Play Book Tag discussion

White Noise by Don DeLillo - 4 stars - My Review

In this book, we follow Jack Gladney, his wife Babette, and their children. They experience several traumatic incidents. They have difficulties communicating. White Noise, of course, refers to the low-level hissing and buzzing of many sounds combined together. In this novel, it includes the constant hum of modern life as background noise, including radio, television, microwaves, and other media.

It is not a “traditional” novel. The slim (or some might say non-existent) plot is limited to one family and events that occur over a relatively short period in their lives. It is separated into three parts – Waves and Radiation, The Airborne Toxic Event, and Dylorama. Major themes include the fear of death and the ever-increasing information overload that distracts people from inner pursuits such as artistry or spirituality.

It is rather prescient, considering it was written before the internet and social media were part of daily life. De Lillo seems to me to be saying that human beings are not geared toward handling so many pieces of random information at once. This white noise induces anxiety and, sometimes, a desire to escape or disconnect from it all. (I can relate.) It can also cause difficulties in separating reality from falsity.

“Who knows what I want to do? Who knows what anyone wants to do? How can you be sure about something like that? Isn’t it all a question of brain chemistry, signals going back and forth, electrical energy in the cortex? How do you know whether something is really what you want to do or just some kind of nerve impulse in the brain?”

It is the type of book that would be a great assignment for literature classes. It is hard to argue with the idea that modern life is becoming more fractured and fragmented. I imagine this is even truer now than when this book was published in 1985. It will not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I very much enjoyed it.