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A review by ryanberger
White Noise by Don DeLillo
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I swear I am not intentionally making the last book I read all year the heaviest book concerning death on purpose. I know it's happened two years in a row with Lincoln in the Bardo last year. It's a coincidence. Nothing to see here.
Now, having the last book I read be one of the very best I've ever read in my life-- I am starting to see the appeal.
White Noise is better observed in the mosaic: of 40 different vignettes that all interrogate some element of death, monotony, and modern life. Many of them tugged at something ominous inside of me. DeLillo is so good at putting names on nameless forces, capturing ennui and anxiety in a bottle. I imagine some of these vignettes will slip from my memory as time goes on. Others like the most photographed barn or the airborne toxic event are things I think will stick with me forever.
Dark, but never gratuitously so. The darkness of its subject matter can't penetrate the supermarket floodlights keeping it at bay. DeLillo also has a fun sense of humor that blankets over everything, with a couple genuinely great laugh-out-loud moments you'd expect from something written by Terry Pratchett.
Deep and dense, this one has earned probably a couple re-reads before my life is over.
Side note: I wanted to fit this in before the movie comes out. Having finished it, I feel steadfast in my belief that this would be a borderline impossible book to adapt, and the trailers leave me hopeful, but prepared for a mess. The reception seems to be lukewarm early on. I can't say I'm shocked.
Now, having the last book I read be one of the very best I've ever read in my life-- I am starting to see the appeal.
White Noise is better observed in the mosaic: of 40 different vignettes that all interrogate some element of death, monotony, and modern life. Many of them tugged at something ominous inside of me. DeLillo is so good at putting names on nameless forces, capturing ennui and anxiety in a bottle. I imagine some of these vignettes will slip from my memory as time goes on. Others like the most photographed barn or the airborne toxic event are things I think will stick with me forever.
Dark, but never gratuitously so. The darkness of its subject matter can't penetrate the supermarket floodlights keeping it at bay. DeLillo also has a fun sense of humor that blankets over everything, with a couple genuinely great laugh-out-loud moments you'd expect from something written by Terry Pratchett.
Deep and dense, this one has earned probably a couple re-reads before my life is over.
Side note: I wanted to fit this in before the movie comes out. Having finished it, I feel steadfast in my belief that this would be a borderline impossible book to adapt, and the trailers leave me hopeful, but prepared for a mess. The reception seems to be lukewarm early on. I can't say I'm shocked.