Take a photo of a barcode or cover
aj_x416 's review for:
Underworld
by Don DeLillo
The only reason I read this -- make that attempted to read this (gave up at about the half-way point) -- is because a couple of the blurbs on David Mitchell's Number9 Dream compare him to Don DeLillo.
That comparison is fair insofar as inventive use of language, but that's about it.
Perhaps I should have known better when I read the 60 page prologue that seemed to function more as a set piece than as integral to the story's set up. This is a novel absolutely swimming in back story featuring characters I could care less about. At the 450 page mark I would have thought I'd be invested in at least one of the cast of multitudes, or curious to see whether the seemingly disparate strands of the story come together, but instead it was oh, so easy to kick this (heavy) sucker to the curb. Sad thing is, I like meaty novels and really, really wanted to like this one.
I would add that if you're the kind of reader for whom telling little observations and clever writing are more important than plot and characterization, you might really enjoy Underworld.
That comparison is fair insofar as inventive use of language, but that's about it.
Perhaps I should have known better when I read the 60 page prologue that seemed to function more as a set piece than as integral to the story's set up. This is a novel absolutely swimming in back story featuring characters I could care less about. At the 450 page mark I would have thought I'd be invested in at least one of the cast of multitudes, or curious to see whether the seemingly disparate strands of the story come together, but instead it was oh, so easy to kick this (heavy) sucker to the curb. Sad thing is, I like meaty novels and really, really wanted to like this one.
I would add that if you're the kind of reader for whom telling little observations and clever writing are more important than plot and characterization, you might really enjoy Underworld.