I keep wondering what would be useful to post now that I publish my posts in the context of my classes. Trying to set some kind of freakish example I guess.
One of the things that inspire me is to follow the work of artists over a long period of time. How does the work change, how do the same ideas evolve and go to other places in the imagination? This post is an example of that.
I started being aware of Neil Gaiman with his series of Graphic Novels “Sandman”; there was something different about it. It somehow reached me. I followed his work and finally read “American Gods”, I thought it was inventive writing and storytelling.
The story is wrapped around the idea of immigration. As the various cultures that formed America emigrated from their homelands so did their Gods. They are many, one and more for each culture. Now these Gods, when they get to America and realize that their people are now more interested in money, property and technology end up getting a little bored. So they begin to wrestle between each other to try and get more followers.
WARNING… obtuse language and, at times, a bit riské
The story is about a developing war between the old Gods (tradition, history, place) and the new gods (money, technology, ownership).
The video adaptation is quite interesting with amazingly arresting imagery and a twisted enough plot to keep the viewer wondering what is coming next (even if you read the book).