"What is your place in the marketing scheme? Once you're out of school, it is only a matter of time before you experience the vast loneliness and dissastisfaction of consumers who have lost their group identity."
>not forging your own identity in the crucible of ennui that is modern society
Do you even want to make it?
>>7584653
Have you heard about meme arrows xD?
Shitposting aside, I just read White Noise a few days ago. Greatly enjoyed it. So much so that I've got Mao II and Underworld on the way in the mail. I hear great things about Libra as well.
The entire airborne toxic event and the ostensible simulacra nature of the event is hilariously relevant to the entire imgur influx phenomenon here.
Shitposters are creating the hyperreality.
>>7584755
1/2 way through White Noise at the moment. It's good but not great. I have to say I found Mao II & Libra significantly better, although Libra was mainly the shock of how much 'homage' Oliver Stone was paying in JFK.
I think White Noise hasn't aged too well. Not badly, just not great. Obviously it's a study of modern life & trivia & can be read as a snapshot that's still relevant, but the white noise of modern life is portrayed in a very similar way to American Psycho, just less skilfullly. Overall, DeLillo's style is naturally a lot less developed than his later novels.
The existential crises of the main characters seems very similar to a character out of a Junichiro novel (or similar Japanese author), but again not as skillful.
>>7584781
Delillo is way better than Ellis. "Players" is Delillo's book where he does Ellis better than Ellis.
>>7584793
I don't know about way better. Ellis as a personality is completely beyond the pale now, so it's hard to defend him. But I argue that Psycho's prose is more poetic & masterful in its descriptions of the barrage of trivial modernity than White Noise. I'll give Players a shot, I could well believe Delillio out-Ellises Ellis at some point.
I'm with holding judgement 'til I get done, but I'm feeling White Noise is good as a representation of what Delillo would be rather than what it actually is.
>>7584807
White Noise is his most ironic, I think, because of the narrator, Gladney. He's semi-mocking everything in a way he doesn't usually in his other novels. Stylistically, it's his closest to Pynchon.
>>7584653
I don't know about that, Donny.
>>7584653
Returning to op's quote; I actually noted this line myself. However, if you think that 'getting out of school' is bad, wait til you work in advertising...
>>7584781
One of my main gripes with White Noise was that the indictment of consumerism especially seemed very dated. Of course, this may partially be because DeLillo influenced later writers whom I've read. In particular, on reading DeLillo, I had deja vu to some of this stylistic elements, and realized I seen them before, when I was an edgy teen and enjoyed readingPalahniuk. He shamelessly robs DeLillo. I haven't read Ellis, but I could easily imagine he took some of the same inspiration but made it better instead of worse.
I think the most interesting part of White Noise was the hyperreality and simulacrum. Case in point, in the same shipment I'm getting with Mao II and Underworld, I'm also getting Society of the Spectacle, and have been brushing up on Baudrillard, whom I read some years ago.
That theme is more relevant than ever before in the digital age, and was what really made the novel shine for me. The way he relates the simulacrum to death, I think was especially masterful.
If you're looking for some post-reading essays, I found this piece:
http://www.raco.cat/index.php/452F/article/viewFile/208104/277282
Somewhat interesting.
>>7584831
Interesting. I have to say Gladney has been doing my head in so far. He's certainly of a type, a Stoner, a Bob Arctor. He's so removed & distanced from his own family, he can't possibly take any action.
>>7584857
>raco.cat
Hola Puigdemont.
>>7584857
>One of my main gripes with White Noise was that the indictment of consumerism especially seemed very dated. Of course, this may partially be because DeLillo influenced later writers whom I've read
Agreed. Part of my reason to read White Noise was I was aware of the impact it had had. Thanks for the link, I'll check it out when done.
For my own elucidation can we highjack this thread into a DeLillio rating thread.
Americana (1971)
End Zone (1972)
Great Jones Street (1973)
Ratner's Star (1976)
Players (1977)
Running Dog (1978)
Amazons (1980) (under pseudonym "Cleo Birdwell")
The Names (1982)
White Noise (1985)
Libra (1988)
Mao II (1991)
Underworld (1997)
The Body Artist (2001)
Cosmopolis (2003)
Falling Man (2007)
Point Omega (2010)
Zero K (2016)
Irrationality & subjectivity encouraged.
>>7584902
>Amazons (1980) (under pseudonym "Cleo Birdwell")
lol what?
>>7584915
c nv'd from the wiki. Good old Cleo Birdwell...
>>7584857
> he seems dated 'cuz Palahniuk ripped him off
whew, lad
that was a waste of a post
>>7584926
Did Delillo write a pleb novel for the lols?
>>7584996
ehehehe. Some excellent Wiki waggery!
I'm definitely rating this as his best work then. Can we get it added to the meme charts?
>>7584980
learn to read
>>7585068
the rest said nothing of substance
>>7585095
Neither of you will make it into the National Hockey League with that sort of attitude.
>>7584980
Thanks for your insightful and brilliant criticism. I'll keep it in mind before I post again.
