I thoroughly enjoyed Don DeLillo's philosophic football novel, End Zone (1972).

It essentially follows running back Gary Harkness at his last resort football school in Logos, West Texas.

On one level, it is a novel about football at a small West Texas college. DeLillo clearly knows football, and his descriptions of the players and the game ring true. He is a fan, and he's not faking it.

On another level, it is a metaphorical book that delves into exile, warriors, silence, violence, war, technology, and language, among other things.

In addition, the writing style is highly aphoristic.

"Simplicity, repetition, solitude, starkness, discipline upon discipline."

"Much of the appeal of the sport derives from its dependence on elegant gibberish."

"The exemplary spectator is the person who understands that sport is a benign illusion, the illusion that order is possible."

"A nation is never more ridiculous than in its patriotic manifestations."

The dialogue, in particular, is unrealistic in the sense that many of the football players speak philosophically. Bloomberg, the "Jewish Giant," is a case in point, asking "Who was the greater man - Edward Gibbon or Archimedes?" and later "Sir Francis Drake or the prophet Isiah?" Then again, this was very likely DeLillo's intention. It was an entertaining and thought-provoking read.

Overall, End Zone is a unique and engaging novel that combines the excitement of football with profound philosophical insights.

This 48-year-old book is truly remarkable. It offers some of the most astute social commentary on the absurdity and exploitation that are inherent in college football and the military. The tone is wry, dark, and yet hilarious.

The passages related to football practice and games are truly unique. They are the only ones I've ever come across that can effectively evoke the joy, harmony, and blissful detachment that one attains while playing sports. It perfectly captures the camaraderie of being part of a team. DeLillo's hyperintellectualized and absurd dialogue does an excellent job of evoking this feeling, perhaps even more so than the actual experience.

However, it must be noted that this book is not for everyone. I don't believe one can fully appreciate its joys without a good understanding of American football and American football culture. But for me, I deeply loved this book. It combines many of the elements that I adore in modern-day writers like Gabe Habash and Paul Beatty, and yet it predates them by 50 years. Somehow, it contains reams of wise social commentary that has aged like fine wine.

Previously, I found DeLillo to be rather impenetrable. I attempted to read "Libra" and "The Names" but had difficulties. However, after reading this book, I am newly motivated to invest some time in the rest of his novels and explore his unique literary world further.

Being quite generous, it gets three stars. It didn't work for me and not just because 80% of the book is about American football games, trainings, and strategies. I wouldn't have minded if the allegory about the Cold War, a term that appears only once in the entire text, had been about chess, and it would also have been a valid metaphor for the era.

It's strange to analyze the book that I would have liked to read. The main problem is the proportion dedicated to American football versus that dedicated to other very brilliant matters that only appear as almost allusions without continuation. Verdict: the book is not guilty of the amount of ink spent on a story about football but of the ink not spent on developing ideas. Conclusion: the book lacks pages.

I would have liked to know more about:

- Gary's (the narrator, an American football player) concerns. All the synopses mention them, DeLillo exposes them but doesn't go into depth.

- The Mongolian science fiction author that DeLillo invents and for whom he even creates a story.

- The Jew who wants to de-Judaize himself (as if that were possible) and the phase in which Myna (the narrator's partner) and an overweight player resist the imposed canons just to preserve their identity.

- The sudden change of Myna.

- The process by which Taft, the most promising player on the team and the one who opens the book, goes through to stand up and challenge the conventions.

The book circles around themes such as identity, social integration, and the efforts to be worthy of it but doesn't quite land. There are passages of a cynical humor that draw on rather ingenious stereotypes. What a pity that lack of pages.

I never would have gone so far as to even open what was ostensibly a sports novel if it hadn't been written by Don DeLillo.

My initial skepticism quickly vanished as I returned to the familiar prose of one of my favorite authors from whom I've been away too long. I had been dabbling in "the classics" and largely falling asleep to them.

While End Zone is far from DeLillo's best, it ranks highly with the rest of his 70's and 80's output.

If you're like me and just don't understand the appeal of sports, you may find yourself skimming a few paragraphs. But for the most part, the football scenes, especially the dialogue, are double entendre for the nuclear era.

It's as if DeLillo is using the world of sports as a metaphor for the larger, more complex issues of our time. The intensity and competitiveness of football mirror the tensions and rivalries of the nuclear age.

Even if you're not a sports fan, there's still much to appreciate in End Zone. DeLillo's writing is as sharp and incisive as ever, and his ability to create complex characters and explore deep themes is on full display.

So if you're looking for a thought-provoking read that will challenge your perceptions and make you think, give End Zone a try. You might be surprised by what you find.