason I thought that they pulled the same clunker out of the lake every year since it was a man made lake, so imagine my surprise when there were multiple clunkers sitting at the bottom of the lake. Did anyone else think the same thing? I'm now wondering how big the lake is because it didn't seem that big either.
Did anyone else read the special anniversary version? If you didn't, it turns out the extra stuff was at the end after the book ended. It was really interesting to see the chapter that never made it into the book where Shadow meets Jesus. I totally get why it didn't make it into the original publication. I also see why Gaiman felt that it didn't really fit into the book, but it was still interesting to read anyway.
I didn't think that they used the same car every year, but it did strike me as very odd that they threw a car in annually. Like, how big is this lake. Is it really healthy for a lake to have that many cars sitting at it's bottom? It was odd. But then, it was also really odd to me when everyone was telling the cop to date his cousin? So I kind of had a moment like maybe I just don't know anything about rural America? Maybe they have lakes full of cars and it's okay to date your cousin.
It's also odd that only one other person besides Shadow discovered the story of the missing children. A car gets put into the lake every year. A kid disappears every year. No one checks the trunk of said car. Hinzelmann did have a bit of his own magic, so maybe everyone's in a daze, but two people did discover it, so does that mean that the Police Officers fam member was special in the way that Shadow was special, and that's why they were both able to see the truth, or is everyone else in that town just idiotic?
I might be alone on thinking it was the same car every year lol. I was like, it's so extra and weird to sink the same car and then pull it back out of the lake every year XD I thought it was really strange about everyone being like, go for it! about his cousin. I'm like, is it a small town thing? Is it influenced by Hinzelmann's presence in that town? But even Shadow was okay with it, so it's really confusing.
I'm guessing everyone in the town was either blind or magically bamboozled, but then Shadow made the cop forget, so it's highly possible that he was magically bamboozled too. Plus, they seemed to only remember a kid going missing that year and the year before, so it's entirely possible that Hinzelmann always made everyone forget that someone went missing every year around the time that they were getting ready to put a clunker out on the lake. If that's the case, it could also mean that anyone who figured it out was always made to forget.
I definitely have to read it again. I think you may be right about the fact that everyone was made to forget, since I think Shadow points out that this situation can't go on forever, now that times have changed and there are plenty of ways for stories like missing kids to get out and become news around the country.
I liked this book a lot, but I'm surprised at the love that other people have for it. Once I finished it, I wanted to hear, in detail, everyone's feelings. What they loved and what they hated and why, because I found it a little...lackluster.
It's the same way I feel about Shadow. I like him, I guess. There isn't a whole lot to like or dislike about him, but it seems like other readers picked something up about him that I didn't, something that pushed them to feel strongly either way?
The story was good, the writing was great, I loved the world, but it all felt very incomplete. I know that Gaiman doesn't really do sequels, but maybe expansion would help with this world. Maybe I needed some sort of battle after all of that build up. Maybe I needed a character who had a stronger sense of self. Maybe I needed a story from Laura's point of view.
Anyway, I'd love to hear anyone rave about this book in detail. I definitely plan on reading it again, asap, and writing up a review.
I love the book! I did think that the way the war ended was lackluster since the whole book was building up to it. It was just like, oh. Shadow put an end to it, and the rest of the ending was tying up loose ends.
I liked shadow, but it does seem like he's not really there sometimes even though he's the protag. I guess his name says everything because he's in the shadows and can blend in easily.
I am wondering what's going to happen in the second book. I added it to my to read list without checking out the synopsis lol. I should probably go read it since I'm like, is it a continuation? Are we following a different group of characters? Is it Shadow vs a new potential battle?
There are two short story sequels to American Gods, and Anansi Boys is the novel sequel that follow's Mr. Nancy's kids. That novel is my all-time favorite Gaiman book.
This was just pointed out to me, which is funny because I'd known about Anansi Boys at least. I think I might even own it. Can't wait to read them now.
That lackluster feeling about Shadow hit me too the first time I read it. Shadow's identity-or the things he uses to cement his identity-keep getting torn from him. Laura, Robbie, Mr. Wednesday, and so on.
I feel that's why Shadow feels so empty as a character. He just starts to re-identify himself and bam, something wrecks it. Shadow's snarky, he likes kids and coin tricks and Sam, but it took until this reading to see how broken he is.
Did anyone have speculation about what god Shadow would be if he was one?
This is why I'm definitely re-reading the book. I hadn't thought about the fact that Shadow uses these outside influences to cement his identity, and even that might be a good reason for his name being Shadow. I won't go as far as to say that he mimics those around him, but he does use other people to give things meaning. The way that Laura is the one who convinced him to go in on the robbery, the easy way he fell into working at the funeral home and to working with Wednesday. He kind of becomes a shadow of those around him.
I'd been wondering who he might be. I read the entire book wondering who people really were, but I didn't think of Shadow maybe being Baldur, as I've seen him being mentioned as. Admittedly, I know very little about that god. Isn't he Odin's fave son, or generally more loved than other gods? Other than that, I remember reading that his death was very important. If that's the case, it's interesting because he's so important to Wednesday, and his birth and death really are important to his plans.
Glad you liked it enough to re-read it. Shadow does get along with others easily. Well, others who aren't jackasses.
Norse Mythology has a lot of amazing hints that tie in with the American Gods characters.
Also, Shadow becomes one with the World Tree late in the book. He palms the stars, plays with them like coins. Hint?
Also also, got any thoughts as to what that mountian of skulls and ship of fingernails means in relation to Shadow?
I'm going to start re-reading tomorrow. I was just telling someone else that I want to read it more slowly. I think I rushed through it because I really did like it and I wanted to know what would happen with everyone. I was greedy about it, and maybe that's why I missed so much.
Ooh, now I have to read it with your hints, and brush up on my Norse mythology. I can't say that I have thoughts worth sharing on the mountain of skulls and the ship of fingernails. Is this also something that I should know more about the mythos for? Or should I just be reading the book more closely for that?
The skulls and ships seem to be images unique to Shadow, both in the book and the short stories. Definitely worth looking into on a re-read.
There's really no novel out there as rich and enjoyable as American Gods. It's literature and it's funny. It's magnificent and it's normal. Shadow also strikes me as a character too subtle to be pinned down. He could still change and go in any direction.
I hear you there. Shadow's name kind of says everything about him.