Don DeLillo: Point Omega

[Mirabell]

I?m not a slow reader, not usually, especially not with regard to fiction, but it took me ages to finish Don DeLillo?s slim new novel Point Omega. It is a short, intense burst of literary fireworks by a living master, a writer, indeed, that some consider to be one of the best (if not the best) prose writer of his generation. Like many other writers of his generation, that praise has not been universally strong, like Pynchon, Barth or Roth, he has always had his detractors (most famously, perhaps, James Wood and the insufferable B.R. Meyers), and in the past decade, they seemed to gain the upper hand in the critical discourse. With no major (and canonical) novels like The Names, White Noise and Libra forthcoming, his output seemed to concentrate on plays and thin novels, with the exception of Underworld, his longest novel so far, and the one that could be said to contain the broadest and most sustained statement of his artistic vision. Mao II (despite winning the PEN/Faulkner award) and The Body Artist both failed to garner the attention, praise and respect that his earlier books won, and his 2003 novel Cosmopolis arguably represents the nadir of his oeuvre. There is a blandness to some of his late work, an indulgence of means and thought that ill befits a writer of DeLillo?s power and that does not really fit in with his ability to draw the utmost tension from a setting or situation. All that is different in Point Omega. There is not much plot, or memorable characters in the book, but then, that?s not the game it engages in. Point Omega is a breaking point, a frontier post, as Stevens put it, ?at the end of the mind, / beyond the last thought.? There is space, and as a writer, DeLillo lays no claims on it. He doesn?t even map it out, he only demonstrates the limits of his work, of his reach as writer and artist. That?s why Point Omega, his most claustrophobic, most densely constructed novel, also feels like a liberation, and his bravest book in decades.full review here Odd Triple: Don DeLillo?s ?Point Omega? shigekuni. (http://shigekuni.wordpress.com/2010/02/02/odd-triple-don-delillos-point-omega/)



http://www.perival.com/delillo/pointomega_first_ed.jpg

[Johan]

It came in the mail today, I'm about halfway through. I'll need some time to form an opinion.

[Bjorn]

Sounds very promising. I didn't care much for DeLillo's latest few novels, but I hadn't written him off completely, so I'm looking forward to this one.

[Liam]

I didn't care much for DeLillo's latest few novels
Falling Man, in particular, was a falling disaster (or so I hear...)--

[Bubba]

Mirabell, Mirabell! The other day it was "the famous and talented Richard Ford," today "the insufferable B. R. Meyers [sic]."

I happen to think Myers's assessments are generally on the mark, never more so than when he looks at DeLillo's "novels," which, in my view, cannot but make the judicious grieve.

Forgive the unsolicited advice, Mirabell; I offer it simply because I can predict with almost perfect accuracy the American books you will choose to comment on: the same ones being reviewed by the same cabal of New York reviewers and their acolytes all over the country and, it now appears, all over the world. Now I realize a book-reviewing blogger who gets free desk copies must review at least some of the freebies if he wants to stay hooked up to "life support," but if the free copies aren't a problem, why not review something not being pushed by a publicist? Readers would be grateful.

[Bjorn]

I wouldn't say disaster. The opening and the last few pages are both incredible. Unfortunately, in between those come a few hundred pages of rather boring, if not exactly piss-poor, story. I'll see if I can dredge up my review if I haven't posted it already.

[DB Cooper]

Sounds very promising. I didn't care much for DeLillo's latest few novels, but I hadn't written him off completely, so I'm looking forward to this one.

Im with Bjorn. DeLillo sort of lost me after his last few, but Point Omega looks promising. I just wish he would actually do a proper novel again instead of messing around with novellas.

[Mirabell]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41YPS18eewL._SL500_AA240_.jpg

the ugly-ass british cover.

[Johan]

That's truly horrible. I was lucky to get the American version.

Point Omega reminds me of the under appreciated The Body Artist in so many ways. Sparse and intimate.

[Manuel76]

I was thinking about trying one of his books. I read Underworld but didn't finish it, it was OK but for such a long book you need something else. The plot wasn't interesting enough for me, and by the middle I just decided suddenly to stop reading. But I liked the style of the prose (not the dead and pedant characters)

But it was more than one year ago, so I think about trying another one. Could you please recommend me?

[Johan]

White Noise. Not very representative of his work, but extremely entertaining.

[e joseph]

White Noise. Not very representative of his work, but extremely entertaining.
White Noise seems to be quite a divisive book. Lots of folks seem to really enjoy it (DeLillo fans and non-fans alike), and lots seem to well, not. It's been my only attempt at DeLillo. Good luck!