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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
I was with this book until it suggested that David Ferrie attempted to rape Lee Harvey Oswald on page 372.
slow-paced
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Very fun read, especially because I didn’t really know what it was about in the beginning. I was primed to know who some of the characters are because of my embarrassing proclivity for conspiracy podcasts but giving them life and dialogue and fleshing them out was extremely satisfying. An absolute page turner with dellilo’s wonderful prose and irreverent affect.
I don't think this is a book I would have ever read on my own, but Chris read this first and wanted me to read it too, so I did even though I've never really felt a drive to read Don Delillo nor have I ever really cared much about the Kennedy assassination conspiracy theory. But I liked this book. It's a good story. Chris really liked it but he was obsessed with the Cold War for awhile, so he could interact with it a little bit more. I had to go read the Wikipedia page on the Bay of Pigs because I couldn't quite remember any of the details.
I never connected to any of the characters, but maybe that was on purpose? I guess the plot was meant to be the focus. In the beginning it feels like there's a lot to keep track of, but maybe that's because I kept Googling everyone's name to see if they were a real person or not. Had I more interest in or knowledge of the subject matter, I think I would have liked this a lot more, but as is, it was worth reading.
I never connected to any of the characters, but maybe that was on purpose? I guess the plot was meant to be the focus. In the beginning it feels like there's a lot to keep track of, but maybe that's because I kept Googling everyone's name to see if they were a real person or not. Had I more interest in or knowledge of the subject matter, I think I would have liked this a lot more, but as is, it was worth reading.
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
DeLillo has taken the history of JFK’s assassination and crafted his own captivating mythology around the subject. With its wide cast of characters—from Lee Harvey Oswald as lonely teen to young recruit to aspiring communist; his long-suffering mother; his Russian wife; and a host of shadowy CIA operatives—Libra is one of the few books that I've wanted to devour in one sitting.
DeLillo writes prose so enraptured and intoxicating you could get drunk on it. He skilfully blends stream-of-consciousness with deep third person POVs, flitting between seemingly irrelevant memories (the rust on the edge of a table, or the pressure of air and the smell of a room as one enters it). In this way the prose feels very cinematic. Sometimes paragraphs are like scene descriptions in a script. Short observations. A smell here. Or a sound there.
I enjoyed it much more than White Noise. In comparison, this book has a much different tone—it is graver, heftier with a slow, anxiety-inducing pressure to the prose.
Overall Libra is a book you want to end and yet not end; a book that seduces you to keep reading but also one you wish to savour. I look forward to reading it again.
DeLillo writes prose so enraptured and intoxicating you could get drunk on it. He skilfully blends stream-of-consciousness with deep third person POVs, flitting between seemingly irrelevant memories (the rust on the edge of a table, or the pressure of air and the smell of a room as one enters it). In this way the prose feels very cinematic. Sometimes paragraphs are like scene descriptions in a script. Short observations. A smell here. Or a sound there.
I enjoyed it much more than White Noise. In comparison, this book has a much different tone—it is graver, heftier with a slow, anxiety-inducing pressure to the prose.
Overall Libra is a book you want to end and yet not end; a book that seduces you to keep reading but also one you wish to savour. I look forward to reading it again.
“Lee Harvey Oswald. Saying it like a secret they'd keep forever. […] Lee Harvey Oswald. No matter what happened, how hard they schemed against her, this was the one thing they could not take away--the true and lasting power of his name. It belonged to her now, and to history.”
Probably my favorite DeLillo so far
Probably my favorite DeLillo so far