I'm tempted to give this book five stars based simply on a scene that runs just over a single page.

The exchange between Jack Gladney and Murray Jay Siskind at "The Most Photographed Barn in America" is just incredible stuff, and it's worth reciting (most of) it here.

There were forty cars and a tour bus in the makeshift lot. We walked along a cowpath to the slightly elevated spot set aside for viewing and photographing. All the people had cameras; some had tripods, telephoto lenses, filter kits. A man in a booth sold postcards and slides—pictures of the barn taken from the elevated spot. We need near a grove of trees and watched the photographers. Murray maintained a prolonged silence, occasionally scrawling some notes in a little book.

"No one sees the barn," he said finally.

A long silence followed.

"Once you've seen the signs about the barn, it becomes impossible to see the barn."

He fell silent once more. People with cameras left the elevated site, replaced at once by others.

"We're not here to capture an image, we're here to maintain one. Every photograph reinforces the aura. Can you feel it, Jack? An accumulation of nameless energies."

There was an extended silence. The man in the booth sold postcards and slides.

"Being here is a kind of spiritual surrender. We see only what the others see. The thousands who were here in the past, those who will come in the future. We've agreed to be part of a collective perception. This literally colors our vision. A religious experience in a way, like all tourism."

Another silence ensued.

"They are taking pictures of taking pictures," he said.

He did not speak for a while. We listened to the incessant clicking of shutter release buttons, the rustling crank of levers that advanced the film.

"What was the barn like before it was photographed?" he said.

"What did it look like, how was it different from other barns, how was it similar to other barns? We can't answer these questions because we've read the signs, seen the people snapping the pictures. We can't get outside the aura. We're part of the aura. We're here, we're now."

He seemed immensely pleased by this.

There is so much there. Published in 1985 (having been born in '85, I must declare it to have been a very good year), "White Noise" sums up the 80s' hyper-consumerist mentality better than any other novel I've read. But it also speaks to something in our current age. Television informs a huge part of "White Noise" and now in the 21st century, the internet and social media, especially photo apps like Instagram, have replaced TV in many ways. The phenomenon of people being more interested in maintaining an image than capturing a real one is still very much alive today.

"White Noise" is also chock-full of memorable, finely written characters. Jack, his family, Murray, Babette - all are fascinating in their own right. Jack, a teacher of Hitler Studies, has an odd and somewhat disturbing obsession with Hitler. His exchanges with Murray about this obsession provide some interesting insights into his character and the human psyche.

If you're like me, you might find yourself thinking that you really wish Jack and Murray had a podcast! I write reviews for myself, to try and glean more from a book. "White Noise" is one of those rare books that takes more than one reading to fully understand. Maybe my opinion is colored by the opinions of others, but I still believe there is a lot to discover in this novel. What was "White Noise" like before it was read? That's a question I'm still trying to answer.

One friend says that this is why people have taken vacations.

Not to rest or to see new places.

But to escape from the death that hides in the routine.

Vacations offer a break from the monotony of daily life, a chance to step out of the ordinary and experience something different.

It is a time when we can break free from the chains of routine and explore new possibilities.

By doing so, we can rejuvenate our spirits and find a new sense of purpose.

Moreover, vacations also allow us to spend quality time with our loved ones, strengthening our relationships and creating memories that will last a lifetime.

In a world where the pace of life is constantly accelerating, taking a vacation has become more important than ever.

It is a necessary antidote to the stress and burnout that come with living in a modern society.

So, the next time you feel the need to get away, don't hesitate.

Take a vacation and let the magic of new experiences transform your life.

I saw to my consternation that I'd given two stars to this smirkfest.

It was a rather puzzling situation as I then stuck it on my Finally Threw it At the Wall shelf.

This is clearly a contradiction.

How could I have initially given it two stars and then relegated it to that particular shelf?

So, after much thought and reconsideration, I have decided to change my rating.

One Star For You, Mr DeLillo.

Your work just doesn't meet my expectations.

It fails to engage me on a deeper level.

It seems to be more of a show of cleverness rather than a truly meaningful piece.

So, in my opinion, it deserves only one star.

And with that, I say Fuck off.

Maybe someone else will find more value in it, but for me, it just doesn't cut it.

March, 2018:

On a second read, I think I have grasped an additional 2 - 3% of the book compared to last time. I truly adore this book. It is like a hidden treasure chest that reveals more of its secrets with each exploration.

January, 2016:

I really took great pleasure in reading this, yet I don't fully understand it as of now. I estimate that I have comprehended approximately 95% of it. However, that remaining 5% seems to require some rereading and perhaps an additional 20 years of life experience. It gives the impression of a book that one could read several times throughout a lifetime and always discover a distinct meaning. It is rich in metaphors, highly philosophical, and extremely clever. It delves into profound themes such as death, consumerism, fear, modern life, existentialism, and nihilism, among others. Each time I pick up this book, I am drawn into its complex and thought-provoking world.

The only other DeLillo book that I have read is The Body Artist, and it was several years ago. At that time, I was mainly amused but also had an ambivalent feeling about the reading experience. However, White Noise is far better than I had imagined. It contains everything that I desire from literature. It is inspiring, insightful, gripping, funny, and completely absorbing. I know that I won't stop thinking about it for a long time.

The book is filled with dialogues, but it remains captivating from the very beginning to the end. The ending is rather strange, and I have no clue how Baumbach adapted it. Hopefully, I will watch the film this week.

I have purchased The Names, Libra, Mao II, Cosmopolis, and Point Omega, and I can't wait to read all of them. Along with Thomas Pynchon, my exploration into post-modern literature is progressing very smoothly.

I am looking forward to delving deeper into the works of these two great authors and uncovering more of the unique charm and profound thoughts that their writings offer.

White Noise is a profound text about the FEAR OF DEATH as the ultimate point. The entire plot and characters are just beautiful flowers to compose the crown.

I get nervous before getting on an airplane because I think it might fall: I have the FEAR OF DEATH. I don't watch television or read newspapers because they force me to think about wars, nuclear disasters, and natural catastrophes: I have the FEAR OF DEATH. I am an overprotective/ controlling maniac because the idea of losing those I love terrifies me: I have the FEAR OF DEATH. I smoke and, believing the images on the cigarette packs, I will die of cancer. It is my child side - which has no knowledge of the end to which every living being is condemned - and, without the FEAR OF DEATH, I cross the highway on foot…

(Odilon Redon, Death: My irony surpasses all others!)

Whoever read this opinion probably thinks that I "don't put the pigs together well" (and they're not wrong), but that's not going to kill me…

This text delves deep into the various manifestations of the fear of death in our daily lives. From the anxiety before boarding a plane to the avoidance of certain media due to the disturbing images they present, it shows how this fear can shape our behaviors and attitudes. The admission of being an overprotective person due to the fear of losing loved ones adds another layer to this exploration. Even the act of smoking, despite the awareness of its potential consequences, is influenced by this underlying fear. The reference to the child side that crosses the highway without fear provides a contrast to the adult's preoccupation with death. Overall, it makes the reader reflect on how the fear of death pervades our existence and how we deal with it in different ways.

Don DeLillo managed to create a great philosophical novel about a critical stage of humanity and analyze it through the prism of conscious understanding of death. At some point, in the author's opinion, people began to transform, became addicted to their own desires and degenerated into fools, monetizing everything in the process. Paraphrasing Descartes' "I think, therefore I am", one can now say that "I consume, therefore I live".

The theme of consumption stands out in the novel and appears in different aspects. A significant part of the book takes place in a store. In Blacksmith, there are many overweight people, which is a direct consequence of overconsumption. The large number of children in one family from different fathers is a sign of the senseless consumption of adults by each other. One of the heroines (Gladys Tredwell) was literally killed by overindulgence in the shopping mall (Mall) when she and her brother got lost and spent four days there.

There is also a lot in the novel about how we consume our lives. Jack's son, Heinrich, as the voice of analytical reason, even raises the question of unnecessary movements and how much time and energy could be saved in life, which could be used to live longer.

Even during the evacuation, as they drove past the store, the heroes saw that people continued to shop. That is, this is a process that cannot be stopped, even in a critical moment. Symbolically, the third part, which follows immediately after the accident, begins in a supermarket.

In DeLillo's opinion, humanity has gone astray somewhere, and therefore in his novel he tries to show human flaws through distortions and exposes all our modern frivolity under the guise of seriousness (the police turn to extrasensory perception to find the missing people, people find a way to put an equal sign between Elvis and Hitler (by the way, both have become immortal in the modern information space, which is very important for a novel about death; and countless conspiracy theories still boil down to the fact that they, literally, did not die), the founder of the Hitler Studies department does not know German (but does this make him a profane?), a 14-year-old boy is worried about imagined remnants, firefighters save a sofa (sic!) in a fire, etc.). Humanity, at least the American part, has lost the core of development, has lost sight of the future and has begun to prepare for death out of fear, because this is the only thing that is unchanging in life. I think it's not by chance that the American flag is mentioned only once in the novel and that is in the warehouse.

This is a world where cruelty has lost God, replacing him with entertainment, a world where even priests only play the role of priests and do not really believe. ("Centuries of faith cannot simply be exhausted in a few years"). A world of lost hope, where everything has gone wrong. Although the author gives hope for change at the end of the novel (the goods on the shelves have been rearranged), he gives no guarantees that everything will be okay. The sum does not change from the rearrangement of the addends. Humanity has begun to submit to the mass media and make a cult of consumption, even the supermarket has become a capitalist temple.

Using the example of Babette, one can see how a consumer person can prepare for death - only by continuing to use consumption as a means, using pills and selling one's body - the same as trading...

Instead of continuing to live life, the heroes live death.

"...Name one thing you can do. Well, you can make a simple wooden box, what will it do if you strike a match? We consider ourselves great and modern. Moon landings, artificial hearts. But what will happen when you are thrown into a time warp and you meet the ancient Greeks face to face? The Greeks invented trigonometry, made preparations and dissected the body. What would you say to such an ancient Greek so that he would not answer: "Found something to surprise"?.." With this, Heinrich wants to say that we have dissolved in knowledge. We have replaced curiosity with consumption.

There is a lot in the novel about the new catalyst for our existence - television, radio and other noises. Television as a reflection of the real world and, if desired, with its help one can distance oneself from reality - everything shown on TV has a large share of unreality, plus there is a delimiting barrier in the form of a screen, but such magic works until people realize that they can themselves become the plot on TV, the random appearance of Babette on TV and the reaction of her family to this is a clear example of this.

The book somewhat resembles the sitcoms of that time (the 80s - this is the time when sitcoms had already gained a cult status and were constantly broadcast; for example, at the time of writing the book, the family series Happy Days and All in the Family (which is an American adaptation of the British sitcom Till Death Us Do Part - the name is directly relevant to the novel, in principle, like the name of the remake)) had already progressed. As in sitcoms, the events unfold around one family and are centered in several locations (house, department, grocery store, car), the characters are hyperbolically comical, there is disgusting advertising everywhere, which sometimes just intrudes and interrupts the text, etc. Researcher Douglas Keesey noted that the family in the novel is similar to the family from the sitcom The Brady Bunch (1969-74) - there a man and a woman come together who already had three children each before the new relationship. In general, if you read about the characteristic differences of sitcoms and look at the novel, you can find a lot in common.

But if you look at the novel more widely, the process resembles channel surfing. Here is your family drama, here is a catastrophe, here is a detective story, here is a reality show, if you don't want that, then hold on to the UFO site. Such a personification of television broadcasting in reality, so to speak, the characters live as long as the channels are switched, because as soon as the broadcast ends, it will be time for white noise - death in the language of television.

(That's why in Willy Minker's hotel room, at the end of the novel, the image on the TV screen constantly jumps and trembles - at that moment the hero is closest to death, which is symbolically reflected on the screen).

Regarding the meaning of television in the novel, it is worth reading David Foster Wallace's essay on television viewing and American literature E unibus pluram: television and U.S. fiction. Separately, about White Noise, he notes it on the example of the most photographed room, a chain of observers. Observers observe observers while they observe observers...

The problem of the Gladney family is in great misunderstanding. The heroes talk a lot among themselves, but often do not understand each other, and also know little about each other's lives outside the home. They live in an invented sincerity and primary harmony, although they are all divided among themselves.

The male gender in the family is shown in a different place in reality.

Jack - a conservative - gravitates towards the past (Hitler Studies), he does not trust the new, and what is already familiar to him creates comfort. Jack teaches Hitler Studies only in dark glasses, as if distancing himself from a clear look at the cruel things of the past, although he is covered by style. He is afraid of death and does not accept it as a given - "nothing terrible can happen to professors because catastrophes only happen to people on the periphery".

Heinrich - gravitates towards the future through knowledge; he is not afraid of death, but interacts with it and those associated with it (plays chess with the killer, befriends Orest, who tempts death with experiments with changes), tries to study it.

Wilder - a new type of person, with him it is somewhat unclear whether he is a little backward or, on the contrary, maximally enlightened. There is a certain detachment in Wilder, although sometimes he is also perceived as an interested observer; free from death - he does not realize what it is, and therefore death itself does not touch him at the end of the book, because one can come to terms with death only by abandoning analytics.

The study of Hitler and the Third Reich cannot pass without a trace (why else the example of another professor-researcher from "The Tunnel" by William Gass). After all, if a person is attracted by the cruel past, then there must be something dark in him. And no matter how much Jack hides his true self, his essence still escapes. The pistol, that is, the weapon (like the army in Hitler's hands), acts as a symbol of domination and a catalyst for the manifestation of aggression - only with its appearance in Jack do significant changes in character occur towards planned cruelty, and when he transfers it to Minker's hand, thus freeing himself from its heaviness, he again becomes a vulnerable (also in the literal sense) and weak person.

Interestingly, it is not Babette herself whom Jack wants to take revenge on for betraying his wife, but the one with whom she betrayed. Closing his eyes to his wife's conscious decision to do such an act, he blames everything on someone else and wants to solve the problem like a real Hitlerite, moving from a paranoid state to a crime.

And is there a voice of reason in the book? Is there a character who adequately assesses reality? I think it's Murray. There is an impression that he is the only one who understands the sick reality of being and uses it in his own interests, and also always has answers to all questions. He is not always right, but always convincing. Having understood the world, he plays by its rules.

At the end, I would like to quote the words of Jack's father-in-law (who, in the role of father, is similar to the author's alter ego; and it is he who gives the pistol to Jack)

"Were people as stupid when there was no television?"

Now instead of "television" you can substitute a bunch of other modern problems that do not make us smarter.

“What if death is nothing but sound....electrical noise….you hear it forever…sound all around…uniform, white.”

Think about that. Death: white noise. A metaphor for the substance of nothingness. However you wish to describe it, death casts a large black shadow on us. It covers human beings but not animals - because animals are not afraid of death. Get rid of that shadow, problem solved… What if there were a pill that fixes the fear-of-death part of the brain and cures you of this "condition"? Would you take it? If you need help in deciding, read White Noise.

It is about death, the fear of dying, the meaningless white noise in our lives. And Hitler. “There’s something about German names, the German language, German things. I don’t know what it is exactly. It’s just there. In the middle of it all is Hitler, of course.” “He was on again last night.” “He’s always on. We couldn’t have television without him.” And it is very, very funny. The giddiness just builds and builds, interrupted now and then by the sound of your own laughter. Each time, startled, you look up from the book and remember you are alone. That you were reading. And the black shadow that follows you around all the time is still there.

Here's a hint about that pill: “Fear is self-awareness raised to a higher level.” Every solution has consequences. The main character Jack Gladney would be at home in a Saul Bellow novel. In fact Saul Bellow seemed ever present - his wit and 20th century angst, his way of tossing in philosophic discourse and intellectual musings, his deeply flawed characters that you love anyway. The very raw inner musings give them a sense of vulnerability that you identify with.

“How strange it is. We have these deep terrible lingering fears about ourselves and the people we love. Yet we walk around, talk to people, eat and drink. We manage to function. The feelings are deep and real. Shouldn’t they paralyze us? How is it we can survive them, at least for a while? We drive a car, we teach a class. How is it no one sees how deeply afraid we were, last night, this morning? Is it something we all hide from each other, by mutual consent? Or do we share the same secret without knowing it? Wear the same disguise.”

White Noise, written in 1984 (published in 1985), brings Orwell to mind. But the real Orwellian streak is that DeLillo was so in tune with where contemporary society was going, he all but predicts events of the 21st century - with his references to plane crashes, manmade disasters, our artificial high-tech, miracle drug society. Even if none of the above interests you, just read this novel because DeLillo can build a haunting image of something very simple: "the sparse traffic washes past, a remote and steady murmur around our sleep, as of dead souls babbling at the edge of a dream."