Rating: 
Summary: DeLillo's Anti-Apocalypse
Review: Harold Bloom has said that the common theme of great American novels -- from Moby Dick to Gravity's Rainbow -- is apocalypse. Don DeLillo's genius is turning the American literary tradition on its head with tales of anti-apocalypse. Whether it's the Cold War that never runs hot in "Underworld", the Kennedy conspiracy that masks the true national decay in "Libra" or the "airborn toxic event" in "White Noise", DeLillo is a master of building fear, taking it away, then showing how the disaster distracted us from the things we should fear most."White Noise" is a book about death -- more specifically, our fear of death -- and how we have created a consumer infotainment paradise to distract us from our inevitable demise. But that description hardly does the book justice. There's more brilliance on any page of "White Noise" than I could hope to write in a lifetime. DeLillo has a knack for finding deep meaning in common things -- like a supermarket. Characters are described as much by their postures and gestures as they are by words. Most of the important meanings of the book are left for readers to think on their own. If you need a plot and lots of A-B-C action, please don't read White Noise. It's a book for people open to seeing the world in a different light. "White Noise" proves that there is nothing more reassuring than a disaster, and nothing more terrifying than the banal.
Rating: 
Summary: Dated, Not Funny, Overrated
Review: A selection of my book group, I must confess to being totally underwhelmed by this National Book Award winner. This is the book that cemented Delillo's reputation as one of the modern greats, but I really failed to see much in beyond some pretty tepid superficial sniping at modern American culture and lifestyles. Set in a fictional town somewhat akin to Pittsburgh, the book's hero is a college professor of Hitler studies. It takes his (and his wife's) fear of death and seemingly tries to tell the reader that while they are so obsessed with death, they are missing out on life--in no small part due to all the "white noise" that forms our popular culture. I never found any of this particularly amusing or insightful, however I was in the minority of my bookgroup in this one, so take my opinion with a grain of salt... I guess.
Rating: 
Summary: A Divided Jury
Review: I first read this book some time ago. I remember it as being one of the least memorable books I ever read. Friends whose opinion in these matter I value gave it very high praise. I read it again. The jokes were D.O.A., the satire limp, indeed nothing. My wife recently picked it up and struggled to finish it, it was so boring. The jury seems strongly divided on this book. Check it out at the library and test drive it, then buy if you like it.
Rating: 
Summary: Jane, get me off this crazy thing!
Review: DeLillo's White Noise effectively places a spotlight on all inanities of modern, western society. Like a surgeon wielding a scalpel he carefully dissects pop-culture through hyperbole and satire to create a memorable tale. I think DeLillo develops a central question -- have we, as a 'civilized' group, evolved and how is this evident in postmodern civilization? Through a droll examination of the family, our conduct in society (especially putting on appearances), the regimentation by which we conduct ourselves, our dependency on technology, our constant inundation by media, and our seeming wantonness to destroy the earth (there's so much more!) I got the impression that we are no better off than Neanderthals and in some respects worse. What a thought provoking novel! I could read it over and over.
Rating:
Summary: Scenes from a post-industrial wasteland
Review: Don DeLillo's "White Noise" has been hailed as a literary landmark for its daring vision of America as a post-industrial wasteland, where its inhabitants have lost their sense of bearing and are so confused by media and hype that they even distrust their own senses. They can't tell what's real and what's not anymore. A typical family is made up of a bizarre mixture of "yours and mine". Kids are either obsessed (Heinrich) or paranoid (Denise). Adults are paralysed by an inexplicable fear of death (Jack and Babette). In short, DeLillo's vision is of a society disfigured by dysfunctionality. He suggests that the fear of death experienced by Jack and Babette is in fact symptomatic and a reflection of the uncertainty over their own state of being. Death helps define life by giving it boundaries, thereby proving life's existence. Has the media taken over and become the substitute for real experience ? Are we being manipulated by packaged news or genuinely reacting to scenes from the ground ? "Deja vu" which strikes certain members of the Gladney clan proves the media's power of suggestion. So many richly interconnected ideas tumble from DeLillo's much celebrated novel that you have to read it in one sitting to truly "get it". His writing style is sharp but sometimes leaves you dizzy and a little disoriented. Maybe that's intentional given its subject. He leaves his most powerful statement on religion and belief (the episode with the nuns) to the very last. What insight ! "White Noise" is such a power packed novel of ideas I can see it being studied as contemporary literature for years to come. A great piece of work. Highly recommended reading.
Rating:
Summary: Great read
Review: I just don't understand the reviewers who hate this one. It's a great tale about human nature and the fear of death. A great book.
Rating:
Summary: Ugh.
Review: Probably the worst book I ever read. Oh, why you ask? Because the writing was annoying, the characters shallow, the narration pretentious. It takes more than snide comments about "life in America these days" to make a good novel. Satire is so often on a lowest level of art, because it presumes to show "us" (whoever "us" is) how shallow and absurd "our" lives are. However it completely misses the mark when the readers life is not shallow, boring or controlled by what's in the aisles of supermarkets. Social criticism in literature is so tedious and common, written so that the "intelligent observers" can have a generic laugh at "society" and feel superior. I am not impressed.
Rating:
Summary: Shameless Plagiarism
Review: Every good idea in this book comes directly from "Gravity's Rainbow". OK otherwise.
Rating:
Summary: 2 seconds
Review: Thats how long you need to get the theme of this thoroughly boring book. The ideas on modern culture were thought provoking when we read material with similar themes in 10th grade. Take two seconds and read the title if you need to be reminded of this tiring, overworked, and frankly, annoying theme. From it you can infer everything this book has to say.
Rating: 
Summary: marginal novel at best
Review: A decent story with no endings. DeLillo's style is uninspiring and uninfluencial. This book probably should be read but just not re-read. I would recommened something with more emotion like Marquez or Roy.
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