Customer Reviews

White Noise: Text and Criticism (Viking Critical Library)

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In "White Noise" DeLillo proves himself to be the Balzac of the contemporary era, particularly that of america suburbia. Very basically it portrays the negative effects of technology on our society. Overwhelmed by information, we become anesthesized to our environment....we must filter out some the data that bombards our system, and indeed we filter out most of it. Our systems so burdened by the information that we treat all things with indifference....except for our own death, which remains the one thing we would like to filter out of our consciousness but dont seem able to do so.

Now, this all recalls the dry writings of Heidegger or Baudrillard, but instead DeLillo will have you laughing til you cry with certain passages. We have a Professor who is head of the "Hitler Studies" department (one thing about information overload is that people specialize in minutiae). His colleague, Murray, who philosophizes over food labels, wants to start an "Elvis Studies" department.

The concept of the "hyperreal" is evoked. For example, there is a tourist site near the college. It has no other appeal than the fact that it is the "most photographed barn" in America. Throughout the book we see the characters, just like many of us, concentrate on image rather than substance.

I have noticed that there is a review below by a man that claims that neither he nor his "brilliant" wife the engineer found anything of interest in "White Noise". I, too, am an engineer and know, by the way, that most engineers find themselves (often victims of self-deception) "brilliant". I speculate that the reason they could not understand this book is that they are too submerged in the "white noise" world of consumerism and information. In addition to that many engineers are afraid to address the issue of the dark side of technology.

White Noise is one of the greatest postmodern novels ever written, and I will never look at academia (or the supermarket) the same way again. The critical essays, however, lack variety. Perhaps too little time has passed to give perspective on DeLillo's work, but the essayists in this volume continually focus on the same inidents and ideas from similar critical perspectives. No doubt this book will endure long enough for a more multifaceted critical edition to surface. For now, enjoy the novel itself as a brilliant social critique done with style and humor.

I've sometimes asked myself why I don't get a library card and save the money I spend buying books. This book answered that question, because the reviews and essays featured in this edition provided such insight and enlightenment that I was inspired to return to the novel again and again for a more penetrating read.

The novel itself is beautifully, brilliantly written; DeLillo is a master ironist. Though I thoroughly enjoyed the novel the first time, I highly recommend revisiting it after reading the critical essays (which were so informative that they were quite enjoyable reads themselves).

If you're going to read White Noise outside of a college class, this is the edition you should get.

White Noise is quite possibly the most enjoyable book I've ever read. Don DeLillo creates a humorous account of a middle-aged man (Jack Gladney) obsessed with death and its inevitability. In his writing, DeLillo suggests that Americans use consumerism as a way of warding of death, which is one of the novels running themes. The characters in the novel are oddly outrageous with their fanatic conversations about the recollection of trivial things like "Where were you the first time you brushed your teeth with your finger?" or "Where were you when James Dean died?" The dialogue throughout the novel is brilliant and at one point, a father-son conversation about rain coaxes the reader into questioning the validity of his or her own senses. The novel also shows how people are infatuated by televised disastrous events. White Noise reads like a demented sitcom, full of dark comedy, and unique neurotic characters that keep you entertained and interested through its entirety. If you enjoy comical and creative writing, then read this book!

have recently finished White Noise by Don Delillo. I was enthralled by this book; living it word by exact word. And yet, it flowed nicely. It was a comparatively easy read (as opposed to V.) that never bored me.

In spite of this book being written before the World Wide Web, which has only added to the swarm, the book's main focus is the topic of the information that we are bombarded with as we live our modern lives. From the narrator to his current wife and the children (his own and those brought in by marriage), we see the constant absorption of needless information; information that is derived from other people's panic, fears, superstition that when received is processed as matter-of-fact, almost apathetically. As it is shared it is passed along like gossip only to be argued against, mutated, and disenfranchised. This happens day-to-day within the narrator's family.

And then the Airborne Toxic Event (a very specific name for a very specific disasters whose cause and effects are very unspecific) occurs and the molestation and noise of information (founded and unfounded, though it is nearly impossible to decipher which is which) grows considerably as evacuation procedures are made. It is not exactly chaotic. Much more this is a group of people who live in a small college town who are addicted to the events seen and heard through television and radios: they have seen all the disasters of the world, thus the only new thing is that it is happening to them.

After the Airborne Toxic Event, the exploration of death takes place and is pondered on immensely by the lead character. In the end, a singular philosophy takes place: Are you the dier or the killer? (And yes, that is how "dier" is spelled in the novel.) And in spite of this singularity of thought, this "theory" of how we live as humans in this society, the narrator defeats it. He is neither dier nor killer: he just is.

I think the one aspect that I can draw from reading this is how prone we are to misinformation; and how we create our own tabloid within all that we witness and hear.

PS: This book is NOT a reader's guide. In the appendixes are a series of essays and observations made by critics and the like. This is not a reader's guide.

De Lillo's White Noise is a modern classic. What I especially like about this edition (Viking Critical Library) is the extra material: articles and critical essays on the novel. Reading it was like taking a small course in cultural studies, or something... recommended!

The text is great. Some of the essays are questionable but this may be helpful when teaching how to write a critical essay.

I found "White Noise" very entertaining. It was a twist on what goes on in the average family. DeLillo does a fantastic job of creating the atmosphere of normality and contrasts it with what really goes on behind the scenes of the Gladney family. Consumerism, death, and oddly enough, humor play a huge part in the novel. It was humorous to read the conversations of the family members and picture the way they interacted. DeLillo is very insightful of the regular occurrences that take place in a family. He puts a twist on going to the grocery store and watching a burning building. He depicts what many people in American society deny today about buying material things and what they really mean to us. I favored this novel because it was not difficult to understand and the themes of the novel were easy to pick out. The criticisms tend to be a bit more difficult to get through although the Duvall essay to be quite interesting and insightful. Duvall takes specific passages and analyzes them to bring out another point of view other than the readers. I would recommend this novel to anyone who appreciates a new perspective on things.

Don Delillo, author of White Noise, wrote a classic with this book. A story about a family consumed with fear of death didn't seem like one I wanted to read, but when you get into the story, you begin to like it more and more. The book is filled with humorous events and a glimpse into what people really make of the world. The characters in the book look way into simple things like grocery shopping and television. They are always thinking that the other is more afraid, constantly arguing over it without any real knowledge. The book is an easy read, and one that will keep your interest. This book is considered a satire of consumerism and technology in america, and it definately is. The characters take each of these into depth, always giving you something to look at. After reading this book, you will question your motives somewhat when you go out, either to the movies, to eat or go shopping. I truly enjoyed this book and would reccomend it to anyone.

Finally an enjoyable book. This book introduced me to a new twist on American thinking. I never knew about the little things that American families worried about. White Noise explicates how a "normal" family is perceived, and what really goes on in the home. I never realized that a man would change the way he dresses just because of the job that he holds. This is what Jack did, He was a professor of Hitler studies at the college. He would wear eye glasses and a robe to make himself look the part. DeLillo's characters are an excellent pick. For example, the way he made the oldest son always argue with his father was hilarious. The hilarity in this book kept me wanting to read more.
Also, I never realized the obsession that Americans have with death. Especially back then, if some sort of a doctor or anyone really for that fact, told a person that they were going to die, they believed them. Now we get second and third opinions from doctors to make sure they are accurate. This wasn't so in this book. As soon as someone told Jack (the main character) that he was going to die, he believed him.
Overall I believe this book was very entertaining. I never wanted to put it down, and for me that is very important when deciding which book to read.