book # 2

White Noise (Don DeLillo)

This review is a good place to look, to capture the main themes and synopsis (I found it kinda funny/annoying, the way that review eventually devolves into a summary of the whole plot).

My general feelings… a good read. The first section is probably my favorite. Hitler Studies is hilarious. The overall tone of the book- the anxiety, artifice, deadened American soul, the gnawing loneliness of consumer culture- thought it was very well rendered, very funny. There are countless moments throughout this book where the foolishness or sadness of modern American consumer culture gets perfectly, brilliantly skewered. So as far as those satirical themes go, I really liked it. The other central theme of the book, death, I found somewhat boring and annoying after a while. It rang a little hollow, because personally, I find death interesting, I certainly don't look forward to it, but I absolutely don't relate to a relentless, obsessive fear of it; so I had trouble feeling empathy for the characters as much when they got into that territory.

That might be the key difference between satire and absurdism; satire's only funny or moving when it's true. So because I personally feel there's truth in that consumerist blankness (I've lived it and witnessed it), it delights me; but the obsession with death- maybe when I'm older, but it simply doesn't torment me the way it does Jack or Babette, so as a reader it just doesn't connect.

Speaking of, Babette's an annoying character. Sweet intentioned but kinda dumb and anxious. NO THANKS!

In general this struck me as a precursor to all those Wes Andersen films. This book was written in 1985- imagine this family reuniting in 2005, with their quirky anxieties and philosophies and general relationship with consumerism and artifice intact. The screenplay writes itself. I've never seen Royal Tenenbaums, but I bet that film and the reunion would draw some striking similarities.

Personal favorites/ highlights: Jack & Murray's Hitler/Elvis lecture… any conversation between Jack and Heinrich, rich with philosophy and funny conflict- Heinrich in general is full of great ideas/observations… "that is the point of Babette"- an intriguing moment when the line between person and advertised product truly blurs… Simuvac and the use of the actual event to rehearse the simulation (brilliant)… Murray generally comes up with these great, funny, fascinating theories (it's as if DeLillo predicts the age of Klosterman)… the shocking confrontation in the motel… I Loved the people who survive the near-plane crash, the astonishing emotional swings of terror and elation and exhaustion, and then Denise thinks, 'but there are no news cameras- they went through all that for nothing'- this episode struck me as the best capture of the book's central themes.

A good read, rich with quietly funny, honest ideas and observations. I found some of the themes exhausting, but it would be worth it to reread the first segment and a few select chapters/passages, if I ever pick it up again in the future.