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kurezan's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
I am a fan of Don DeLillo, but I was not a fan of this work. Based on the concept of something or other happening during the Superbowl that causes all the electronics to stop working, I expected a lot more. The characters had aspects that were interesting but nothing felt fleshed out. Everything seemed vague and the characters almost acted like someone else's parody of DeLillo characters-- the absent minded technology obsessed husband, the strange affair seeking wife and her age-gap dynamic with her precocious spacey student. The babbling that seemed to spread from one character to another. The writer in the work of various ethnic backgrounds and her fact-obssessed husband. They seemed like character traits of other DeLillo characters I've read previously mixed up and given new paint. Random sex scenes. Vague paranoia. There were ingredients to something interesting but in my opinion this did not deliver. It was a quick read, but it was oddly boring. I love Libra, Underworld and White Noise, so I was unpleasantly surprised by this novel. It did not go anywhere particularly interesting with its premise. Things start and then just end without climax or conclusion.
roam_'s review against another edition
4.0
Boredom. Check. Ennui. Check. Mind-numbing detail about nothing special. Check. A snapshot of how a clutch of white, middle-class educated types handle the lights - the internet, the air traffic control system, the grid - going out just as the Super Bowl was set to kickoff. Funny. Check. And timely.
tlkirk's review against another edition
2.0
Rather than writing this "novel," Don DeLillo could've tweeted: We're addicted to our screens. And we would've looked down at our screens and collectively said, "We know; shut up."
kimbofo's review against another edition
1.0
Much fuss has been made of the fact that Don DeLillo wrote The Silence shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. The insinuation is that his novella is somehow prescient, that he peered into the abyss and predicted a global crisis. But, to be perfectly frank, this means nothing. The book is complete tosh.
To read my review in full, please visit my blog.
To read my review in full, please visit my blog.
marraskuutamo's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.25
donnalwhitney's review against another edition
2.0
Disappointing. DeLillo is one of my favorite authors, but this was a tedious read.
jeremymorrison's review against another edition
3.0
Technology stops, and screens go silent as Jim Kripps and Tessa Berens fly in Newark airport on their way to watch the 2022 Super Bowl with Diane Lucas and Max Stenner as well as Diane’s former physics student Martin Dekker. The outage causes self reflection, and dialogue to sound more like monologues.
birdlaw91's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25