More like the beam of a flashlight than a novel, and that’s not a bad thing. This is the first DeLillo book I have read and I have no idea why I decided I wanted to read it. Mao II has a healthy dose of that “20th Century rejection of plot” movement. Not a whole lot happens. There’s not even a lot of character development. Everyone is pretty much the some from beginning to end. It’s hard to say what the book is even about! This leads me to the beam of light analogy. DeLillo gives the reader a series of intimate interactions between strangers and friends. There is a bit of back story and some changes of scene to weave it all together, but the things people say to each and do with each other are the focus. Why live off the grid? Why take pictures? Why help homeless people? Why kidnap a poet? What exactly is wrong with me, medically? The light of this novel shines on all these questions (and more) and provides answers. Not the answer, but an answer. An answer from the specific people in the story. This novel is glimpses of the world around us, brilliant little glimpses. However, it all adds up to less than the sum of its parts. Contemporary literary fiction is a new thing for me, so I don’t think I can say who should or shouldn’t read this. The best I can do is say, “Give it a try. You might like it.”
22 August 2010
A Review: Mao II - Don DeLillo
3.5 / 5 Stars
More like the beam of a flashlight than a novel, and that’s not a bad thing. This is the first DeLillo book I have read and I have no idea why I decided I wanted to read it. Mao II has a healthy dose of that “20th Century rejection of plot” movement. Not a whole lot happens. There’s not even a lot of character development. Everyone is pretty much the some from beginning to end. It’s hard to say what the book is even about! This leads me to the beam of light analogy. DeLillo gives the reader a series of intimate interactions between strangers and friends. There is a bit of back story and some changes of scene to weave it all together, but the things people say to each and do with each other are the focus. Why live off the grid? Why take pictures? Why help homeless people? Why kidnap a poet? What exactly is wrong with me, medically? The light of this novel shines on all these questions (and more) and provides answers. Not the answer, but an answer. An answer from the specific people in the story. This novel is glimpses of the world around us, brilliant little glimpses. However, it all adds up to less than the sum of its parts. Contemporary literary fiction is a new thing for me, so I don’t think I can say who should or shouldn’t read this. The best I can do is say, “Give it a try. You might like it.”
More like the beam of a flashlight than a novel, and that’s not a bad thing. This is the first DeLillo book I have read and I have no idea why I decided I wanted to read it. Mao II has a healthy dose of that “20th Century rejection of plot” movement. Not a whole lot happens. There’s not even a lot of character development. Everyone is pretty much the some from beginning to end. It’s hard to say what the book is even about! This leads me to the beam of light analogy. DeLillo gives the reader a series of intimate interactions between strangers and friends. There is a bit of back story and some changes of scene to weave it all together, but the things people say to each and do with each other are the focus. Why live off the grid? Why take pictures? Why help homeless people? Why kidnap a poet? What exactly is wrong with me, medically? The light of this novel shines on all these questions (and more) and provides answers. Not the answer, but an answer. An answer from the specific people in the story. This novel is glimpses of the world around us, brilliant little glimpses. However, it all adds up to less than the sum of its parts. Contemporary literary fiction is a new thing for me, so I don’t think I can say who should or shouldn’t read this. The best I can do is say, “Give it a try. You might like it.”
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