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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
I can definitely appreciate the effort and complexity of this book. It manages to be admirable, but also seems self-indulgent.
The experience of the book is one of being suffocated by the author's direct perceptions, while not telling a strong enough story to really show you how he might have come to these perceptions. And this was interesting to me, because I usually greatly enjoy these perceptive observations in books, especially when they carry the kind of interesting prose that DeLillo's do. But, it was too much. It was like having an overbearing mother-figure insist that you will experience society, your country, your life this way. His use of words, which is unique, becomes disappointingly commonplace as the book goes on, which feels like the reader is being robbed of the freshness of the experience.
His characters were lacking a dimension, as well. So, though the book is touted as balancing the intimate with the panoramic I don't think he pulls off the intimate as well. I would have liked it if he had selected a few less story lines to weave and gone deeper.
Even more interesting was that there seemed to be a clear "message" or intent of the book-which he pulls together in a speech about waste and nuclear energy/threat, but it really generated a sense of apathy in me, despite the manic energy of the text.
I didn't mind that there weren't really any surprises, but at least some sense that these people were impacted would help. Finally, despite its great length, the last 10-15% seemed rushed. I thought, "Okay, here comes some resolution, or even (and I usually like this better) some profound lack of resolution, and there was neither.
On the positive side, I enjoyed many of the historical/cultural references and appreciate the research that must have gone into this. J Edgar Hoover having a masque made for himself to wear to a party . . . the shot heard around the world . . . Lenny Bruce . . . etc.
And, hey, this book inspired me to write the longest review that I've ever written. Perhaps the hidden genius will continue to reveal itself to me.
The experience of the book is one of being suffocated by the author's direct perceptions, while not telling a strong enough story to really show you how he might have come to these perceptions. And this was interesting to me, because I usually greatly enjoy these perceptive observations in books, especially when they carry the kind of interesting prose that DeLillo's do. But, it was too much. It was like having an overbearing mother-figure insist that you will experience society, your country, your life this way. His use of words, which is unique, becomes disappointingly commonplace as the book goes on, which feels like the reader is being robbed of the freshness of the experience.
His characters were lacking a dimension, as well. So, though the book is touted as balancing the intimate with the panoramic I don't think he pulls off the intimate as well. I would have liked it if he had selected a few less story lines to weave and gone deeper.
Even more interesting was that there seemed to be a clear "message" or intent of the book-which he pulls together in a speech about waste and nuclear energy/threat, but it really generated a sense of apathy in me, despite the manic energy of the text.
I didn't mind that there weren't really any surprises, but at least some sense that these people were impacted would help. Finally, despite its great length, the last 10-15% seemed rushed. I thought, "Okay, here comes some resolution, or even (and I usually like this better) some profound lack of resolution, and there was neither.
On the positive side, I enjoyed many of the historical/cultural references and appreciate the research that must have gone into this. J Edgar Hoover having a masque made for himself to wear to a party . . . the shot heard around the world . . . Lenny Bruce . . . etc.
And, hey, this book inspired me to write the longest review that I've ever written. Perhaps the hidden genius will continue to reveal itself to me.
A professor told me this book would be a bear to read, and it was. It took me almost 2 months...but it was worth it. A masterpiece of post-modernism.
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Nuclear war + baseball + waste management + art + "we're all gonna die" = an incredibly rewarding, if sometimes difficult, reading experience. DeLillo is the master at connecting themes and stories and people over years and ideas and even inanimate objects (like a baseball). You won't remember everything when you're finished - but DeLillo's prose is often gorgeous, and it's enough to remember how fondly you enjoyed it while you were reading it.
Also, everyone is right: The prologue - about the Giants vs. Dodgers game in 1951, in which Bobby Thompson hits the "shot heard 'round the world" and "The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!" is some of the most lucid, vivid writing you'll ever read - not just about baseball, but period.
Also, everyone is right: The prologue - about the Giants vs. Dodgers game in 1951, in which Bobby Thompson hits the "shot heard 'round the world" and "The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!" is some of the most lucid, vivid writing you'll ever read - not just about baseball, but period.
Good stuff. Unfortunately, I found the middle sections of this to be somewhat of a slog, and my dwindling interest was perhaps exacerbated by the proximity to the pure literary mastery DeLilo exercises in the novel's prologue. The rest of the novel is quite good, sure, but it never quite retains the charm and cohesion of its initial section - there are dozens of incredible moments, and far more sections of brilliant prose or wordplay, but they are disseminated among content I found somewhat uninteresting. Then again, perhaps I would have found the length justified if I cared for the main cast of characters in the same way that I adored the protagonist of the first section. Quite the worthwhile read, yet one that reaches its peak far too early for my liking.
A beautiful book covering so much time and the lives of such strange people.
“Everything is connected in the end.”
DeLillo’s word flows off the page, streams and gushes for so long you only become vaguely aware that he has kept your attention for 600, 700, 800 pages. Hard to put down, hard to think about.
What was it really about? What was his message? Was there a message? Is life after the Cold War just an epilogue, a series of episodic intervals where nothing happens on the grand scale, where the real battleground is what goes on for you and me?
Perhaps that liberal idea of the “end of history” is involved.
I liked this book.
“Everything is connected in the end.”
DeLillo’s word flows off the page, streams and gushes for so long you only become vaguely aware that he has kept your attention for 600, 700, 800 pages. Hard to put down, hard to think about.
What was it really about? What was his message? Was there a message? Is life after the Cold War just an epilogue, a series of episodic intervals where nothing happens on the grand scale, where the real battleground is what goes on for you and me?
Perhaps that liberal idea of the “end of history” is involved.
I liked this book.
I recommend everyone read the first chapter. The rest I could do without.