Review: White Noise

by Mar 1, 2013Books, Piety

White NoiseWhite Noise by Don DeLillo

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am not smart enough nor skilled enough in literary criticism to explain why this book merits four stars. I did feel while reading that I was in the presence of a truly superior intellect. But I’m gonna try to say something anyway.

It’s clever. I particularly liked the trope of the family discussion filled with malapropisms. And the impossibly erudite extemporaneous speech from pretty much every character that manages to flow smoothly, entertain, and instruct at the same time.

As an evangelical Christian I can’t help but be struck by the major theme that, in my opinion, overwhelms what I take to be the major theme. I gather that the “airborne toxic event” is supposed to be a metaphor for the white noise of mass-media, consumeristic babble that’s killing us all. That’s the major theme, and it’s executed artfully and humorously. But the characters don’t care where death comes from; they just fear it. So I hear something very human underneath all the satire, a fear I don’t share. A fear that so few people ever give voice to in my hearing. The book ends with no hope, no solution to the fear of death. Am I moralizing and abusing the book to say it makes me thankful that Jesus has pulled me beyond death? If so, I don’t care.

Read MoreĀ 

Review: Why I Preach from the Received Text

Review: Why I Preach from the Received Text

Why I Preach from the Received Text is an anthology of personal testimonies more than it is a collection of careful arguments. It is not intended to be academic, and I see nothing necessarily wrong with that. But it does make countless properly academic claims, and...

A Little Help for Your Charitableness from Kevin DeYoung

A Little Help for Your Charitableness from Kevin DeYoung

There are few figures on the national evangelical scene that I like and trust more than Kevin DeYoung. I think he nails the balance between, on the one hand, graciousness and fairness and charity and, on the other (can anything be on the other hand from...

Review: The Power Broker, by Robert Caro

Review: The Power Broker, by Robert Caro

The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert A. Caro My rating: 5 of 5 stars Robert Caro is fascinated by power. He has given his life to exploring how it is gained and kept. And in Robert Moses, the subject of this epic book, power looks like the...

Review: Finding the Right Hills to Die On by Gavin Ortlund

Review: Finding the Right Hills to Die On by Gavin Ortlund

Finding the Right Hills to Die On: The Case for Theological Triage by Gavin Ortlund My rating: 4 of 5 stars Gracious, clear, accessible. Extremely well done. I nearly docked him a star for being ever-so-slightly in a different place than I am on creationism (though I...

Leave a comment.

0 Comments