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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
This book is a tough slog. And I don’t just say that because of the length – I whipped through Anna Karenina a lot faster. The sentences are dense, and the way it shuttles back and forth through time is pretty confusing, and one of its core strands is following a baseball (surely only interesting to Americans and perhaps the Japanese?) – actually, I’m not sure I really liked Underworld.
But on the other hand, it is incredibly intricate and clever. Those dense sentences can be so beautiful in the way they both minutely detail and raise to a higher plane everyday objects and experiences; the confusing structure is a masterpiece of intricate plotting and narrative unraveling.
I found the parts on waste management the most classically Don DeLillo(ian?). The wry commentary on the human cesspit mankind has created around with such wild abandon reminded me greatly of White Noise. But unlike White Noise, Underworld doles out a lot more sympathy than satire, as its many characters undergo their existential crises, from a serial killer who shoots drivers on the motorway, to the austere Catholic nun who secretly adores celeb gossip mags, to Nick Shay, arguably Underworld’s main character, a ne’er-do-well Italian American who becomes a respected businessman and familyman. There are even cameos from Frank Sinatra and J. Edgar Hoover.
You could read Underworld as a sweeping overview of America and Americana in the last few decades. More specifically, you could read it as a look at the last few decades of living in New York City. More specifically still, you could read it as an examination of the gritty, poor, working-class people of Brooklyn.
Underworld gave me plenty of pause, thinking about issues from nuclear war to the purpose of religion, bravado-driven acts of violence to contemporary art. There’s a lot of thinking material crammed in here – it’s just a bit overwhelming.
Overall I think I liked this book. And I’m glad it’s over.
But on the other hand, it is incredibly intricate and clever. Those dense sentences can be so beautiful in the way they both minutely detail and raise to a higher plane everyday objects and experiences; the confusing structure is a masterpiece of intricate plotting and narrative unraveling.
I found the parts on waste management the most classically Don DeLillo(ian?). The wry commentary on the human cesspit mankind has created around with such wild abandon reminded me greatly of White Noise. But unlike White Noise, Underworld doles out a lot more sympathy than satire, as its many characters undergo their existential crises, from a serial killer who shoots drivers on the motorway, to the austere Catholic nun who secretly adores celeb gossip mags, to Nick Shay, arguably Underworld’s main character, a ne’er-do-well Italian American who becomes a respected businessman and familyman. There are even cameos from Frank Sinatra and J. Edgar Hoover.
You could read Underworld as a sweeping overview of America and Americana in the last few decades. More specifically, you could read it as a look at the last few decades of living in New York City. More specifically still, you could read it as an examination of the gritty, poor, working-class people of Brooklyn.
Underworld gave me plenty of pause, thinking about issues from nuclear war to the purpose of religion, bravado-driven acts of violence to contemporary art. There’s a lot of thinking material crammed in here – it’s just a bit overwhelming.
Overall I think I liked this book. And I’m glad it’s over.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
3.8 stars. The first 50 pages were beautiful, but after the next 50, I began to flip around the book at random, which didn't seem to hurt my understanding of the plot (there isn't one, in any conventional sense), but did allow me to escape boredom whenever it began to grip me.
Achingly well-written in many places, with quite a few pages I photographed for later viewing and inspiration, but doesn't go for long in any one chapter without beginning to meander. Try the random-flip method like I did and you'll get the better parts of the book without feeling obliged to finish. And then, if you really want to know what it was "about", read some reviews. Let the critics do the heavy lifting, because they're getting paid and you aren't.
Achingly well-written in many places, with quite a few pages I photographed for later viewing and inspiration, but doesn't go for long in any one chapter without beginning to meander. Try the random-flip method like I did and you'll get the better parts of the book without feeling obliged to finish. And then, if you really want to know what it was "about", read some reviews. Let the critics do the heavy lifting, because they're getting paid and you aren't.
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Switched to paperback version and restarted
I'm not really sure what to say about this one. I certainly enjoyed Underworld a huge amount more than the other two hefty 700+ page novels I've tackled thus far, but it's not easy to just pick and and get going with. To fully appreciate the prose, the deft weaving between the various characters, and DeLillo's less than direct style of writing, you need to invest a significant amount of effort. And it was worth that effort about 60% of the time.
The prologue, which many others have ranted and raved about, I found a little overlong - while it was pretty clever and set the scene well, it seemed to drag a little. I was more of a fan of the epilogue, the tying up of some personal loose ends along with a few portents of doom for our waste rich/ increasingly resource poor planet. The chapters that head back in time towards to prologue are a really interesting device, and as pieces of the puzzle clot into one another, it's really pretty fascinating.
Still, to recommend an 800 page plus book to someone unfortunately means it has to be pretty excellent. And while it was interesting, I don't think I was blown away.
The prologue, which many others have ranted and raved about, I found a little overlong - while it was pretty clever and set the scene well, it seemed to drag a little. I was more of a fan of the epilogue, the tying up of some personal loose ends along with a few portents of doom for our waste rich/ increasingly resource poor planet. The chapters that head back in time towards to prologue are a really interesting device, and as pieces of the puzzle clot into one another, it's really pretty fascinating.
Still, to recommend an 800 page plus book to someone unfortunately means it has to be pretty excellent. And while it was interesting, I don't think I was blown away.