Don DeLillo

[cornelius]

..

[Zlatko Waterman]

Dear Cornelius:


I read "White Noise" and was momentarily tempted by "Underworld", yet its baroque, nay, even byzantine webbings-together of incident and character turned me away finally.

I was given a copy of William Gibson's "Pattern Recognition" recently, a relatively short book ( compared to "Underworld"), and I found its mordant limning of the cyber factor in contemporary mysteries and morals very successful. The whole idea behind Cayce, Gibson's beguiling heroine and her "scouting to productize" profession is both sf-like
( Gibson's other books have been less appealing to me because of more blatant sf elements) and a strong, clear commentary on contemporary consumer substructure.

Perhaps, after reading your note, I should go back and give "Underworld" another look. (?)

There is something about DeLillo at his best that reminds me of that wonderful speech Donald Sutherland ( as the "black ops" officer) gives in "JFK."

Further, DeLillo makes me , at times, feel like I'm hiding in a closet at Burpelson Air Force Base while Dr. Strangelove is plotting the resurrection--or at least preservation-- of ultimate evil in a deep mine shaft.

Reading "RN", the memoirs of Richard Nixon, one of the best inside views of the Eisenhower administration I have seen, raised similar goose-bumps.

Thanks for your commentary. Hoping to see more of you on these boards,


Zlatko