As eerie, weird, morbid, (yet) concise as writers go, Don De Lillo takes the cake. In "White Noise", people go a lil crazy after a chemical spill makes an O.C.D. person's otherwise superdirty world into a superdooperdirty world. There are waves of radiation everywhere, as the world becomes infiltrated by 'lil parasites.

In "Cosmopolis", the Y2K scare is meshed with "American Psycho." Eric is a multimillionaire (billionaire?) who can control the American Stock Market via a gadgeted limo. Far out! But he ignores what occurs one fine April day (year 2000) in NYC... & he is the archetype we all have known and loved all along.

There is much to ponder after reading this "Day in the Life of..." There is much action within non action... if that makes sense... as if everything was its composite. ... micromolecules...

Anyway, if you have OCD, or you are completely terrified of germs, technology, & nonsense... De Lillo is NOT for you.

"Kõik, mis teeb temast, kes ta on, on vaevalt määratletav, veel vähem pööratav andmeteks [--]. Tema raske haare üle maailma, materiaalsed asjad, suurepärased asjad, tõesed ja valed mälestused, talviste videvike ebamäärane olek, ei ole ülekantav, kaamed ööd, mil ta ise unepuudusest lamedaks tõmbub, väike tüügas reiel, mida ta iga kord duši all märkab, kõik see on tema, ja kuidas seep, mida ta kasutab, nõgusa seebitüki lõhn ja puudutus teeb temast selle, kes ta on, sest ta nimetab aroomi, mandel, ja kuidas türa tolkneb, ei ole ülekantav, ja kummaliselt tuikav põlv, naksak põlves, kui seda painutada, kõik see on tema, ja nii palju muud, mis ei ole ülekantav kuhugi kõrgesse ülevusse, lõppematu teadvuse tehnoloogiasse."

imeline

Strangely this novel has received many negative reviews. Most of them compare this book against other Delillo works and feel it falls below his usual standard of excellence in prose. Having only read one, at this point, my view is very different.
The novel is based on a day in the life of its main character, Eric Packer, a 28 year old brilliant Wall Street currency trader who has made billions of dollars anticipating the market trends of worldwide currency. Not unlike Joyce's, "Ulysses" and Woolf's "Mrs. Dalloway" Delillo opens the story with Packer's decision that "we" need to get a haircut. And where he chooses to have that haircut is across town, on a busy day in NYC, complicated by a US presidential visit to the UN and the security that results in ultimate traffic gridlock. The time is April, in the year 2000, before the internet stock market bubble burst. It is within the shelter of Packer's uber-equipped limo that we are introduced to his life and his world.
Packer is brilliant, obsessive to the most minute detail flashed on the several plasma screens within his limo, but has become disconnected from his humanity. Think Alvin Toffler and "Future Shock" 1970. Using mathematical formulas of probability and scientific physical theories of natural repetition, often interpreted in economics as a market predictor, he has become a financial wunderkind, revered and hated simultaneously, all over the world. His power is enormous. There are those that worship him, and those that hate him, both beyond reason. His trade orders can shut down economies, countries and banks and he knows it. The making of money for him is abstract and unconnected with jobs and individual needs for survival. He could care less. To him, it is a game against himself. Nothing more. And when he wins, there is no pleasure, no sense of satisfaction. It is 24/7, 365 days a year. The markets never sleep.
Unable to interact socially and emotionally, Packer becomes hyperfocused on his health and mortality. His limo has EKG monitors and examining tables. And, very bizarrely, he has obsessed over an incidental observation made by a physician that he has an "asymmetrical prostate". This observation results in intolerable anxiety for Packer, to such a degree that he pays for daily visits by doctors for prostate and heart exams. An EKG is not a big deal but daily prostate exams? Unpleasant at the very least and his need for it is telling.
On this particular day the Japanese yen's value continues to rise. Packer is betting against it, and despite the strong recommendations of his advisors, he stays on course. There are interactions, observations and events that occur over the period of his morning stuck in traffic, that threaten his well-being, both literally and figuratively. His security people tell him that there is a "credible threat" to his safety. Other executives in finance have been assassinated, but he dismisses their recommendations and continues on course.
As the traffic inches forward he begins to thaw, his confidence wanes, and he ultimately realizes that he has misjudged the market and has brought about his own downfall. Somehow this pleases him and he ensures it by hacking into his new wife's online account and losing her several million dollar inheritance as well. He has no shame in bringing everything down upon him. Banks, corporations, world economies. This is Part 1.
The second part of the book takes place in the afternoon, when his journey cross town is interrupted again by the funeral of a Sufi rapper musician he admires. He becomes emotionally overwhelmed by the display of grief and respect shown to this man by those who care for him. He finds his limo within a massive anti-capitalist, anti-tech protest, bordering on a riot. His limo is pelted with rocks and in every window he sees raging individuals.
Experiencing body sobs he starts noticing storefronts and the minutiae of everyman's daily life and then reflects on the barber shop he is attempting to reach. It is where his late father took him as a little boy. He knows he has destroyed his life, and that of countless others, but there is no going back. Nihilistic, he expects to die and finds this freeing. In the course of the afternoon he kills his security guard while examining his weapon, his intentionality is unclear, but there is no remorse. And he finally meets the credible threat.
This is extraordinarily well-written and timely. This was published in 2003, well before the 2009 US financial meltdown. Prophetic but deep. Had to read it three times before I could put it all together.

NOTE: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR COSMOPOLIS (THIS BOOK)

Guys, I really tried. Like, seriously. I got to 52% (Part Two) and I just couldn't take it anymore. I'd give this zero stars if it was possible.

This book is simply the sh^ttiest book I've ever read in my entire life. I don't think I could even find a book worse than this.
What the actual f^ck is this??? WHAT IS THIS WRITING STYLE? This book literally feels like someone hooked up a machine to someone's brain whilst they were sleeping and wrote a story from their dreams. It's like an AI wrote it. Or a toddler. Or some 11 year old who thinks they're really good at writing and writes this 'masterpiece' for class. This writing style is so bad that it makes me want to hurl and laugh and cry whenever I read a single piece of dialogue. Here's a lovely extract:

(Yes, this is all from the same conversation)
"How old are you?"
"Twenty-two. What? Twenty-two."
"You look younger. I was always younger than anyone around me. One day it began to change."
"I don't feel younger. I feel located totally nowhere. I think I'm ready to quit, basically, the business."
"Put a stick of gum in your mouth and try not to chew it. For someone your age, with your gifts, there's only one thing in the world worth pursuing professionally and intellectually. What is it, Michael? The interaction between technology and capital. The inseparability."
"High school was the last true challenge," (Michael) Chin said.
The car drifted into gridlock on Third Avenue. The driver's standing orders were to advance into blocked intersections, not hang feebly back.
"There's a poem I read in which a rat becomes the unit of currency."
"Yes. That would be interesting," Chin said.
"Yes. That would impact the world economy."
"The name alone. Better than the dong or the kwacha."
"The name says everything."
"Yes. The rat," Chin said.
"Yes. The rat closed lower today against the euro."
"Yes. There is growing concern that the Russian rat will be devalued."
"White rats. Think about that."
"Yes. Pregnant rats."
"Yes. Major sell-off of pregnant Russian rats."

This is literally the worst piece of dialogue I have ever read. From the beginning, it's confusing and there's just random subject changes that don't make sense to the reader the first time until you read it again and again and realise it's trying to be realistic about real conversations.
Also, can we just talk about the absolutely zero plot in this book? None??? Yes, I realise I've only read roughly half of the book, but the book is literally 209 pages. If you can't even get the reader to understand the plot within HALF of the story, then you really need to question your writing methods. In the summary, it says that Eric decided he wanted to get a haircut. I understand how this works as a plot point: You delay the journey for Eric to get his haircut in order to progress the plot and make the day / events seem more significant. But, seriously, why does it take him so long to get a f^cking haircut. Half the book. No haircut. Man really had sex, went to a diner, went to a bookshop, had some long drives / conversations with random people that teleport into his car, and never got his haircut.
From what I do understand is that this book is about communism (yay another book about communism. Not like we have enough of those already. We get the concept, guys) and also somehow about Eric trying to get a one-up on the stock market. He also happens to be very promiscuous and I'm surprised he doesn't have an STD already. Also, I think his competitors (and the president??) are getting targeted by assassins or whatever and so he's worrying about himself, and bitches about how the president is the reason why he isn't getting more protection. Like, I'm sorry bby but you need to calm tf down. You've already sexualised every single female character that has appeared so far, I think you can spare a little security FOR THE PRESIDENT.

I made some crack prediction about the main character, Eric, being a gay prostitute and the fact that he gets fingered in the ass somewhere near the end of the first chapter (I think) just seems really funny to me. Granted, he was having a prostate exam, so there's that. It actually says near the beginning: 'His prostate was asymmetrical' with absolutely zero context at all. Were we supposed to deduce that he was going to the doctor from that? Or was that some little random ass clue that was supposed to confuse us then make sense later on?


This book is just so bad. It doesn't deserve 3.24 stars (the rating as of 23rd May 2022). This deserves less than 3. I cannot understand why Edward Cullen is playing some rich billionaire dude? I guess this is what he was doing whilst Bella was getting cosy during New Moon.