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Lauren's Reviews > Underworld
Underworld
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People married, were born, and died in the time it took me to read this book. A kid sitting next to me on a plane commented "that's the fattest book I've ever seen. What's it about?" I told him "I have no idea--I'm only 580 pages into it." Having finished I still don't know what it was about but reading it was an extraordinary experience. The novella that introduces the book is perfect and complete in itself. What follows is discursive and ephemeral like some new kind of music. Reading it was like learning how to listen.
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Finished Reading
April 8, 2007
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Pat
(last edited Aug 25, 2016 11:18AM)
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Jun 15, 2007 07:29AM
I like your review of Underworld a lot, made me laugh
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Lauren, I totally agree. I just finished it this afternoon after reading it for what? 10, 15 years or so? But I was fascinated by it every step of the way. It even had the realistic novel sensation of me falling in love with the characters. It's a miraculous book. Wish I could write a 500 page book about it that would take eons to read - and do it justice.
Agreed. Music and listening. We could only be so lucky to have more books written like this.
"Reading it was like learning how to listen." Absolutely perfect. People are spending too much energy imposing a meaning on this book ("it's about the Cold War"... "it's about trash as a metaphor for the unseen"... etc.) and not enough energy just listening to it, to its palatial spaces and resonances.
I guess I do not have enough time in my life to be discursive and ephemeral. and you know how much I love to listen , But did love your review. Very funny.
terrific review encapsulates the challenge and fascination of reading this epic
First, I loved this review and mentioned it to several people. Second, what I found most amazing was that I felt my strongest connection to Underworld around page 583.
reading ur reviews and comments are sufficient for me since they gave me like Stop-signal ,so as not to turn the page & not to continue reasing...
Lauren's sentence "The novella that introduces the book..." is the key to my impression/appreciation after reading about halfway. The novel seems more a collection of novellas or short stories that might have had a logical sequence at some point: chronological? geographical? biographical? I imagine them each in a separate binder in a box that was overturned with the binders landing in a messy heap. Rather than sort them, DeLillo piled them up at random and published the collection that way.
Beautiful review Lauren. I'm a mere 337 pages in and, yes, have no idea of what it's about but am riveted. Well, that's not entirely true. I have an idea it's dietrologia, a word I didn't kniw until reading this. The "novella" you refer to -- DeLillo calls it a prologue -- totally captivated me although I don't even like baseball.
This took me two years to finish and I can't describe it better than you: reading it was like learning how to listen. What an experience.
