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Norse Mythology Neil Gaiman 9780393609097 Books

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Norse Mythology Neil Gaiman 9780393609097 Books

I’ve read Neil Gaiman’s American Gods and Neverwhere, and enjoyed his somewhat original writing style and subject matter, so picked this book up, purely on the basis of my earlier experiences with the writer. In retrospect, that was a mistake.

This book is a VERY short presentation of about fifteen Norse tales, some only a few pages long. This entire book could be read in one sitting. The tales are fantastic (not in the sense of being outstanding) and border on the completely silly, even keeping in mind they are pure mythology. While I am sure that Gaiman worked very hard to research and accumulate the contents, there is nothing original here and there is very little to recommend it. If you know anything at all about Norse mythology (Valhallah, Ragnarok, Odin, Thor, Loki, etc.), there will be nothing of substance to add to your pre-exisiting knowledge of the characters. This reeks of a cash grab by the author.


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Norse Mythology Neil Gaiman 9780393609097 Books Reviews

I wanted to have a fun read of Norse Mythology. Neil Gaiman provides that. He starts where he should, which means you have to start like you are a 5 year old first listening to a fable by the fire light. You have to meet these characters somewhere. Just a little later you will get the fun stories and the logic, or lack thereof, of these characters and worlds will play into the structure provided in the first pages.

There are no illustrations, leaving illustrated editions for some future artist. I appreciate this. I get to use my own imagination guided only by Gaiman's clear prose.

The stories are clear and concise. There is very little plodding, even when plodding is the activity in the story.

The book is properly designed. Great typeface, excellent page layout, nice weight to the paper. Unlike many current books your eyes don't trip on a minefield of typographical errors.

This book is what it is, and that is a lot. It isn't Stardust, Coraline, or American Gods, and you should not expect it to be.
First off, let me just admit that I'm a Neil Gaiman fan boy. I love everything he's written. I live his style, his humor, his language.

The thing is...none of that's here. What we have is a more or less generic retelling of a few of the more famous Norse myths. If you're already familiar with them (which I am), then you'll find these retellings uninspired.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who hasn't read any Norse myths. Its an adequate introduction. Otherwise, there's no real point in bothering.
This is genuine storytelling in the oral tradition. It is deliberately written as if you were listening to a grandmother telling the tale around the fire. Picture her waving her arms and leaning forward to emphasize a point, her voice going gutteral and silken interchangeably as she voices a giant or the Trickster Loki.

A prime example is the story of how poetry was born. "It is a long story, and it does no credit to anyone there is murder in it, and trickery, lies and foolishness, seduction and pursuit. Listen.
It began not long after the dawn of time, in a war between the gods the Aesir fought the Vanir. The Aesir were warlike gods of battle and conquest; the Vanir were softer, brother and sister gods and goddesses who made the soils fertile and the plants grow, but none the less powerful for that."
It is a great story, with a perfect comedic last line.

I had this idea that Norse mythology was dire and bleak. A mythology that ends with Ragnorök, the death of the gods and the end of the world doesn't sound entertaining. I couldn't be more wrong. For one thing, Ragnorök is the end of one cycle of the world. Like Wagner's Ring, the world will start over again, just as it once did to usher in the time of the gods.

I have read other books by Neil Gaiman, and so far, this is my favorite. I thought the writing exceptionally evocative. Obviously, Gaiman had some amazing original material to work with, but this was great fun to read. It brings fabulous images to mind, such as this from "Hymir and Thor's Fishing Expedition" "The grandmother with nine hundred heads killed each ox, skinned it, and tossed it into her enormous cooking pot. The pot boiled and bubbled over a fire which hissed and spat, and she stirred it with a spoon as big as an oak tree. She sang quietly to herself as she cooked, in a voice like a thousand old women all singing at the tops of their voices at once."

I usually buy paperbacks, but I got "Norse Mythology" in hardback, because the cover of the hardback is beautiful. The details of Thor's hammer, Mjölnir, are raised and the hammer glimmers. The story of why Thor's hammer is short-handled is included in this collection. Most of the depictions of the hammer in Viking jewelry and carvings show the handle even shorter than on the book cover.

5 stars and a book to re-read with great pleasure!

Happy Reader
Some complain that when compared to Gaiman's other works, Norse Mythology falls a bit flat. The goal of this project was not to tell new stories, but to breath new life into the old stories. Gaiman stays true to the source materials and presents the stories of Thor and Odin and Loki and all of the Norse gods in a language that feels fresh and engaging. I've worked my way through the Prose Edda and the Poetic Edda and they are anything but an easy read. The prose of a millennia past is something of a hot mess. Gaiman has done all of the painful research for us and given us the old stories gift-wrapped in tight, modern language and a clarity and singular narrative that old Snorri Sturluson was incapable of providing. If you want new and exciting stories about Thor and the gang, pick up a Marvel Comic book or Rick Riodan's Magus Chase series. But if you have a genuine academic interest in the old Norse stories, you'll learn more from spending a day with Gaiman's Norse mythology than you will learn from spending a year sifting through the Prose and Poetic Edda and it will be a hell of a lot more fun.
I’ve read Neil Gaiman’s American Gods and Neverwhere, and enjoyed his somewhat original writing style and subject matter, so picked this book up, purely on the basis of my earlier experiences with the writer. In retrospect, that was a mistake.

This book is a VERY short presentation of about fifteen Norse tales, some only a few pages long. This entire book could be read in one sitting. The tales are fantastic (not in the sense of being outstanding) and border on the completely silly, even keeping in mind they are pure mythology. While I am sure that Gaiman worked very hard to research and accumulate the contents, there is nothing original here and there is very little to recommend it. If you know anything at all about Norse mythology (Valhallah, Ragnarok, Odin, Thor, Loki, etc.), there will be nothing of substance to add to your pre-exisiting knowledge of the characters. This reeks of a cash grab by the author.