Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
Even uitvoerige als fragmentarische roman over de naoorlogse VS. De roman loopt terug in de tijd en behandelt enkele zwak afgebakende perioden a.d.h.v. enkele terugkerende personages, veel niet-terugkerende personages en origineel gekozen iconen van een tijd (de Texas Highway Killer, een graffiti-artiest, Lenny Bruce). De passages zijn rijk, levendig en opvallend 'werkelijk' verteld. Je hebt vaak het gevoel de setting te zien, te horen, te ruiken.
Jammergenoeg hangen de hoofdstukken als los zand aan elkaar en ontbreekt iedere spanningsboog. Een zwak verhaaltje over een zoektocht naar een beroemde baseball, de tamelijk oninteressante terugkerende personages kunstenares Sarah, haar ex-liefde Nick en diens broer Matt en wat Leitmotive als afval en de koude oorlog zijn niet genoeg om het gebrek aan constructie en werkelijke zeggingskracht te compenseren.
Eigenlijk blijft de magistrale opening (een bijna real-timeverslag van een blijkbaar zeer beroemde baseballwedstrijd tussen de New York Giants en de Dodgers uit 1951) het meest indrukwekkend. De rest van deze 'Great American Novel' bezwijkt onder zijn eigen gewicht. Niet uitgelezen.
Jammergenoeg hangen de hoofdstukken als los zand aan elkaar en ontbreekt iedere spanningsboog. Een zwak verhaaltje over een zoektocht naar een beroemde baseball, de tamelijk oninteressante terugkerende personages kunstenares Sarah, haar ex-liefde Nick en diens broer Matt en wat Leitmotive als afval en de koude oorlog zijn niet genoeg om het gebrek aan constructie en werkelijke zeggingskracht te compenseren.
Eigenlijk blijft de magistrale opening (een bijna real-timeverslag van een blijkbaar zeer beroemde baseballwedstrijd tussen de New York Giants en de Dodgers uit 1951) het meest indrukwekkend. De rest van deze 'Great American Novel' bezwijkt onder zijn eigen gewicht. Niet uitgelezen.
At the end of the day what holds this novel back from being a 5 star read is its length. Parts three and four is where I almost dropped it for good. I am glad I stuck through because the final parts of this book are masterful with the epilogue being some of the best writing Delillo has put to the page.
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"Some people have a personal god, okay. I'm looking to get a personal computer. What's the difference?"
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
The prologue -- about Bobby Thompson's famous "shot heard round the world" from the 1951 Giants-Dodger pennant playoff is now one of my favorite pieces of American writing. Just amazing. I could read it dozens of times. Just splendid. The epilogue was remarkable, albeit slightly less compelling, but still remarkable.
I say all this, because I almost completely lost interest with the book from sections 2-4. I could just care less about these main characters and their being-in-the-world. Section 5, especially the Lenny Bruce material, kept me going. And section 6 was just magisterial -- DeLillo's eye and ear for his 1950s Italian Bronx is high art. Redeemed the whole novel, and cruised me smoothly into the Epilogue.
Yes, you must reckon with Underworld. Its Cold War decades. Its Americanness. And its intertwinings.
I say all this, because I almost completely lost interest with the book from sections 2-4. I could just care less about these main characters and their being-in-the-world. Section 5, especially the Lenny Bruce material, kept me going. And section 6 was just magisterial -- DeLillo's eye and ear for his 1950s Italian Bronx is high art. Redeemed the whole novel, and cruised me smoothly into the Epilogue.
Yes, you must reckon with Underworld. Its Cold War decades. Its Americanness. And its intertwinings.
One of Jonathan Franzen's "Rules for Writing" submitted to the Guardian in 2010 is that "[t]he reader is a friend, not an adversary, not a spectator." Don Delillo, one of Franzen's (and DFW's, while I'm at it, because why the hell not) heroes, does not observe this rule. Reading this book, you're not an enemy exactly, but neither are you guided carefully and patiently; there's so much showoffy stylization, displays of linguistic powers that are not quite emotionally stirring but still breathtaking and perhaps-profound, as you're strung along impressed by the profound coldness you're enveloped in (cf. an Antonioni or Kubrick movie) but suspicious that it's all edge and no wedge. Still, the effort is rewarding. I started this just before the 10-year commemoration of 9/11, having heard good things about it over time but honestly spurred, superficial as this may be, by the prescient irony of the cover image, and trusting no one better than Don Delillo to process the strange whir of feelings I was having as the 'anniversary' marker approached. (On the topic of covers, the back blurb illustrates the pathetic folly of attempting a pithy plot summary for something like this -- I glanced at the first few words of it when I was about 150-200 pages in to the actual book, shuddered, and vowed not to look at the back cover again before finishing the actual book). I enjoyed the Lenny Bruce (the nervous, hyperintelligent survivalist cynic) and the prim paranoia of the J. Edgar Hoover characters. An essential 20th century New York book; it gives voice to the things that haunt you, and breathe beneath your skin.
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Look, I'm sure they'd be some sort of payoff in there somewhere, but the prose (clever and enticing as it is) is not enough to make me want to spend 800 pages with these people/story/narrative.