Book Report

Back in the day, when I read books like Lowis Lowry's The Giver (which is a book all about memory) and Anne Frank's diary (which is another book about memory, odd how amnesis has always been a part of my life), I always had these opportunities to write "Book Reports" which were basically assignments students did to prove that they could read.

In these, "Book Reports", there was always a summary and then a brief few words about "what I thought" which was almost always summed up with "I like this book". Anyway, these reports were pretty much worthless but they served one very important purpose, to teach youngsters how to speak in front of large groups and to allow them to practice this skill. Though I will not be presenting this book report in front of the class, I hope, through secondary orality, to capture the feeling of the old style book report (complete with bad grammar and stammering). Why? Because I want to relate this book to Walter Ong's book, Orality and Literacy, and share one of my favorite populist writers (I know I know, we're erudite here, but I think it's important to see what the enemy is up to on occation).

So with no further bullcrap, here is my Book Report...

Um, hi, my name is Tai and I want to talk about a book that I read. It is called, American Gods, and it's about a guy named Shadow and it was written by Neil Gaiman and I really liked this book and I think you should all read it. This book has a lightning bolt on the cover and it is about gods who live in America who are want to fight eachother. I think it has some stuff about America and it is a critique on the technologizing of America and it has a bunch of old mythologies incorporated into its content. I thought that the inclusion of the likes of Loki and Odin and Bastet in a modern book was kind of corny but after a while I started to realize why Neil Gaiman did it. He did it because he is writing about the oral tradition, also, he is weaving a roaring yarn of war and fighting and women who eat men with their vaginas (you have to read the book).

In the story, the gods of the land are sustained through the stories and traditions of their followers. Their power is enhanced by the number of times their names are uttered in prayer and the root of their existence comes from the words of their congregation. As the congregations of these norse gods all but disappear, the deities of the dying faiths would take human forms, finding niches to fit into. Here is where the relation to Ong's book begins. In chapter 6, Ong writes about the stories behind Anansi and the elemental gods of the old religions. He asserts that the power of these stories came from their repeated utterance. In doing so, the deity would become a god that one could get behind.

During the course of his travels, Shadow meets all manner of old deities who do little more than eat, sleep, and live forever. Though their existence is assured by the old manuscripts, the true potential of each god is squelched by the complete lack of an oral tradition. Instead, the Gods that truly control the land are those gods that we have created from technology. The computer, the film, and all manner of other contemporary devices have become the means of our communication and thus new gods are born. At first, the syntax doesn't seem perfect, the computer is a medium and the stories of the Norse Gods are stories, however, if one looks at the medium which the old Norse, Native American, Celtic, and Egyptian stories were related, Orally, one finds Orality as the counter part to the electronic mediums presented in the book (I am aware that the Egyptians use chirographic techniques on papyrus to relate information, this is not an analysis, this is a book report, I am allowed to be misinformed and stupid).

Towards the last quarter of the book, Shadow dies and finds himself before Anubis for judgement. However, Eostre brings him back to life by reciting his name. If this isn't Oral Tradition-ish, I don't know what is.

And I don't want to give away the ending so I'm going to stop there. Hope you liked my book report on American Gods by Neil Gaiman.