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One day, he lets himself be photographed like Salinger it made him popular until he becomes involved as a spokesperson for a Swiss writer being held hostage in Beirut. All rights reserved. Throw in a clairvoyant woman, a terrorist plot, and a brilliantly realized set piece about a mass Moonie marriage, and you've got better, sharper, smarter TV than most TV. The Malleus Maleficarum caused the deaths of thousands of forward thinking women. Open Preview See a Problem? This is DeLillo after all. Only the lethal believer, the person who kills and dies for faith You just got lucky. The way they hate many of the things you hate. Print Word PDF. The novel is also about: the indifference of society personified by crowds, the act of writing as a doppelganger for terrorism, and about "messianic returns" to humanity. This offers him a chance to do what he may or may not have been planning all along: disappear completely. Now bomb-makers and gunmen have taken that territory. The limousine from "Cosmopolis" is employed once again in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo. I would actually like to return to this someday, especially in this new millennium featuring the Global War on Terror and that most horrific and course-changing of days: September 11th, Let's say you do want to read a short book for a long time. Nowadays people watch and listen to terror-dominated news and their mindset and life-choices are affected by what has happened. As Delillo is seldom an emotional writer I wasn't expecting Mao II to be moving in anyway: and it wasn't. Forgot your password? The role of Bill Gray, the novel's protagonist, also offers insight into the ways in which DeLillo views the craft of writing and the life of an author. View 2 comments. What most compels me on this reading, though, is that we live in a moment where terrorists really are trying to wrest narrative authority from our writers. Mao II Writer

Welcome back. It's always a special kind of gamble recommending a book to someone, and DeLillo is some sort of king of challenges in this regard. We deal with singular characters who resonate strongly off the page--there is Karen, a former Reverend Moon cultist who has been only partly relieved through deprogramming. The role of Bill Gray, the novel's protagonist, also offers insight into the ways in which DeLillo views the craft of writing and the life of an author. That the mass can never be compelled by fear and terror unless it takes root in informed viewpoints that the individual must make on his own, and that when traced, everything comes back to literature. This is the only book I've ever read that I wanted to start reading again immediately after finishing it. I know I said a lot of the sentences are very quotable, but here are some of my favourite, at least the ones that resonate-- "We're all drawn to the idea of remoteness. Sep 07, Brad rated it liked it Shelves: fascinating , much-better-than-it-reads. Karen's time in the homeless shantytown was poetic and always shif I could feel DeLillo grappling with something important as I read this book, trying to deliver something profound, and that feeling made me want to press on, to see where he was going, even though I found most of his narrative a slog. It was the pay off I was hoping for. Oh, and she was hard up in that moment, having placed all her eggs in a basket that liked having as many holes as possible, if you know what I'm sayin'. Thought provoking book. Free Quiz. Everything else is absorbed. DeLillo does not attempt to provide an answer as to why humankind has the propensity to delve into group fanaticism, yet he believes it will only increase as time progresses, given that "the future belongs to crowds. The book begins with a Prologue fictionalizing actual historical events - a mass wedding of thousands of his followers by cult leader Rev. I made a good decision welcoming with this book. You wouldn't turn off the set and say to yourself "man, what a great show! It is easily traceable in literary history that writers have the hardest time concentrating on their works. December Learn how and when to remove this template message. The novel is also about: the indifference of society personified by crowds, the act of writing as a doppelganger for terrorism, and about "messianic returns" to humanity. Catastrophe, he observes, is the only thing capable of penetrating our distracted consciousness. There's too much everything, more things and messages and meanings than we can use in ten thousand lifetimes. Pretty good book, though hesitantly recommended. Only the lethal believer, the person who kills and dies for faith. Part 1, Chapters 3 and 4. Leave me alone with it. Haddad lures Bill to Greece with the promise of an opportunity to meet terrorist leader Abu Rashid. Lotsa weird stuff about Reverend Moon. That, for me, is what made this book different from other books about novelists as the main protagonist. Bill decides to go to Lebanon himself and negotiate the release of the writer. But Mao II is a very tough book to get through. Every one of these characters, and the characters to come as Bill is drawn into a plan to reveal himself at a benefit for a poet who has been kidnapped in Beirut, distinguish themselves through DeLillo's sharp and witty prose, but they also deal with philosophical concepts regarding society, indentity and art, and it is here that DeLillo is always at his finest. Sign Up. Good luck with that. Alongside images and novelists, the book also explores terrorism and crowd This novel is just about ideal for me as its themes combine photography and the power of the image with writing and the role of the novelist. Download as PDF Printable version. But at bottom it will always be about stoking fear, about exaggerating a threat so that, to those inclined toward him, he can exaggerate his own power to defend. Get A Copy. I will have to read all those 6 other DeLillo books that I have in my tbr shelf. All rights reserved. Fiction is the preserve of the writer, while television and now social media is the vehicle of the mass media. Now, with that phenomenon old news, I think that book is even less interesting. What used to be achieved through great work, we gain through terror. It was a call to unity, a summoning of crowds where everyone dressed alike and thought alike. His clipped conversational banter packed with urbane wit, his hapless set- up of his own professional and existential demise, his absence of credible motives for any actions he takes, his weird idea that the rise of terrorism has reduced the moral power of writers of fiction, and his compulsion to do something about that - all of it is alien and contrived. I don't mean spontaneous intimacy like fucking in the alleyway behind a club, but rather intimacy of conversational tone, spontaneous familiarity, natural rapport, settling into a routine with each other without much fuss. Mao II centers around two events: the emergence of a reclusive author in New York and a hostage crisis in Lebanon. Average rating 3. Mao II Reviews

DeLillo purposely fills the book with scenes that cause unease and he reminds the reader that an idea is still scarier than an act. The danger they represent equals our o Mao II is a bleak novel about a world where the moral consciousness of the people are controlled by terrorists and messiahs rather than writers. He dwells not only in his characters, which is often the stopping point for many short-minded fictioneers with an assumption that their characters are worth reading which often means that they are not , but also what those characters mean to the society they are in. Whisper it. Free Quiz. All things, the sum of the knowable, everything true, it all comes down to a few simple formulas copied and memorised and passed on Don DeLillo. And I really would prefer to spend my remaining days being ignored by the world. Catastrophe, he observes, is the only thing capable of penetrating our distracted consciousness. Something about a reclusive writer and another writer kidnapped by Lebanese Maoists. Sign Up. They make raids on human consciousness. When the terrorists determine they will shape the consciousness of the world with their violence, what place is there for the writer? View a FREE sample. The hardest thing about reading a Don Delillo novel is everything is quotable, every sentence he writes is a sentence only Don Delillo could've written, anyway you look at it. Part 2, Chapters 8 and 9. Ironically, through terrorism itself, he is soon called into the real world to show support for a writer being held hostage in Lebanon, and after giving a public reading of his work in London, Delillo delves into a murkier plot, which was propelled by Gray himself - and he heads off to Beirut, via Athens; where he gets a deadly liver ailment due to a hit-and-run, before disappearing in an image of total anonymity. Is that "Warhol"? Remoteness from the Masses, Retreat from the Crowd The proper role of the writer, or at least DeLillo's author Bill Gray, is to remain remote from the masses and the mass media. Every thought is permitted. In societies reduced to blur and glut, terror is the only meaningful act. Formally called Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung, this work was printed and sold by the millions because the populace wanted to learn and adapt the ideas of their leader. The only reason I picked up this book in the first place was because I'd heard the character was based on JD Salinger, but then Salinger's own work has so far failed to grab me in any real way, so maybe that should have been an indicator. Not his readers surely. Apr 22, BlackOxford rated it it was ok Shelves: american. I am saying this because although Mao did commit many vile acts of terrorism, what propelled people to notice and revere him was not his actions but the idea he wanted to propagate. DeLillo does not attempt to provide an answer as to why humankind has the propensity to delve into group fanaticism, yet he believes it will only increase as time progresses, given that "the future belongs to crowds. It's an incredibly prescient and prophetic novel. His clipped conversational banter packed with urbane wit, his hapless set-up of his own professional and existential demise, his absence of credible motives for any actions he takes, his weird idea that the rise of terrorism has reduced the moral power of writers of fiction, and his compulsion to do something about that - all of it is alien and contrived. All rights reserved. They are always totally self-aware and generally pretty intelligent. Even when I skipped to the end to find out the fate of the "reclusive writer" Bill Gray, I still wasn't at all moved. We've got you covered with the buzziest new releases of the day. Need another excuse to treat yourself to a new book this week? Retrieved I can't understand why. This section does not cite any sources. The death of the novel, indeed. Open Preview See a Problem? The masses have him or her in their sights. It has all the stuff a DeLillo fan looks for: tarpit sentences, gorgeously sprawling theatrical scenes of terror and isolation and pack dynamics, jarring juxtapositions than somehow make you feel sane and understood, otherworldly, stilted dialogue, disturbingly authentic moments of body-on-body in all their gross and glorious and sometimes banal, individuals' thoughts bleeding into one another sometimes mid-paragraph, fighting and fist-shaking and fusing into some greater but never clearly identified truth, the sifting and blurring effects of cultural identity and historic events on the self. Topics for Discussion. There, Brita shoots dozens of pictures of Bill, their conversation threaded with sexual tension and covering several topics, including the novel Bill has been constantly revising for several years which Brita says he should publish and Bill's contemplation of the similarities between terrorism and writing novels.

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The book starts off with her marriage at a mass wedding. And I really would prefer to spend my remaining days being ignored by the world. DeLillo cited the published Salinger photograph and a photograph of a Unification Church Blessing ceremony he came across as inspiration for the book, telling Vince Passaro:. After him, the major work involves midair explosions and crumbled buildings. Now, with that phenomenon old news, I think that book is even less interesting. That danger they represent equals our own failure to be dangerous. The cast of characters is relatively small, and the characters themselves, while sharply delineated, are perhaps less interesting in the long run than the images and themes that cluster around them. Something about a reclusive writer and another writer kidnapped by Lebanese Maoists. The story revolves around Bill Gray who is like Salinger, recluse and elusive. The novel is also about: the indifference of society personified by crowds, the act of writing as a doppelganger for terrorism, and a "The secret of me is that I'm only half here The death of the novel, indeed. Books inspired fear, they served as catalysts of change. Across the text, there are several extended ruminations on the nature of images and image-making. Print Word PDF. Are these the terrorists who have undermined the importance of Western fiction? But now that I've begun I am confident that somewhere in his body of work is a book I will love as much as I admire this one. The gunmen — and the mail bomber barely two days before — were working to make real the story our President is telling. Even despite my generally consuming cynicism, or maybe because of it, her melancholy naivete was just absolutely crushing to me. Welcome back. DeLillo has a lot to say about the world, both topically and philosophically. Alongside images and novelists, the book also explores terrorism and crowd This novel is just about ideal for me as its themes combine photography and the power of the image with writing and the role of the novelist. Some of it isn't accessible, not right away, but when you mull over it, you do see it make sense. In an incomplete list, other than Gray and the photographer, Brita, there is Gray's assistant, Scott, and there is Karen. Totally calm in the long lens, crowd on top of crowd, pedalling, trudging, faceless, sort of surviving nicely. Every thought is permitted. But nothing in Mao II was easy; DeLillo made us work for every piece of wonder he embedded in his text. Men live in history as never before. In DeLillo's tenth novel the Warhol pictures marry the ideas of image-making and totalitarianism, persuading speculation about how fame is transformed into a death mask, and how a portrait can somehow freeze the mind behind the face. But what really symbolized Mao, aside from his images, was his Little Red Book that the Chinese people clamored for. S he is a threatened species. While arguing that "the tension that gathers around Gray dissipates towards the end and the final pages feel unfocused", Birkerts praised the ways in which the crowd motif is threaded throughout the novel and also praised the secondary characters, writing, "There is always a new angle, a new window onto a world in its paroxysms of transformation. All rights reserved. And this can be distracting, can take you right out of the book. We don't need the novel. Alongside images and novelists, the book also explores terrorism and crowds. They speak half a language, a set of ready-made terms and empty repetitions. Someone involved with this novel apparently thinks such a pretentious conceit has merit. I will not continue your legacy. Where are we at when the authorial pen has been displaced in immediacy and influence by the kalashnikov and high-explosives? Part 1, Chapters 3 and 4. Be it religious, ideological or inter-personal, DeLillo suggests throughout the novel that humans possess the innate will to commit themselves wholly to any number of movements, notions, or beliefs. I have read his description of two people watching the funeral of the Ayatollah Khomeini a dozen times. Now bomb-makers and gunmen have taken that territory. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. I think it is more likely, more useful, to see all characters, all situations, as products of the writer's mind, but not necessarily theses, not direct representations of belief or conviction, but merely maps of where that mind has been, seen in reflections and echoes and opposites. As with Underworld , the opening prologue—based upon an actual occurrence—of the mass- wedding of young and young ish couples of the Unification Church, held in Yankee Stadium and performed by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, is one of the strongest points of the book. To finish it would be a premonition of his own death. 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