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barbaraandradedubransky 's review for:
Underworld
by Don DeLillo
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.