Don Delillo

[Robbert-Jan]

Noticed there wasn't a special thread about him (at least according to the search). There should be, hence this thread.

I'm busy reading Underworld at the moment. I think the prologue is one of the best things I've ever read. It's envelopes the theme of the entire novel, it has the same undercurrent of Cold War tension and it manages to keep you engaged in reading sixty pages about a baseball match. The people described feel real (and some are ofcourse) and the amazing atmosphere of that night is captured brilliantly (as far as I can imagine a night like that to be).

I've only just started the novel and I'm only as far as page 300 and the most noticeable things: the jazz-style proze can at times be confusing, you easily lose the overview at times, in kind helped by the variaty of characters and the non-lineair storytelling. This only distracts a short while though. On the whole the stories are great, and above all beautifully told. The stark realism captures the zeitgeist very well most of the time. I also enjoy the funny moments, some really are laugh-out-loud good:)

anyway, Delillo, discuss!

[metal134]

I haven't read any of his work yet, but I have "White Noise" on my bookshelf and short list. Actually, after I finshed my last book, I was trying to decide between "As I lay Dying", "The Green Mile" and "White Noise". I went with "The Green Mile", so "As I Lay Dying" or "White Noise" is next. Acually, I think you helped me make my decision; "White Noise' will be next! As far as "Underworld", that's one I've been meaning to pick up and probably will soon.

[Cicilin]

Noticed there wasn't a special thread about him (at least according to the search). There should be, hence this thread.




Sad....I haven't read any!!!
Hah, what a big surprise to pick up Chinese words here. "反逆者"!:yawnb:

[uranderson]

I was first introduced to Delillo in a 20th century American novels course at GMU. We read End Zone, which is one of his shorter novels. I remember being blown away at the time, as I was by nearly everything we read that semester: The Sun Also Rises, The Crying of Lot 49, As I Lay Dying, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, among others. Oddly enough, with all those great novels, I picked Delillo's to write my end of semester thesis on. (A very poor attempt at depicting some hazy correlation between the novel's themes and Zen-Buddhism.) I still remember him fondly several years later for his deeply rooted irreverence and originality. He doesn't remind me of anybody.

Since then I've only started and dropped, in true ADD-fashion, Libra and Underworld. Underworld starts so well, the whole Robby Thompson homerun ball sequence. I don't know why I put it down, whatever it was, it was more about me being so easily distractible than some failure of the novel. I keep meaning to go back to it...

I should pick it up again and share some thoughts here.

[papayahed]

I started Underworld several times but it just doesn't seem to hold my interest, perhaps I'll try again.

[metal134]

I'm halfway through "White Noise" and I can really see where DeLillo is going with this. It is a commentary on the rampant rise in consumerism, media saturation, etc. in the late 20th century. There is an obvious "Catch 22" influence here in the way the characters speak and act. It's not as over-the-top as in "Catch 22", but there is an obvious influence.

[Robbert-Jan]

Yeah I'm slowly going through Underworld, I read several chapters a week, but I read other books next to it. It's a novel that I think is meant to be read slowly. The pace is slowly as well, but in my opinion it is still interesting to read after you've layed it aside for a while. His proze is very very beautiful and the stories are all great. I love how the stories of the baseball and the toxic-waste keep coming up through the decades.

[SirJazzHands]

Whit Noise depressed me. The characters were flat and seemed pretty underdeveloped. I did like Heinrich and his dad because the conversations they had were always funny, but.. I didn't even begin the 3rd part of the book because I couldn't take how after halfway in the book there was little to no characterization. Maybe his other books are better.

[Mark F.]

I read "The Body Artist" a few weeks ago, didn't like it.