The Jewel of P-listers' library/DeLillo

[rich]

though I don't care for DeLillo much anymore I would argue that he imho does
not represent anything like Otto who like most in TR is a fraud of epic
proportions. I think you give DD a disservice by such a comparison.
the culture has caught up with him that's all.  hardly makes him a fake

gracefully
rich


On 9/21/06, Tore Rye Andersen <torerye at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> >Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2006 09:28:52 -0700 (PDT)
> >From: Chris Broderick <elsuperfantastico at yahoo.com>
> >Subject: RE: The Jewel of P-listers' library/DeLillo
> >
> >The operative words here being "adopt a tone".  One
> >never gets the sense with DeLillo that his characters
> >are independent from the narrator.  He's a very witty
> >and often pretty (in an austere way) writer, but I
> >often think of him as being like Otto in the
> >Recognitions, at cocktail parties thinking up bon mots
> >after the fact that he'll end up shoehorning into his
> >narrative.  The best drawn characters in all of
> >DeLillo's works are famous people like Jedgar &
> >Oswald.
> >
> >It seems self-evident that he came from a background
> >in advertising copywriting, where one is specifically
> >concerned with having your words make a tangible
> >effect on the reader, with branding.  DeLillo's a lot
> >more concerned with elegant sentences than he is with
> >inhabiting characters or telling stories.
> >
> >For the record, this criticism comes from someone
> >who's read & enjoyed a lot of DeLillo.  White Noise &
> >Libra and pieces of Underworld were quite good.  But I
> >certainly understand why some would find his stuff too
> >clever by half.
> >
> >- -Chris
>
> Well put! I think it was Zadie Smith who at one point said that all the
> characters in a Don DeLillo-novel sound just like Don DeLillo.
> And your comparison with Otto from 'The Recognitions' is deadly accurate!
> Otto is one of the best characters in that novel, but you wouldn't want
> him
> lurking around at the edges of your parties, would you? Might DeLillo even
> be wearing a fake sling for his arm, do you think? That would certainly
> explain some of his cramped style.
>
>
>
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