tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18645047.post3788727889532882133..comments2022-11-12T10:54:14.856-06:00Comments on Book Reviews for Real People: Underworld (Don DeLillo)Maria Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10654203953091709733noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18645047.post-45120211546320954952013-02-22T00:26:47.308-06:002013-02-22T00:26:47.308-06:00I agree DeLillo's Underworld is a swirling mas...I agree DeLillo's Underworld is a swirling mass of a book and digs and junkdives from one character and rivulet of situation to another. I also see the confluence of "reviews" from so many who didn't actually read the book. It's like reading a review of a resaurent from someone who has only seen a picture of one of it's menu items. Underworld swivels and turns faster than our individual junkheap tonage of life and memory. Most of us can't conjure up just how big it all is. DeLillo does. I suggest to those who's opinions outweigh their ability to finish a novel go to Cliff's Notes. Always. Faster and so to the point. Then you have more time in Starbucks to go online and have a publishable opinion. firebrandnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18645047.post-39989633883723553722011-12-12T19:26:32.811-06:002011-12-12T19:26:32.811-06:00I quit on "Underworld" in frustration ar...I quit on "Underworld" in frustration around page 600, even though I enjoy tearing through big, fat challenging books now and then. DeLillo's abrupt changes in setting, characters and time frames repeatedly yanked me away from engaging with his story and its people. To me, "Underworld" feels like a number of short stories in which the effort to combine them into one nearly ruins their individual brilliance.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18645047.post-79399543612591351842008-05-18T00:23:00.000-05:002008-05-18T00:23:00.000-05:00Very on-target review. Delillo's smart, if self-i...Very on-target review. Delillo's smart, if self-indulgent, but his work is emotionally sterile. In lieu of showing emotion, characters engage in detached conversations that are a lot less profound than I think he thinks they are. It's sort of like a Godard film, except I LIKE Godard.GeoX, one of the GeoX boys.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14658452994152399308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18645047.post-4751274524522393822007-09-27T20:47:00.000-05:002007-09-27T20:47:00.000-05:00If you liked White Noise, definitely give Underwor...If you liked White Noise, definitely give Underworld a go.<BR/><BR/>I remember liking Denis Johnson's Jesus' Son pretty well. But he also had this 50-page story in the 2003 O. Henry Awards collection called "Train Dreams" that was just mind-blowing. When I finished I literally stared into space for about 30 seconds, then turned back to the beginning and read it straight through again.<BR/><BR/>Man, that was a good story. One of the few things making me now regret having sold off all my O. Henrys two moves back.Jim Duncanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01459088100305836091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18645047.post-69020430751812244652007-09-08T22:19:00.000-05:002007-09-08T22:19:00.000-05:00Thanks for this review -- I've had Underworld on m...Thanks for this review -- I've had <I>Underworld</I> on my shelf for years. I haven't even cracked it. I loved White Noise -- My late adolescent self related to the daughter who volunteered for the emergency exercise. But, you're right, there's an odd disconnect with the characters. I'll at least give it a try before I put it in the donate pile during the next move.<BR/><BR/>I studied White Noise in the same class I read Denis Johnson's Fiskadoro. He now has another book Tree of Smoke; about Vietnam (CIA, like Graham Greene), possibly timely. I wonder... Another review...Lee Annehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10679175637515488525noreply@blogger.com