Underworld

Post-Modern "Masterpiece" Left Me Cold

I read 150 pages of the 827-page book, and skimmed much of the rest, and only read that much of it because the novel was on a list of literary fiction I'd been working through. I knew it was difficult and wanted to give it a fair chance to win me over. Otherwise, I would have stopped at the second page of story.

I not only don't find this is a great book and a "page-turner" as promised in the blurbs, I found the novel a badly written one from the first pages: endless run-on sentences-of-doom, forced and clunky metaphors, random bits forced into sentences where they don't belong. I'm aware, that like the doorstop length, these are all techniques that plenty of critics would find evidence of profundity, but they left me cold.

The book jumps from omniscience with touches of second person in the Prologue to first person in Part One, and much of the rest looking though the novel is third person. You can tell looking at the section title pages that the main story is non-linear; like Pinter's "Betrayal" or the film "Memento," you work yourself backward from the early 90s to the early 50s in each of the six parts until you hit the epilogue set in the near future. Nothing about this book is straightforward--not the prose, point-of-view, narrative, characters or the very thin plot.

Even many reviewers who found the book a mess thought the prologue a work of genius, so if you're not enchanted by it--and I wasn't--I doubt the book will hold you. I think that prologue does say a lot about Delillo. Both it and a great deal of the book hangs on baseball as a metaphor for American culture and is about a legendary game between the Giants and Dodgers in 1951--through it we follow not just a turnstile jumper but characters like J Edgar Hoover and Jackie Gleason--who is described vividly and repellently as throwing up on Frank Sinatra. That turnstile jumper who skipped out of school finds a seat and is befriended by a man who buys him a soda. At the end of the game he'll twist this man's fingers to pry the home-run baseball out of his hands. So, if baseball is America, then the message is America is grasping, greedy, thieving, and repellent.

The bulk of the book then deals with the man who ultimately bought that baseball--Nick Shay--who is in waste management. The first person narrative of Part One is more accessible than the Prologue, but still at times disjointed in the modernist way, and we're headed to another extended metaphor: American culture as trash.

In short, if you're looking for a gripping story with characters you care about and a narrative that sucks you in, you're looking in the
wrong place. But if you're the kind who loves a disjointed narrative with overwrought, pretentious prose that revels in showing us the tawdriness of American life, by all means, go pick up a copy.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Not for the easily distracted

This book is a masterpiece, but like many good things, it may be best to start with some earlier (and probably easier to follow) books by the author. Libra (a novel about Oswald's and the mafia's role in the assasination of JFK), White Noise, and even End Zone are all probably good places to start. That said, Underworld is awesome in its scope (fifty years, many subplots, Delillo's incredible command of dialogue), and highly recommended.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Kendall

*slaps him and takes control of the boat*hmmm*decides to be nice to the guy and throws him on the shore*thnx!!so wat now posiedon

Matthew

Wheres Hades cabin?

Okay

Okay

Major American work of fiction

Rivals Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" as the most important American novel ever.

Best Book I've Read Recently

If one were to pick their recipe for a 'perfect book', 'Underworld' would not meet many readers' criteria. The ending is somewhat disconnected and disappointing. This is not a book that you will sit up all night to finish, nor is it a book you can walk away from for a week or two due to its complexity. However the vast tapestry woven from the opening chapter of the 'Shot Heard Around the World' and the detailed and real character development are arresting. The contrasts between postwar neighborhood centered New York City life and today's disposable society are telling and the New York portraits-past and present- are wonderfully evocative. I generally like a fast read, as long as it is well written, but this book remains in my memory.

This book is more about just one story...

Underworld is one of those books that does not seem to inter-connected, this seemingly detachment from character to character drives home the colossal picture that Delillo is trying to make. It will not be enjoyed if seen otherwise.

what story?

When I read a book, I'm more interested in the story than superfluous language. If you're into erratic shifts of time and place, as well as hard to read dialogue and mundane observations that serve no purpose in furthering the story, then Underworld is the book for you. There's a reason why authors like Stephen King, James Patterson, and JK Rowling sell so many books--THEY TELL STORIES PEOPLE FIND INTERESTING. They may not win the literary awards books like Underworld win, but they're a hell of a lot more fun to read. When I pick up a book, I don't want to work. I'd rather stare out the bus window than read Underworld.

delectable !

Mr. Delillo has written a masterpiece ....not so much as an accurate history of the last century's last 50 years but a pastiche of soaring language ....daring use of metaphor and astounding tone and poetic prose ....if you love truly love good writing and are not put off by discursive turns to further the poetry this is your book! there are whole sections and even paragraphs that stand all alone and can be read as exquisite essays and short stories Delillo has wrought a work of grand proportions in the use of the English language .....this is nothing short of the work of a genius and lord of language .....to be sure the plot and characters are not rendered clearly thus throwing some readers off stride ....but for the beautiful language it's well worth the read .....you can find epigramatical passage after passage ....this book will instill in many a love for good writing the language has been rescued from banality by Mr.Delillo 3 cheers !!! read it ....you'll love it

The masterpiece of the best American author of the second half of the 20th century.

In his epic that spans five decades, Delillo subtly observes, commends, and criticizes American society. Focusing on the consumption oriented society, this tale of half a dozen major characters and a baseball is both brilliantly written and engrossing. Perhaps the best book to be written in the past ten years.

i have to agree with the consensus, it's really not for everyone

-which is not a bad thing. some people enjoy its framework, others don't. nothing more. a book that really requires your attention most importantly your thoughts inbetween the times you're actually reading it. otherwise you'll immerse yourself into a lost world of american history's not so newsbreaking yet highly interesting (fictional) events. yet even with so much information packed into the book it manages itself to wrap itself around one central theme in the end - peace.

masterful

Delilo writes about American culture with incisive clarity and wit. Some people get it, and some people, like the negative reviewers on this page, don't. There's something to be found in every sentence.

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