Splendid book, near perfect in places.

Sterile declarative verbal utterances imitate speech and unfurl as prettily as perfect football plays. However, meaning teeters on the edge of blank tautology that in the end declares only the unsaid: the core of modern angst that is Delillo's abiding theme in most of his books. This is speech that does violence to language as the footballers of Harkness' college do violence to each other both on and off field.

In places the novel is hilarious. The football game is a tour-de-force miracle of faux-jargonned gibberish-cum-threnody. There is no thrill to this game. The play is related dispassionately. One character on the bench wonders what they are missing on TV, and in a truly beautiful page protagonist Harkness has a profound religious experience after recovering from a crunching tackle, soul meeting soil.

Reading these interchanges, the phrase 'Loss of affect' comes to mind: the reflective mind protected by carapace of language for speakings sake, just as body armour protects fielded player from aggressive opponent.

Everywhere off the field of play, there is deferral. Characters forgo the world of study to undertake bizarre self appointed projects. The players marvel at a huge insect collection one member starts after he's hunted his specimens all night. Another player tries to learn a Rilke Elegy despite having no German. Protagonist Hakness becomes a dilettante devotee of the nature of total nuclear war, and also devotes himself to learning a new word every day. Certain members team up to form a society devoted to 'the untellable' where making sense means failure. A team member wants to grow a beard but wonders whether to and wanting to because he needs the change it provokes, wanting the 'reality increment' it promises.

The spectre of language games, or sense divorced from content haunts all DDL novels, especially in White Noise, The Body Artist and Point Omega. Here in End Zone, as surely as the football college is placed in a desert, as surely as desertification and Wasteland follows Mutually Assured Destruction, is language similarly dessicated.

Not for nothing does star player Taft reveal at the end of the book that he has given up football to study. Mentation is all in the hyper cerebrated world of End Zone. However his choice of subject is intended to chill us: he reads about the Holocaust, thirty or forty books he tells us, but most recently has focussed on the instances of infanticide during the Shoah. If Harkness' focus is on systemic unfathomable violence of total thermonuclear obliteration, Taft's is on the smaller but no less appalling enormities of Mankind.

Most pointedly though, DeLillo might be showing us that a disenchanted age makes disenchanted people: in End Zone, reflection concentrates on the most viscerally real of possibilities and histories - large scale death and suffering - not as morbid obsession but so as to goad a desensitise self into feeling something and anything.

It is to DeLillo's great credit that he makes his dispassionate voice succeed and that his narrative is so compelling. The book was ramping itself up to five stars til about 15 pages from the end, notching itself down to four by books close, but they are four gleaming stars.

Though we might rightly or wrongly, imagine that nuclear destruction has gone the way of the USSR, DeLillo shows us that there's a worse malaise, the diseased self. White Noise was to be the peak of expression for this, End Zone a station on the way to that wonderful book. As it stands, this is a deliciously thought-provoking book, the moreso because this is apparently regarded as one of Delillo's minor works.

Have you ever been engrossed in a book only to feel a bit lost?

I mean, you can follow the events and identify the various characters, but you're at a loss when it comes to discerning the book's purpose.

I experienced that with Don DeLillo's End Zone.

I grasped the basic storyline - the season of a small West Texas college football team, as narrated by one of the running backs who is fixated on nuclear war.

However, page after page of meandering monologues and dialogues passed by, and I failed to glean anything from them.

I had a hunch that there was an abundance of symbolism, meaning, and all those elements one has to discuss in English essays hidden within the ramblings.

But it was so well concealed that I couldn't spot it (admittedly, I didn't make a concerted effort to look for it either).

Consequently, End Zone didn't have much of an impact on me.

I persisted in reading, convinced that there would be some sort of astonishing climax at the end, but there really wasn't.

I've noticed that this sort of thing occurs to me quite frequently when I read contemporary, "serious" fiction.

"End Zone" is a captivating story that revolves around an American college football-player.

This player has a rather unusual obsession with nuclear war, which adds an interesting layer to his character. What's more, he has a unique way with words that makes him seem completely detached from his own life.

If only I had a better understanding of American football, perhaps I could have easily distinguished between the parodic and the pretentious elements in the story.

However, in this word-dense novel, which seems to say very little despite its abundance of words, I am left with the impression that DeLillo has perhaps tried too hard to be clever.

For once, it feels like he has missed the mark. Maybe with a deeper knowledge of the sport, I would have been able to appreciate the nuances and subtleties that DeLillo was trying to convey.

As it stands, I am left with a sense of confusion and a feeling that there is more to this story than meets the eye.

Nevertheless, "End Zone" is still a thought-provoking read that challenges the reader to look beyond the surface and consider the deeper themes and ideas that are hidden within its pages.

I truly had a great liking for End Zone. However, I'm not completely certain if this book is actually successful in achieving what it endeavors to do. The key aspect, I believe, is that even after having completed reading it, I'm still not entirely clear about what this book is attempting to convey. It reads almost like a slice-of-life narrative, as Gary Harkness endeavors to find his place in the world while engaged in playing college-level football. But that's not precisely what it's all about, as Harkness appears to be more intrigued by war and his complex relationship with the love-interest Myna than he seems to be with football.

I suppose then that this is a book that delves into the relationship between war and sport. It's also a book that explores the sacrifices that one has to make in order to become truly good at something. Then again, it's also a book that examines the conflict between the drive to be successful and the drive to be relaxed and idle. There's also something in the book regarding race relations, and there's something in the book too about the dark side of human nature, along with an accompanying fascination with the macabre. There's also a significant amount in the book about playing football well. I cannot emphasize this enough. Without a basic understanding of the mechanics of football (the American kind), some portions of this book might prove to be rather confusing.

And all of these themes are indeed great. But the book (depending on your edition) is only approximately two hundred pages long. It truly does cover a vast amount of ground. I did enjoy it, but given such a short length, I really have no idea how much of it I've been able to fully understand and assimilate.

Continuing the chronological immersion into the creativity of this master, it can be understood that he had already begun his path as a living classic of a writer. "The End Zone" is maximally unlike the debut, but at the same time it touches on the themes already indicated in the first novel. The country as a closed system and the systems within a closed country. The theme of man as a defining personality and a creative unit, the theme of the influence of history (in this case, a war) on different strata of the population, and directly the theme of war. The main idea is to show that American football is a kind of war. And around this, the author winds the spiral of leitmotifs. The simplest ones are the players - soldiers, the coaching staff - the officer corps, the stadium - the training ground, the bedrooms - the barracks, etc. The more complex ones are the linguistic turns, the names of the teams, the names of the strategies, and so on. The author managed to create something so great that, unfortunately, it remained long forgotten. A novel that is interesting to think about but not very interesting to talk about. But the influence is titanic - Wallace with his sad "Infinite Jest" will confirm this.

Don DeLillo wrote the best novel about American football, about which he himself said in an interview with DeCourcy that "The End Zone was not about football."

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I liked it more than all the critics.

It isn't serious at all and in that particular manner, I firmly believe it stands out显著 among his collection.

In its overt明显的 metaphor隐喻, it might have captured the sentiment情感 of American Society better than White Noise.

Maybe.

Just a thought at least.

However, upon further reflection, one could argue that the lack of seriousness might also be a drawback缺点.

Some might feel that it doesn't delve深入 into the complex issues of American Society as deeply as other works.

Yet, I still find its unique approach refreshing and engaging.

It presents a different perspective that challenges the traditional notions of what a serious work should be.

In conclusion, while it may not be everyone's cup of tea, for me, it holds a special place in his body of work.

**An Explosion Over the Desert**

You could easily lose yourself in the pages of this short novel for weeks or even months. It is both highly rewarding and extremely challenging. There are numerous characters, each with their own distinct points of view. It's not entirely clear if any of them are meant to represent DeLillo's final or conclusive views, or if perhaps it's the very debate that matters and should continue. The debate touches on various profound themes such as reality, consciousness, identity, silence, and language. Oh, and let's not forget war, football, weight loss, and orange dresses ("You look like an explosion over the desert").

**Inside the Language of Logos**

This novel is as much a metaphysical exploration as it is a metaphorical one. Everything unfolds within the realm of language, not just the language of the story itself. Silence seems to be the absence of language, or perhaps an exile from community and language. Without language, society and discourse cease to exist. As Wittgenstein so famously remarked: "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent." DeLillo's protagonist, Gary Harkness, expresses his dissatisfaction with silence, saying, "Of all the aspects of exile, silence pleased me least." David Foster Wallace, in his reading of the novel, inferred that "SILENCE = HORROR." It is the horror of being separated from and the destruction of society. Exile and silence, then, have the power to de-center the individual consciousness.

**The Complication of the Exile**

Harkness is one of the exiles within (and from) the Logos College football team. He has the physical talent to earn a place on the team, but he doesn't quite fit in. He's too complex for the team's liking. As his coach puts it: "You're more the complicated type." Consequently, he is regarded as an outcast or an exile. Most of the other players on the team are rather crazy. In a sense, you can either be sane outside the team/crowd or insane within it.
**The Simple Life of the Warrior**
Harkness' coach urges him to simplify his life and "lead a simple life." The coach emphasizes the importance of oneness for a winning team, but Harkness feels that true oneness can only be achieved with something greater than just people, community, or society. At a previous college, he accidentally killed another player, and now he has a strange fascination with reading about the deaths of millions and the destruction of great cities. This is one of the first connections between war and football that DeLillo makes. Harkness believes that football has reduced his complexity and made him more of a warrior.
**Between Silence and Violence**
Harkness seems to exist in the space between silence and violence. He respects the single-mindedness and ruthlessness of some of his teammates, qualities that are often associated with the violence of both sport and war. However, he also has his own moral compass and struggles with the idea of being too nice. Football provides him with some comfort and a sense of simplicity in an otherwise complicated life.
**War and Football**
DeLillo equivocates on the analogy between war and football. He describes the action of the game in militaristic terms, but one of his characters rejects the notion of football as warfare. Football has its own unique features, such as discipline, team love, and the passionate crowds. It is a form of society that is organized and guided by language.
**Technology and Language**
DeLillo explores the differences and likenesses between war and football. While war is the ultimate realization of modern technology, football is seen in terms of organization, language, and spectators. Technology, in a way, destroys language and creates silence, which can lead to a breakdown like the one Gary Harkness experiences.
**The Exemplary Spectator**
The exemplary spectator, according to DeLillo, understands that sport is a benign illusion that gives the impression that order is possible. Football, more than other sports, fulfills the spectator's need for details, impressions, and a sense of civilization. Language is the vehicle through which the game operates, and the naming of plays is of utmost importance. "End Zone" appears to be the first of DeLillo's novels to focus on the essence of language and names, a theme that would continue throughout his writing career and have a significant influence on other post-modernist authors like David Foster Wallace.

Rewritten and expanded:

Written over a decade prior to White Noise, this work presents a plethora of DeLillo's ideas in their nascent stages. Nuclear war looms large as a theme, along with layer upon layer of metaphor. America is depicted as an incoherent fever dream, and there is a sort of humor that defies traditional classification. The only snag is that as a young writer, DeLillo endeavored to compress these complex elements into a relatively short book. They truly require more space to unfold and breathe. This is in contrast to White Noise, or even better, Underworld, which is a magnificent and authoritative tome. However, it must be noted that this is early work, and it still possesses some of that wonderful, paranoid prose that makes reading DeLillo such a pleasure.

The special teams collided,

with the swarm and thud of interchangeable bodies.

Small wars commenced here and there,

bringing exaltation and first blood.

A helmet bounced brightly on the splendid grass,

as the breathless impact of two destructive masses occurred.

It was quite a sight to watch.

There is truly nothing like reading a Don DeLillo novel.

After perusing his first two novels,

I can assert with confidence that few authors possess such an understanding of language and the power latent within each individual word in a book.

(Another author who comes to mind in this regard is Toni Morrison.)

DeLillo is a virtuoso of language,

wielding words like weapons in a ceaseless war to actualize on paper his uncanny perception of humanity (or at least, his rendition of it).

Boiled down to the most basic description,

End Zone is a novel about football and war.

DeLillo constructs the metaphor correlating these two throughout the book,

reaching (a pun is forthcoming) nuclear meltdown by the turn of the final page.

Although this metaphor lies at the core of End Zone,

there is a plethora more to discover here.

DeLillo penning a chapter-length description of a football game right in the middle of the story,

and you would be hard-pressed to unearth anything even remotely as electrifying and thrilling written about sports.

On top of extended metaphors and play-by-play football games,

DeLillo delves into language (or the dearth thereof);

the manner in which history is constructed on connectivity;

how violence functions within society;

and much more.

DeLillo’s work is best savored from a distance;

much like a game of football,

the heightened excitement, violence, and sense of community experience surrounding the game is exhilarating in the moment.

And yet, as time progresses,

when looking back at the intricacies of the human chess match unfolding before you,

the technical nature of the play calling,

the language that imparts meaning to something that appears inherently primal,

you come to realize how much more there is to behold.

The farther I distance myself from End Zone,

the more I am able to look back and admire the sheer genius that reveals itself in DeLillo’s writing.

My second approach to Don DeLillo's prose.

The longer I think about this book, the more I like it. However, reading the description of the American football game didn't appeal to me that much. I felt lost in all those formations, applications, defenses... It's not my cultural circle. This sport is not watched in Europe. Therefore, I subtract one star in the rating.

** spoiler alert **

The football game is actually an atomic war. In the book, there are really a lot of interesting analogies, for example: Gary has depressive states after the Big Game. During the meeting in the library with Myrna, he notices that she has a much better complexion, almost without spots. Could it be about the "healing" of the craters after the atomic war (the Big Game)? Then Gary starts to approach Myrna, as if a man has always desired war (just as he desires football games). The falling snow during one of the games perhaps means radioactive waste. One of the students after the season starts to be interested in the Holocaust. Gary himself is exhausted (by the atomic war) to such an extent that he ends up hooked up to an IV drip in bed.

** spoiler end **

There are more such treats. Certainly, the lessons from "unwatchability" are worthy of my attention upon rereading. This must also mean something.

In conclusion, I recommend the book, but keep in mind that if you are not familiar with football, you will tire of 1/3 of the book.

Ancora una volta sport e conflitti mondiali, in questo caso football e guerra nucleare.

Football is seen as a metaphor for war, all through the eyes of our protagonist Gary.

And once again, a great journey through the words of Delillo, which, as often happens, never lead us to a true and proper conclusion, but the journeys that Don makes you take are all first class!!!

He nourished ambitions on me and more or less also at my expense. This is a constant of men who have not managed to become heroes: their sons must show that the seed has not weakened.

- Identity, - said Buddy Shock. - An equality satisfied by all the possible values of the variables for which the standardized expressions that appear in the equality are quantitatively determined.

- I had a flash: finally I understood what is truly strange about you, - I said. - You don't transmit any sense of a personal future.

- I'm a person of the present, Gary.

Thank goodness, because I instead am a person of the past.

- I know, she said. - That's why I like you. I need a bit of perspective in life.

The story must be balanced with science fiction, - he said. - It's the only way to stay sane.

For the most part, people's lives are guided by clichés. Clichés have a calming effect on the mind and are able to express that kind of widely accepted feeling that, digs digs, in the end is nothing but a form of denial of silence. Their danger is hidden together with the darkest crimes of thought and language. In the face of death, the danger fades away. Death is the best breeding ground for clichés. The most worn-out sayings are never as comforting and reassuring as in periods of mourning. The room is filled with floral decorations, we don't dare move away from the walls and we utter stilted banalities.

I reject the wrathful God of the Jews. I reject the Christian God of love and money, although I don't reject love in itself or money in itself. I reject the idea of heritage, origins, tradition and birthright. These things only slow down the progress of the human race. They generate only war and madness, war and madness, war and madness.

We need greater selflessness, greater discipline. Our inner life is crumbling. We need to give up everything that distracts us from the knowledge of ourselves. We are moving too far away from our initial premises. We wander aimlessly. We need to rebuild ourselves mentally and spiritually. If we do that, the body will take care of itself. It's something I learned as a child. I was frail, a very frail child. I got all the diseases. I had severe nutritional deficiencies. My legs were as dry as those of a chair. But I rebuilt myself with determination and sacrifice. First the mind and then the body.