Finished reading: Underworld by Don DeLillo 📚

Man, I’m so sorry - I really disliked this book.

White Noise by Don Delillo was one of my favorite books of 2022… one of my favorite books since I started book blogging. When I picked up Underworld, I knew I was in the mood for a thick read… but man, it stunk.

It seems like Don Delillo is having so much less fun than he was with White Noise. He’s got sort of a few interesting things he is trying out, with language and repetition and stuff, but it doesn’t really go anywhere. He feels tortured, and like he’s torturing the reader. And not in an artsy, interesting way.

I almost quit reading several times, but ended up sticking it out since the author earned my trust with White Noise. Wrong move - I think would have enjoyed this book more if I had quit early. The epilogue is so non-sequiturial, so out of left field, that it essentially admits Delillo had no plan or vision for the book. It was a confirmation that this whole thing was basically a meandering brainstorm.

I was so bored while reading this book that it made me want to re-read The Pale King… TPK, at least, has a virtue and motivation for the boredom than it intentionally cultivates.

I actually finished this book several months ago… I wanted to give myself some distance from the book in order to see if my opinion mellowed with time. It has not. I don’t recommend Underworld. Read White Noise and The Pale King instead.