Mao II

Video review

DeLillo's signature mixture of splendid prose and jazzy broodings on contemporary life make it a priceless experience even when the pace slows down painfully. There's also some great humor here, and explosions. Would be an excellent introduction to his fiction if White Noise and Libra weren't somewhat fuller experiences.

I was really into this book until about halfway through where the storytelling seemed to fall apart. I'm still not sure what happened to Bill, actually. I loved so much of the first half though, the characters, their histories, their insights, that I might just decide to pretend not to have read the last 100 pages.

I can't deny that Don DeLillo has great way with words but the lack of traditional storytelling prevented me from enjoying this novel.

Καρεν και Σκοτ
Μπιλ και Μπριτα
Βηρυτος κ Νεα Υορκη

Συγγραφεις κ τρομοκρατες
Αθωοτητα κ αφελεια

Που συγκλίνουν? Που αποκλίνουν? Ποιος μπορει να γινει πιο επικινδυνος

Ηθελε να γινει καταφυγιο εναντια στον τροπο που λειτουργουν τα πραγματα , εναντια στη δυναμη αυτου που πλανιεται εκει εξω
Αγαπη κ επαφη...να ψαχνεις σημεια για να αγγιξεις καπως τη χαμενη παιδικοτητα

Φορεας του υιου του μελλοντος , χωρις αυστηρα όρια.
Δεχοταν τα παντα,, πιστευε στα παντα,στην οδύνη, στην εκσταση,στις τροφες για σκύλους,όλα τα περι αγγελων,
όλη την εξ ουρανου ευτυχία των μωρων

Συμβολισμοι και μετασχηματισμοί

Ο τρομοκρατης ειναι αυτος που προσπαθει να σπασει την αδρανεια να μην αφομοιωθει , απο τις κοινωνιες περιορισμένες στην αδρανεια κ την υπερβολη
Υπερβολη , υπεραφθονια απο τα παντα, περισσοτερα αχρηστα πραγματα,μηνύματα και εννοιες απο οσα μπορουμε να χρησιμοποιουσεμε σ δεκα χιλιαδες ζωες
Αδρανεια-υστερια

Κ απο την αλλη Ο Μαο.
Ο Μαο πιστευει πως η τάξη υπάρχει μονο μεσα απο την συνεχη επανασταση
Ο Μαο πιστευει στην εξελικτικη διαδικασια της αναμορφωσης της σκέψης

Κ ο Αντυ Γουορχολ. Η υπερβατικη ματια
Να αποτυπωνονται τα χαρακτηριστικα της μορφης τους σαν εικονα λειζερ καποιου συγχρονου Μποτιτσέλι
Ολοι δειχνουν υπερβατικοι, απελευθερωμενοι απο ορια και καθολου εκπληκτοι απο το που τους εχει τοποθετησει η Ιστορια

Εξαιρετικος DeLillo

Little would have to be changed and the book would probably be burned by Columbia University students today. A book about terrorism, mass cult and following one idea and one person only. Probably I got it all wrong, but guys wake up, don't follow Mao III.

Images can hold sway over large swaths of human beings. Symbols and iconography can influence entire nations to take up rituals, crosses, flags and even terrorism. This is the gist of the entire novel. There is a strong juxtaposition between isolating oneself from crowds and being enmeshed into crowds so much that individuals sacrifice their identity to the bigger body. I enjoyed the concepts presented in this book far more than I did actually reading it. The big conceptual flourishes in the plot were interesting but getting there wasn’t anything to write home about. He wrote with much more force and energy in White Noise that I was left a bit disappointed in this one. I think my main feeling is that this could have been an awesome essay.

За пореден път ме побиват тръпки от писането на Дон Делило. Това е четвъртият му роман, който чета. Нивото е високо - сериозни идеи, умни диалози, умела смяна на перспективата, пророчески мисли и внушения. И всичко това на моменти беше страшно и стряскащо за мен. Трябва да се прочете, за да се разбере.

Главният герой е писател, който се крие от света. Всеки може сам да си предстви какво го очаква, ако е чел нещо друго на Дон Делило. Това, което не очаквах е, че ще получа детайлно и убедително описание на идеята да се “покажеш”, за да се скриеш още по-дълбоко от света.

Сега искам да седна и да прочета наново тази брилянтна книга.

I am a fan of Don DeLillo's artistic ambition and his want to address ideas more profound than simple character study. When Tom Wolfe wrote his diatribe against MFA writing programs and accused them of passing along a tradition of meaningless, nonempathetic stories rather than work that addresses morality and social meaning, he undermined his own argument with his own bare-faced self-promotion of _The Bonfire of the Vanities_, a work that may in essence have fit his own ideal but was poorly structured and almost unreadable in the end.

But Wolfe had an interesting point, proof of which was the simple fact that his statements caused such ire and intellectual retaliation among the MFA community. In the end, Wolfe would have done better to have used DeLillo as his primary example of writing that aspires to his ideal. DeLillo writes about people, but in the broadest sense of the term. He dwells not only in his characters, which is often the stopping point for many short-minded fictioneers with an assumption that their characters are worth reading (which often means that they are not), but also what those characters mean to the society they are in. _Libra_ is a wonderful example of this, as is _White Noise_ and _Cosmopolis_. Even in works where DeLillo's representations remain as just representations and do not engage as characters themselves (_Ratner's Star_), I am always impressed with his artistic ambition. DeLillo has a lot to say about the world, both topically and philosophically. This book, _Mao II_, is one that dwells on many relatively recent events (the Reverend Moon mass wedding, Khomeni's death), but even when read in 2006, these events hold meaning to the central points DeLillo is out to address--the influence of mass character over singular character, and the effect of art on the human psyche (and in this book, he even allows terrorism to enter into the world of art).

_Mao II_ is a work of DeLillo nearly at his best. We deal with singular characters who resonate strongly off the page--there is Karen, a former Reverend Moon cultist who has been only partly relieved through deprogramming. There is Brita, a photographer who deals only writers as her subject. She manages to schedule a session with Bill, a legendary writer who has been self-reclusive and unsure about whether to relinquish his latest project onto the world. And there is his secretary/assistant/connection to the real world, Scott. Every one of these characters, and the characters to come as Bill is drawn into a plan to reveal himself at a benefit for a poet who has been kidnapped in Beirut, distinguish themselves through DeLillo's sharp and witty prose, but they also deal with philosophical concepts regarding society, indentity and art, and it is here that DeLillo is always at his finest. While in books like _The Names_, the characters overconsume the content and diffuse both, in _Mao II_, the characters are sharply intersting because of both their moments of sympathy and antipathy. In short, his characters feel fully fleshed out rather than spokespersons of philosophy, which was what dragged down books line _Ratner's Star_.

The work of any artist must be looked at in its entirety rather than by singular example. A great poet is not one who has written one great poem, but has written a canon of work that has sometimes produced godliness, often greatness, and sometimes total misses. DeLillo can be considered a great writer even in the misses, for what he tries to do often far surpasses the greatest work of mediocre writers who dwell too much in the immediate rather than the universal. _Mao II_ may not be one of his greatest works and may not be pondered and scribed over like _Underworld_ or _White Noise_, but it is a great book, and I think many a DeLillo fan will cherish it for its precision and its thinking.